In response to request from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), JWWA has been providing training programs for water supply engineers from developing countries since 1971, with the aim of training engineers who will play a leading role in the operation of waterworks facilities and waterworks projects in the countries. The cumulative number of overseas participants became more than 660 until 2024.
This year's 57th training course started with an opening ceremony on Monday, October 21 with the participation of seven trainees from Laos, Cambodia, South Sudan, Timor-Leste, Rwanda, the Philippines, and Madagascar.

In response to request from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), JWWA has been providing training programs for water supply engineers from developing countries since 1971, with the aim of training engineers who will play a leading role in the operation of waterworks facilities and waterworks projects in the countries. The cumulative number of overseas participants became more than 600 until 2023. This year marked the 53nd acceptance of this program attended by 5 participants from 5 countries (CAMBODIA, FIJI, LAOS, MAURITANIA, RWANDA).
With the end of COVID-19, face-to-face lectures, observation tours, and exercises were conducted with the cooperation of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, water utilities, research institutions, and private companies.

9th IWA-ASPIRE Conference & Exhibition was held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

1. Duration　　　 22-26 October, 2023
2. Destination　　Kaohsiung, Taiwan
3. Place　　　　　Kaohsiung Marriott Hotel
4. Theme　　　　One Water for Smart Cities
5. Participants　　Congress: 1,362people from 34 countries and regions
　　　　　　　 Exhibition: 50 exhibitors
6. Presentations　Oral presentations Total: 338(including 66 Japanese presentations)
　　　　　　　 Poster presentation Total: 151(including 15 Japanese presentations)

At the conference, 12 rooms were used for oral presentations based on themes. 66 Japanese water professionals were presented and its number was the largest next to Taiwan.
We exhibited a Japan Pavilion which was organized by 14 members such as water utilities, private companies, and water-related organizations. It was one of the largest exhibitors except Taiwan. We shared Japanese technologies and knowledge strongly using displays and presentations in the presentation space at the Japan Pavilion.
Also, we organized a Japanese delegates tour and 30 Japanese water professionals joined. They participated in conferences, exhibitions, and technical tours aggressively to collect information on the water field, especially in Asian regions.
In addition, we had an “Association Networking Meeting” during IWA-ASPIRE based on the MOU which was concluded in 2018 with 9 water-related associations. We shared the latest information from each association and exchanged opinions.
Utilizing the opportunity of IWA-ASPIRE, JWWA conducted “IWA Congress and Exhibition Training Program” with Two trainees. Two trainees Participated from the Hokkaido regional branch (Sapporo Waterworks Bureau) and the Kansai regional branch (Osaka Water Supply Authority).
The next IWA-ASPIRE conference and exhibition will be held in Auckland, New Zealand in 2025.

The International Training Course for Japanese young water professionals was implemented in Denver, USA from 10 to 17 September 2023.
This program was organized and carried out in collaboration with the American Water Works Association (AWWA).
8 trainees from different utilities learned about the water sector, and asset management, in the United States. They also discussed and exchanged opinions about current situations, issues, and solutions in both countries with lecturers and AWWA staffs.
Furthermore, we were honored to have the Past President of AWWA Dr. Chi Ho Sham serve as the facilitator for this training course.

Annual conference & exposition of American Water Works Association (ACE23) was held at Beanfield Center and Enercare Center in Toronto. The theme of ACE23 was "The Future of Water is 2050," focusing on the reliability and sustainability of water in the long term. 440 papers were presented and 450 organizations exhibited.
Ms. Yokoyama Director of International Division and Ms. Yamada staff of International Division, Training and International Department joined ACE23 to promote relationships between each association. Ms. Yokoyama spoke about the Current status of water supply in Japan at the Board of Directors Luncheon. In addition, she discussed with foreign waterworks professionals at the International Utility Meeting.

The International Training Course for Japanese young water professionals was conducted in Taipei, Taiwan from 20 to 25 February 2023. This program was organized and carried out in collaboration with Chinese Taiwan Water Works Association (CTWWA). 8 trainees from different utilities learned about the water supply in Taiwan. They also discussed and exchanged opinions about current situations, issues and solutions in both country with lecturers.

12th JWWA/WRF/CTWWA Water System Seismic Workshop Co-organized by Japan Water Works Association (JWWA) and Kumamoto City Waterworks and Sewerage Bureau cooperated with The Water Research Foundation (WRF) and Chinese Taiwan Water Works Association (CTWWA) was held in Kumamoto, Japan.
116 participants gathered: 15 from the USA, 10 from Chinese Taiwan, 91 from Japan.
31 oral presentations were presented in 7 sessions. Also, technical tour (Daikanbo water catchment area, The Kumamoto Earthquake Memorial Museum, Remains of the old Aso Ohashi Bridge that collapsed during the earthquake, Kengun Water Source) was conducted and the participants deepened their knowledge.

