Tunisia is in one of the world’s most water-scarce and dry regions. The Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) for Tunisia indicates that its economy, the population, and ecosystems are highly vulnerable to climate change (CC). The country is expected to see shrinking of agricultural land areas due to increasing water scarcity. The reduction of agricultural GDP as a result of declining yields is estimated at about 5 to 10% by as early as 2030.
Drinking water is a scarce and expensive resource in Tunisia and the pressure on already scarce resource are increasing. Considering the climate change, population increase and the demand for water, the SONEDE is searching for long-term solutions to address water scarcity, such as installation of desalination plants, water transfer, dams and other solutions. Many of the available options are highly energy-intensive thus causing high operational costs.
Tunisia has made water resources management and access to water for the population a national priority. Implementation of smart water networks is one way of supporting this national priority and is a core activity of this readiness proposal. The implementation of the proposed smart water network will on a long term horizon improve the management of the water resources in the whole of Tunisia, and on a shorter term in the Sahel district of Tunisia, which will be the target area of the activities of this project.
The main objective of the activities described in this readiness proposal is to demonstrate the benefits of a smart water supply network through application and testing in the selected pilot areas. The experiences gained will help testing technologies and their benefits in the specific areas, but will also assist the Tunisian authorities in developing an overall action plan for implementing smart water network that will help to:
- reduce and rationalize water consumption through smart meter installations
- reduce non-revenue water in the distribution network through hydraulic modelling and strategic installation of flow meters
- reduce energy consumption by optimizing water production and distribution management through hydraulic modelling and smart metering
- achieve smart management of local water resources.
The readiness project outcomes will also inform the design of a strategic national framework for implementing smart water systems in Tunisia including the funding mechanism (e.g. GCF).
The readiness proposal will address the identified gaps and needs for transformation of the current water distribution networks to smart water network, including lack of technology experience and sufficient knowledge on the available
technologies as well as lack of knowledge about the existing distribution system. It will also help define requirements for potentially needed adjustments of legal and policy frameworks to allow for successful implementation of smart water metering.
It will do so by piloting solutions that will:
- inform selection of appropriate smart water technologies,
- demonstrate the possibilities of implementation,
- help assess the expected benefits vs investments to be made,
- inform design and organization of large-scale deployment and its potential macro level benefits.
SONEDE will be the main direct beneficiary of the proposed project activities as the implementing of smart water network will make SONEDE able to improve the network efficiency, reduce operation costs, increase customer satisfaction, and ensure that the country can manage its water resources in a more sustainable way at the regional and national levels. By extension to the entire country, the beneficiaries will also include the water users as smart metering will help identify and reduce water wastage and leakages, making the water less expensive and available for other users.