In response to request from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), JWWA has been providing training programs for water supply engineers from developing countries since 1971. The cumulative number of overseas participants became more than 600 until 2022. This year marked the 52nd acceptance of this program attended by 6 participants from 6 countries (CAMBODIA, LAOS, TIMOR-LESTE, NIGERIA, ETHIOPIA, RWANDA).
This year, a hybrid style of online and physical (face-to-face) training was inpremented while taking measures against the new coronavirus infection.
At the end of the program, the participants were given detailed guidance through "Basic Planning and Design for Water Supply Facilities," in which they had to design and plan their own water supply systems using maps of actual cities.

IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition 2022 was held in Copenhagen, Denmark.

1.Duration 11-15 September, 2022
2.Destination Copenhagen, Denmark
3.Place Bella Center Copenhagen
4.Theme Water for Smart Liveable Cities
5.Participants Congress: 3,678 people from over 100 countries and regions
Exhibition: Approximately 320 exhibitors
6.Presentations Oral presentations Total: Around 400(including 16 Japanese presentations)
Poster presentations Total: 485(including 30 Japanese presentations)

400 oral presentations were performed in 6 parallel sessions under the various themes, with 16 Japanese water professionals presented. and there were 30 poster presentations from Japan.
We exhibited a Japan Pavilion which was organized by 10 members such as water utilities, private companies, and water-related organizations. We shared Japanese technologies and knowledge strongly using displays and presentations in the presentation space at the Japan Pavilion.
Also, we organized a Japanese delegates tour and 24 Japanese water professionals joined. They participated in conferences, exhibitions, and technical tours aggressively to gather the latest information on water around the world.
Utilizing the opportunity of the IWA World Water Conference and Exhibition, JWWA conducted “IWA Congress and Exhibition Training Program” and Three trainees.
Three trainees participated from the Hokkaido Regional Branch (Sapporo City), Tohoku Regional Branch (Sendai City), and Kansai Regional Branch (Gobo City).
In addition, the trainees received a lecture on water supply in Denmark in cooperation with DANVA (Danish Water and Sewerage Association).
The next world conference and exhibition is scheduled to be held in Toronto, Canada in 2024.

We had “The Association Networking Meeting” on online based on the MOU which was concluded 3 years ago with 7 water related associations. This time, considering the time difference between the 8 countries, the meeting divided into 2 groups and 2 days. In this meeting, we shared the latest information about the water supply services and the impact of COVID-19 for water utilities from each association and exchanged opinions.

【Reference】 Report page

In response to request from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), JWWA has been providing training programs for water supply engineers from developing countries since 1971. The cumulative number of overseas participants became more than 600 until 2021. This is our 51rd time providing this program. It was attended by 11 participants and 2 observers from 5 countries (CAMBODIA, MARSHALL ISLANDS, PERU, LEBANON, TIMOR-LESTE, RWANDA, LAOS).
Due to the pandemic of COVID-19, the program implemented online. Participants actively participated in lectures, online Field Study, discussions and presentations, and they learned Non-Revenue Water countermeasures intensively.
JWWA has also implemented “Observer Participation” system, which provide the opportunities of international exchange for the young staffs from water utilities near Tokyo Metropolitan area. In 2021, observers from Bureau of Waterworks, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Yokohama Waterworks Bureau, Waterworks Bureau, City of Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefectural Government and Saitama City Waterworks Bureau participated in this training course.

Online SALGA-JWWA Joint Seminars were held with the aim of widely sharing the responses and knowledge of the issues faced by both countries in order to better operate water supply business in South Africa and Japan. It was co-hosted by South African Local Government Association (SALGA), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Japan Water Works Association (JWWA).
A total of more than 1,000 people from South Africa, Japan and third countries participated in all seminars. They were lively seminars with many questions asked about the sharing case studies of the staff of water supply sector of both countries.

In response to request from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), JWWA has been providing training programs for water supply engineers from developing countries since 1968. The total number of overseas participants is more than 600 in 2021.
This is our 53rd time providing this program. It was attended by 5 participants and 4 observers from 5 countries (EGYPT, MYANMAR, SUDAN, CAMBODIA, LAOS).
Due to the pandemic of COVID-19, the program implemented online only. Participants actively participated lectures and discussions and they learned Non-Revenue Water countermeasures intensively.

Indonesia-Japan Joint Workshop on Seismic Technology and its Standards for Water Supply System 2020 was held in Jakarta organized by Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare with co-operation by Ministry of Public Works and Housing, Indonesia.
The theme of the seminar was " Seismic Technology for water supply facilities ", and about 50 people participated. After the presentation, a lot of knowledge and experience was exchanged between Japanese participants and Indonesian participants.

JICA Technical Cooperation Project “MaWaSU2” is implementing in Laos by Japanese water utilities. One of the activities of the project is to support establishment of Lao Water Works Association (LWWA).
LWWA will be established in March 2020. In order to contribute the future activities of LWWA, the training program in Japan which can learn the roles and activities of JWWA was conducted by JICA for the future LWWA executives and staffs.
We provided lectures to learn activities from each section of JWWA. Also, participants went to our registered manufacture factory to observe how we implement JWWA inspection service. Finally, all participants summarized action plan for LWWA and presented it.

The Lao-Japan Waterworks & MaWaSU2 Conference 2020 was held in Laos co-organized by Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and MaWaSU2.
“Lao Water Works Association” will be established in March 2020 and JICA training program in Japan which will learn about JWWA’s tasks will be held in this February. Ms. Hatsushiba, staff of International Division introduced the outline of this JICA training program and the role of water association in Japan. About 200 people from Japan and Laos participated in the conference. The Japanese side presented global expansion and contribution to Laos by water utilities and introduction of own products/ technology by private companies, the Laos side introduced the progress of MaWaSU2.

The International Training Course for Japanese young water professionals was implemented in Denver, USA from 11 to 17 November 2019. This program was organized and carried out in collaboration with American Water Works Association (AWWA). 9 trainees from different utilities and JWWA learned about water sector, asset management, in the United States. They also discussed and exchanged opinions about current situations, issues and solutions in both country with lecturers and AWWA staffs.

8th IWA-ASPIRE Conference & Exhibition was held in Hong Kong, China.

1.Duration   31 October-2 November, 2019
2.Destination   Hong Kong, China
3.Place     Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre
4.Theme    Smart Solutions for Water Resilience
5.Participants  Congress: 1000 people from 34 countries and regions
         Exhibition: 39 exhibitors
6. Presentations Total: Around 150 oral presentations (including 20 Japanese presentation)
         Poster presentation Total: More than 220 presentation (including 38 Japanese presentation)

150 oral presentations were performed in 6 parallel sessions under the various themes. 20 Japanese water professionals were presented and its number was the largest next to Hong Kong and China. Also the number of poster presentations were the third largest.
We exhibited a Japan Pavilion which was organized by 12 members such as water utilities, private companies and water related organizations. It was the one of the largest exhibitor except Hong Kong and China. We shared Japanese technologies and knowledge strongly using displays and presentations in the seminar space and the lunchtime presentation.
Also we organized Japanese delegates tour and 22 Japanese water professionals joined. They participated in the conference, exhibition and technical tours aggressively to collect the information of water field especially in Asian regions.
In addition, we had “Association Networking Meeting” during IWA-ASPIRE based on the MOU which was concluded last year with 7 water related associations. Philippines Water Works Association (PWWA) entered into the MOU from this year and shared the latest information from each association and exchanged opinions.
Utilizing the opportunity of IWA-ASPIRE, JWWA conducted “IWA Congress and Exhibition Training Program”. Participants made presentations in IWA-ASPIRE and receive a lecture about waterworks in Hong Kong WSD (Water Supplies Department, the Government of the Hong Kong SAR).
Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei is the next host city of IWA-ASPIRE.

11th JWWA/WRF/CTWWA Water System Seismic Workshop was held in California, USA by The Water Research Foundation (WRF), Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) , Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) and East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) in cooperated with Chinese Taiwan Water Works Association and Japan Water Works Association.
116 participants gathered: 35 from Japan (including resident representatives), 8 from Chinese Taiwan, 73 from the USA (mainly the staff of the host organization)
37 oral presentations were presented in 7 sessions. Also, technical tour (Robert B. Diemer WTP of MWD) was conducted and the participants had a deeper understanding of the way of seismic in the USA.

In response to request from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), JWWA has been providing training programs for water supply engineers from developing countries since 1968. The total number of overseas participants is more than 600 in 2019.
From 16 May to 12 July in 2019, 8 participants from 8 countries (CAMBODIA, EGYPT, ERITREA, LAOS, MYANMAR, RWANDA, TIMOR-LESTE, YEMEN) participated in this course.
JWWA has also implemented “Observer Participation” system, provided opportunities to study international water supply systems for the young staffs from water utilities near Tokyo Metropolitan area. In 2019, 8 staffs from Bureau of Waterworks, Tokyo Metropolitan Government (2), Yokohama Waterworks Bureau (2), Waterworks Bureau, City of Kawasaki (2) and Kanagawa Prefectural Government (2) participated in this training course as observers.

Annual conference & exposition of American Water Works Association (ACE19) was held at Colorado Convention Center in Denver. At the conference, around 12,000 water professionals gathered, more than 600 papers were presented and 526 companies exhibited.
Mr. Shibuya Director of International Division and Mr. Watanabe Section Manager of International Division, Training and International Department joined in ACE19 to promote relationship between each association. Mr. Shibuya spoke about Cooperation with AWWA at AWWA Board of Directors Luncheon. In addition he presented “Preparing for the Big One : Disaster Readiness in Japan” in the “Professional Sessions”.

Indonesia-Japan Joint seminar & Field survey 2019 was held in Jakarta organized by Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare with co-operation by Ministry of Public Works and Housing, Indonesia.
The theme of the seminar was "Disaster prevention, mitigation and countermeasures against damage in the water supply system", and about 80 people participated.
After the presentation, a lot of knowledge and experience was exchanged between Japanese participants and Indonesian participants. After the seminar, the earthquake damage survey was conducted in Palu, Sulawesi.

The Lao-Japan Waterworks & MaWaSU2 Conference 2019 was held in Laos co-organized by Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and MaWaSU2.
“Lao Water Works Association” will be established this March. Mr. Nishu, Section Manager of General Division made a presentation the overview and role of JWWA and Ms. Hatsushiba, staff of International Division introduced the current situation of overseas water associations. After presentations, participants asked a wide range of questions about association management and had a lively discussion.
Before and after the conference, water facilities and water treatment plant tour was also conducted.

JWWA invited delegates from overseas water associations and organized Two IWA Workshop at IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition 2018 held from September 16 to 21, 2018 in Tokyo.
In addition, JWWA organized “Association Networking Meeting” on September 18 to exchange valuable information from each country and promote relationship among associations.
JWWA proposed MOU to continue the close relationships among participating associations and this proposal was endorsed.

【Reference】 Report Page

IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition 2018 was held in Tokyo, Japan.

1. Duration 16-21 Sep 2018
2. Destination Tokyo, Japan
3. Place Tokyo Big Sight
4. Theme　　　　 Shaping our water future
　　　　　　　　　 Science, Practice and Policy for Sustainability and Resilience
5. Participants 9,815 from 98 countries (Congress Delegates 2,773）
6. Presentations 352 Oral presentations (includes 95 Japanese presentations)
　　　　 633 Poster presentations (includes 388 Japanese presentations)


A lot of oral / poster presentations, forums and workshops were held in the congress. The number of participant recorded highest as this events.
As the secretariat of the Host Country Committee, we JWWA organized a JAPAN PAVILION which were composed of 91 water utilities, private companies and organizations. We transferred Japanese technologies and information to the world.
Also we shared our research results and culture agressively and collected information from the world in the IWA Workshop which were proposed by JWWA and speakers of which are invited from 7 associations.

In response to request from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), JWWA has been providing training programs for water supply engineers from developing countries since 1968. The total number of overseas participants is more than 600 in 2018.
From 17 May to 12 July in 2018, 8 participants from 7 countries (CAMBODIA, ERITREA, MALAWI, MOROCCO, MYANMAR(2), RWANDA, SOUTH SUDAN) participated in this course.
JWWA has also implemented “Observer Participation” system, provided opportunities to study international water supply systems for the young staffs from water utilities near Tokyo Metropolitan area. In 2018, 5 staffs from Yokohama Waterworks Bureau(2), Waterworks Bureau, City of Kawasaki and Kanagawa Prefectural Government(2) participated in this training course as observers.

VIET WATER 2017 was held at Saigon Exhibition& Convention Centre (SECC) in Ho Chi Minh City hosted by Vietnam Water Supply & Sewerage Association (VWSA). 430 companies from 38 countries exhibited and 14,000 participants gathered and 57 good practices and experiences were presented in the Forum.
Mr. Ichimura Director of Training and International Department and Mr. Shibuya Director of International Division, Training and International Department join in this events to promote relationship with VWSA and Vietnamese Water Experts. Mr. Shibuya made presentation titled “Japan’s Experiences –Towards Sustainable Water Supply–“ in INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE, “Toward Sustainable Water Development – International Experience.”

JWWA invited delegates from overseas water associations and organized the international events at the General Assembly & Research Conference held on 25 - 27 October, 2017 in Takamatsu. 14 guests from 7 associations and IWA participated in the events.

Report Page

10th JWWA/WRF/CTWWA Water System Seismic Workshop was held in Tainan, Chinese Taiwan organized by Chinese Taiwan Water Works Association in cooperated with The Water Research Foundation and Japan Water Works Association. Over 100 participants gathered and Keynote Speech from each country, 34 oral and 2 posters were presented. Also, disaster-themed panel discussion, exhibition by 6 private companies and technical tour were held.

The 7th IWA-ASPIRE Conference & Exhibition was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

At the conference, Mr. Ei Yoshida, Executive Director of JWWA presented about the coming IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition to be held in Tokyo in 2018 and called for active participation. The JAPAN PAVILION which was organized by 14 members such as water utilities, private companies and organizations. The exhibitors shared Japanese technologies and knowledge to the visitors at each company’s booth, and also PR video for the 2018 IWA-WWCE was shown on the display. Finally the Pavilion was awarded the "Best Design Award" of the ASPIRE exhibition because of its excellent design and outstanding presence.



1. Date　　 11-14 September, 2017
2. Venue　　Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre
3. Theme　　Breaking Boundaries – Developing a Better Future for Asia Pacific Regions
4. Participants　Conference: 650 people from 33 countries (168 Japanese participants)
　 Exhibition:75 exhibitors
5. Presentations Oral: 230 presentations (includes 74 Japanese presentations)
　 Poster: 57 presentations (includes 19 Japanese presentations)

LESAM 2017 was held in Trondheim, Norway on 20-23 June 2017. 149 people from 28 countries attended and presented various AM related leading-edge initiatives in the world (55 oral and 21 poster). 5 people including Taka Sawai of JWWA attended the conference and introduced good practices in Japan.

Annual conference & exposition of American Water Works Association (ACE17) was held at Philadelphia Convention Center in Pennsylvania. At the conference, 11,200 water professionals gathered, 430 technical sessions were held and 530 companies exhibited.
Mr. Ichimura Director of Training and International Department and Mr. Shibuya Director of International Division, Training and International Department join in ACE17 to promote relationship between each association and Mr. Shibuya spoke about challenge of Japanese water supply at AWWA International Council and AWWA Board of Directors Luncheon. In addition he presented “Water Leakage Control in Japan” in the “Smart Water Distribution Forum” co-organized by AWWA and Singapore Public Utilities Board.

Takayuki Sawai of international division joined in “Water Korea 2017” held in Gwangju at the invitation of KWWA and presented about “Emergency Response System in Japan and Role of JWWA” at the International Water and Wastewater Conference.

The International Training Course for Japanese water supply utility staffs was implemented in Sydney and Melbourne from 21 February to 3 March 2017. This program was organized and carried out in collaboration with Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA). 11 participants from different utilities learned about Australian water industry, utilization and good practices of asset management, countermeasures for climate change and extreme weather, innovations in water industry, etc. They also discussed and exchanged opinions about situations, issues and solutions in each country with lecturers and WSAA staffs through the panel discussion and the wrap-up session.

2017 Training Schedule and Participants

ISO/TC 224 Asset Management WG Meeting was held at DIN in Berlin, Germany. The WG is developing practical guidelines on management of asset for water utilities which complements “ISO 5500X: Asset Management” published in 2014. 11 experts from 7 countries including a staff of JWWA attended the meeting and discussed about the contents of ongoing guidelines.

JWWA invited delegates from overseas water associations and organized the international events in Annual Conference on 10 - 11 November, 2016 in Kyoto. 14 guests from 7 associations and IWA were participated.

Report Page

IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition 2016 was held in Brisbane, Australia.

1. Duration   9-14 Oct 2016
2. Destination Brisbane, Australia
3. Place      Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre
4. Theme     Shaping our water future
5. Participants Congress:more than 4,500 people from about 100 countries
　　Exhibition:about 200 exhibitors
6. Presentations Total:351 presentations (includes 24 Japanese presentation)
      Poster presentation Total:431 presentation (includes 46 Japanese presentation)

A lot of Japanese delegates performed not only oral presentation but also seminars, group sessions and workshops in the congress. In the closing ceremony, the takeover ceremony to Tokyo in 2018 was carried out and Prof. Furumai Tokyo University made a welcome speech as the Chair of Host Country Committee.
We exhibited a JAPAN PAVILION which was organized by water utilities, private companies and organizations. We shared Japanese technologies and knowledge as well as the information of WWC&E 2018 in Tokyo.
Also we planned Japanese delegates tour and 45 Japanese water professionals participate, number of which is the best number so far. They participated in the congress, the exhibition and the technical tours aggressively to collect the latest knowledge from the world and also the information of WWC&E 2018 in Tokyo.

ISO/TC 224 Asset Management WG Meeting was held at AWWA in Denver, United States. WG discussed contents of ongoing international standards "Guidelines for Management of Assets of water supply and wastewater systems".

In response to request from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), JWWA has been providing training programs for water supply engineers from developing countries since 1968. The total number of overseas participants is more than 600 in 2016.
From 3 Jun to Aug 12 in 2016, 15 participants from 10 countries (CAMBODIA, INDONESIA, MYANMAR, IRAQ(2), ETHIOPIA(2), GUINEA(2), MALAWI(2), RWANDA, SUDAN, ZAMBIA(2)) participated in this course.
This curriculum covers from water resources to faucets comprehensively, so as to understand the whole water supply systems as a senior engineer. Through the program of “Basic Planning and Design for Water Supply Facilities”, overseas participants can design and plan water supply facilities by themselves with the support of professional instructors.
In the “Feedback Report” presentation, overseas participants made some problem arrangement suggestion or showed some solutions against the challenges that they face in their countries based on the knowledge or way of thinking which they obtained from this training course.
JWWA has also implemented “Observer Participation” system, provided opportunities to study international water supply systems for the young staffs from water utilities near Tokyo Metropolitan area. In 2016, 6 staffs from Bureau of Waterworks Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Kanagawa Prefectural Government, Yokohama Waterworks Bureau, and Waterworks Bureau, City of Kawasaki participated in this training course as observers.

The meetings of working groups under ISO/TC 224 were held at DIN in Berlin, Germany. Each WG discussed on development of international standards related to the field of water supply and wastewater such as Asset Management, Stormwater Management, etc.

Annual conference & exposition of American Water Works Association (ACE), was held in Chicago Illinois. Mr. Shibuya Director of International Division and Mr. Kawaguchi Assistant to Manager of Training and International Department attended ACE16 to promote relationship between each association. Mr. Shibuya spoke about challenge of Japanese water works at AWWA international committee.
This conference consisted in 17 professional tracks, more than 100 sessions and six workshops and the delegates exchange their knowledge and experience. More than 500 exhibitors showcased the water industry products and services to simplify a water professional’s job.
Professional tracks and Workshop are as follows.

PROFESSIONAL TRACKS
- Innovation: Making Connection & Overcoming Barriers
- Stakeholder Engagement & Communications
- Best Practices for Watershed Management
- Advances in Water Treatment

WORKSHOPS
- Addressing Algal Activity: Measuring and Responding to Water Quality Impacts
- Water Loss Control-Forum Audits to Action
- Water Main Rehabilitation: Materials, Lessons Learned, and Demonstrations
- Preparation and Application of Real-Time Distribution System Hydraulic Models
- Advanced Pipeline Asset Management: Mining and Collecting the "Right Data"
- Tools for Understanding and Anticipating Water Quality From Groundwater Wells

The workshop was held to address the challenges regarding development and application of ISO global service standards. Case studies from various fields were introduced by speakers from all over the world and participants discussed availability of international standards and issues to be solved.

IWA Specialist Group on Statistic and Economics Regional Economic Workshop supported by the Romanian Water Association was held in Parliament Palace Bucharest, Romania on 17th May 2016.
This workshop was focused on “Tariffs for Water Services and Affordability” and SG member presented the Tariff Structure and Calculation Methods as well as the Affordability for the customers.
Around 200 Water Professionals from Romanian Water Utilities shared the significant information and experiences with SG Members. In addition, Question-and-answer session was a great success.

Workshop Program

・Welcome speech
Felix Stroe, president of the Romanian Water Association
・Introduction for the subject matter of the workshop and the work done by IWA and its Specialist Groups
Ed Smeets, Netherlands, Chair of the IWA SG Statistics and Economics

Session 1: International Statistics about water tariffs and consumption
・The new pricing system in Belgium. Protecting the low income customers.
Jan Hammeneker, Belgium
・Social vs other tariffs in Greece
Konstantinos Tsagarakis, Greece
・Is the tariff structure contributing to the efficient use of domestic water in Spain?
Francesc Hernandez– Sancho, Spain
・Questions and answers

Session 2: Water tariffs practices across the globe. Affordability and low income customer protection

・Water pricing in Chile: Insuring Cost Recovery, Affordability, and Human Right to Water and Sanitation
Guilermo Donoso, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
・Subsidies for Waterworks and Water Tariff Determination in Japan
Masao Shibuya, Japan Water Works Association
・Tariff Systems and Water Prices in Switzerland
Matthias Freiburghaus, Swiss Gas and Water Industry Association
・Future options for the tariff strategies in Romania
Teodor Popa, Compania Apa Brasov and Augustin Boer, BDO consultant
・Questions and answers, Closing comments / Discussion

Mr. Tomioka and Mr. Sawai of International attended “Water Korea 2016” which was held in Busan and presented about Japan’s experience and initiatives at Global Network Meeting and Asset Management Seminar.

1st Group Training Course in Australia was conducted from 16 to 26 February 2016. This program was prepared and carried out under the cooperation of Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA), head office and conference rooms of which located in Sydney and Melbourne. 11 participants from water utility and JWWA learned about asset management, climate change countermeasures etc. and exchanged opinions about situation and issues related to drinking water supply with WSAA and Australian utility staffs.

IWA LESAM 2015 was held in Yokohama City on 13-15 November 2015. More than 200 experts from all over the world attended the conference. The program includes plenary sessions, panel discussions, 44 oral presentations and 60 posters exhibits. Participants communicated and exchanged information through several social events during the conference.

1.　Date 　17–19 November 2015
2.　Venue Yokohama Symposia & Workpia Yokohama
3.　Organizers
・International Water Association (IWA)
・Waterworks Bureau, City of Yokohama
・Environmental Planning Bureau, City of Yokohama
・Japan Water Works Association (JWWA)
・Japan Sewage Works Association (JSWA)
4.　Supporters
・Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
・Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
・Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
・Japan Society on Water Environment
・IWA Japan National Committee
5.　Participants
222 participants, 21sponsors
6.　Number of presentations
44 Oral presentations, 60 Poster presentations
7.　Subjects
・ IAM（Infrastructure Asset Management） and risk management of major natural disasters
・ From strategic planning to operational asset management
・ Reducing environmental load
・ Alternative water and energy resources
・ Innovation: Technical innovations and trends
・ How to communicate IAM

IWA LESAM2015 Offcial website

JWWA Annual Conference 2015 was successfully held at Saitama Super Arena, Saitama city, Japan.
Please refer to the following page for more information.

Report Page

The 9th Workshop was held at Sendai City Waterworks Bureau's headquarter office under the cooperation of the bureau.
Please refer to the following page for more information.

Report Page

The 10th meeting of ISO/TC 224/WG 6 was held in Quebec City, Canada and 14 members from 7 countries were attended. The WG is developing the guidelines on asset management for water supply and wastewater infrastructure.

The 6th IWA ASPIRE Conference and Exhibition was held at Beijing, China on 20 – 24 September, 2015 and the theme of the conference is “Sustainable Water Environment and Water Use”. 1000 participants from 37 countries joined this conference.
Dr. Ozaki and Mr. Mitake attended IWA-ASPIRE council meeting from JWWA. And JWWA organized “Japan Pavilion” with 10 organizations from water and sewage sector in Japan.

3 JWWA staffs attended WATER KOREA 2015 which had 20,000 attendees from Korea or other countries. 200 manufacturers of water pipes or devices exhibited and many meeting and workshops on specific topics were held at the venue.
JWWA attended and presented about Japan’s initiatives in water supply field at “Global Network Meeting” and “KWWA/JWWA Water Forum”.

International Training Course in Indonesia has been held every year since 2013 on the basis of the MOU between JWWA and PERPAMSI (Indonesian Water Supply Association). From 23 Aug to 30 Aug in 2015, 9 participants from Japanese water utilities and 6 participants from Indonesian PDAM (Public Water Company) took part in this course.
This curriculum covers Indonesian water supply systems, such as governance system, regulation scheme, water treatment process, NRW reduction, tariff setting, HRD (Human Resource Development), WOPs (Water Operators Partnerships) and so on. At the same time, this program includes “City Report Presentation” and “Open Forum”, which are good opportunities to share knowledge and to exchange information or one’s view. Through this training program, participants are expected to understand water supply systems profoundly and to improve communication skills in English.
In the “Open Forum”, Japanese and Indonesian participants made some suggestions or showed some solutions against the challenges that they face in their countries with the knowledge or way of thinking which they obtained from this training course. In this year, the topics were “Finance, NRW Reduction, and HRD”.
This “JWWA-PERPAMSI Exchange Program” is a kind of symbol of good relationships between Japanese and Indonesian water sector. JWWA will continue to implement this training course so as to develop human resources and support WOPs programs between Japanese and Indonesian water sector.

Training schedule

In response to request from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), JWWA has been providing training programs for water supply engineers from developing countries since 1968. The amount number of overseas participants is 598 in 2015.
From 15 Jun to Aug 19 in 2015, 10 participants from 8 countries (Cambodia, Ethiopia, Malawi, Myanmar, Rwanda, Samoa, Somalia and Sudan) participated in this course.
This curriculum covers from water resources to taps comprehensively, so as to understand the whole water supply systems as a senior engineer. Through the program of “Basic Planning and Design for Water Supply Facilities”, overseas participants can design and plan water supply facilities by themselves with the support of professional instructors.
In the “Action Plan” presentation, overseas participants made some suggestion or showed some solutions against the challenges that they face in their countries based on the knowledge or way of thinking which they obtained from this training course.
JWWA has also implemented “Observer Participation” system, provided opportunities to study international water supply systems for the young staffs from water utilities near Tokyo Metropolitan area. In 2015, 9 staffs from Kanagawa Prefectural Government, Yokohama City Waterworks Bureau, Kawasaki City Waterworks Bureau and Saitama Prefectural Government participated in this training course as an observer.

The 14th Seoul-Tokyo Forum 2015 was held at University of Seoul etc. in Seoul, Korea. This forum has been held by University of Seoul and Tokyo Metropolitan University since 2001. After that Seoul Metropolitan Government, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Korea Water & Wastewater Works Association (KWWA), and Japan Water Works Association (JWWA) has participated in this forum since 2008. This forum has been held annual basis as an opportunity to share knowledge each other.
3 days program included the visit to Seoul Metropolitan Government and KWWA, International Seminar at University of Seoul, and technical tour. The theme of International Seminar was “Water Industry of 21st century and Future Technology” in which 16 water related people from Korea and Japan made a presentation about their current activities or latest studies. JWWA made a presentation about “JWWA’s Inspection and Certification System” and “JWWA’s current international activities”.

Plenary Meeting of ISO/TC 224 was held at ASI (Austrian Standard Institute) in Vienna, Austria. WG 11 “Stormwater Management” convened by Japan and WG 12 “Water Efficiency Management” convened by Singapore are newly launched.
Also “Water Distribution for Population in Urban Areas during a Water Crisis” and “Flexible Tanks for Drinking Water” were proposed from Israel as New Work Items of the TC.

7th World Water Forum 2015 was held in Daegu & Gyeongbuk, South Korea. The World Water Forum is a large-scale international conference that is held every three years since 1997 in cooperation with the public, private sectors, academia, and industries. On this occasion, JWWA participated “Opening Ceremony”, “Thematic Process session” and “Closing Ceremony” and worked at “MHLW booth in the Japan Pavilion” to welcome several delegates from the IWA and the AWWA.

Indonesia Water & Wastewater Expo & Forum (IWWEF) 2015 (21–23 April, 2015)
Indonesia Water & Wastewater Expo & Forum 2015 was held at Bidakara Hotel in Jakarta. This event was hosted by PERPAMSI (Indonesia Water Supply Association). JWWA was invited to participate in this forum by the executives of PERPAMSI so as to build further relationships between JWWA and PERPAMSI.
There were various kinds of programs such as Panel-discussion by water related ministers, “International Forum” including 5 Asian countries (Malaysia, Philippine, Thailand, Laos and Japan), Exhibition, Technical Tour and so on. In the “International Forum”, best practices on regulating water services were presented by 5 countries’ associations. JWWA made a presentation about “Japanese Water Management Systems and their Achievements” on behalf of Japanese water sector.
In the “Association Forum”, staffs of PERPAMSI, delegates from 5 Asian associations, Water-Links and International Water Centre participated in this forum and discussed the future possibility of WOPs (Water Operator’s Partnerships).

Water Malaysia 2015 (22–24 April, 2015)
Water Malaysia 2015 was held at Kuala Lumpur Convention Center. This event was organized by MWA (Malaysian Water Association) and MyWA (Malaysian Water Academy). JWWA was invited to participate in this congress by the executives of MWA so as to build further relationships between JWWA and MWA.
Water Malaysia was divided into Conference, Exhibition and Workshop. In Conference, there were 4 themes such as “Securing Water Supply for the Future”, “Enhancing Wastewater and Reuse”, “Sustainable Environment and Protection” and “Advances in Water Loss Control Initiatives”.
JWWA made a presentation about “JWWA’s Emergency Challenges for the Earthquake”. In the workshop, various water companies introduced the cutting edge technology of Leakage Control.

IWA Workshop on Specialist Group on Statistics and Economics was held at JWWA headquarter office, Tokyo, Japan.
Please refer to the following page for more information.

Report Page

The 8th Meeting of ISO/TC 224/WG 6 “Asset Management” was held at DIN in Berlin, Germany from 8th to 10th December 2014.
25 experts from 9 countries attended the meeting (including Takayuki Sawai of JWWA) and discussed about contents of the draft ISO guidelines on Asset Management and Benchmarking for water utilities.

Please refer to the following page for more information.

Report Page

Japan Water Works Association and Japan Sewage Works Association held ISO/TC 224 asset management working group meeting at JWWA from 9 to 11 April 2014. Group　members discussed about structures and contents of the guidelines on management of assets of drinking water and wastewater systems.
13 experts from 5 countries attended this meeting. Mr. Ishida of Tokyo Metropolitan Waterworks and Mr. Sawai of JWWA attended as representatives of Japanese water supply field.

Please refer to the following page for more information.

Report Page

2014 IWA Workshop on "Water and Energy / Water Loss" will be held on 8th April,2014 at JWWA building.
Please check the file below.



2014 IWA Workshop on "Water and Energy / Water Loss (PDF)

The 1st meeting of “Preparatory Committee for IWA World Water Congress and Exhibition 2018” was held at JWWA building on February 7th, 2014.

Prof. Hanaki, the University of Tokyo, Chairman of IWA Japan National Committee, was elected as chairperson by mutual vote. Then, the committee decided to establish subcommittee which will assist on discussing about Congress Theme and Measure of Promotion etc. in more details. At the meeting, the discussion of the preliminary agreement with IWA (which will be concluded in April 2014) and the Committee’s further activities schedule were confirmed.



Member of Preparatory Committee for IWA World Water Congress and Exhibition 2018

Ei Yoshida, Director General, Bureau of Waterworks, Tokyo Metropolitan Government
Masayuki Matsuura, Director General, Bureau of Sewage, Tokyo Metropolitan Government
Akiyoshi Sakota, President, Japan Society on Water Environment,
Masaru Ozaki, Executive Director, Japan Water Works Association,
Hisataka Sokawa, Director General, Japan Sewage Works Association,
Keisuke Hanaki, Chair, The IWA Japan National Committee,

Tokyo has been chosen to host the 2018 IWA World Water Congress and Exhibition at the IWA Governing Assembly meeting which was held in Istanbul on 14 Sep, 2013.

At the IWA meeting, Prof. Hanaki, the chair of The Japan Bid Committee of IWA 2018, made a presentation for bid to host the Congress. He explained “Why Tokyo”, “Key Selection Criteria” and some attractions of Tokyo. At the end of presentation, all Japanese delegates held up the signs of “We are Ready to Host the IWA 2018 !” to show their energy and earnestness.

The 5th IWA–ASPIRE (International Water Association-Asia Pacific Regional Group) Conference and Exhibition was held in Daejeon, South Korea from September 8 to 11, 2013. Under the theme of "Smart water for future", the conference attracted more than 500 participants from 25 countries and participants gave oral and poster presentations.
As for the exhibition, 22 organizations and companies participated and featured their business activities.

JWWA organized “Japan Pavilion” for the exhibition and a tour to attend the conference.
Twenty three people from water utilities and companies joined this tour. Eight companies, shown below, joined Japan Pavilion and appealed their international activities and technology.

Japan Pavilion
1. Japan Water Works Association (JWWA)
2. Japan Sewage Works Association (JSWA)
3. Japan Global Center for Urban Sanitation
(GCUS)
4. Yokohama Water Business Association
5. Daiki Ataka Engineering Co.,Ltd
6. Swing Corporation
7. Cosmo Koki Co.,Ltd
8. Federation of Japan Water Industries,Inc.

LESAM (Leading-Edge Strategic Asset Management) is the IWA biannual conference which is hosted by one of the IWA specialist groups called “SAM (Strategic Asset Management)”. LESAM 2013 was held at Sydney Convention Centre on 9-12 September 2013. A staff of JWWA international division attended the conference for oral presentation and to participate the panel session.
Next conference, LESAM 2015 will be held in Yokohama city, Japan in November 2015 and the staffs of the city also attended for inspecting the management of the conference.

The meeting of ISO/TC 224/WG 6 “Asset Management” was held at NEN (Standard Institute of Netherland) in Delft, Netherland on 4-5 September 2013. The contents and editorial policies for the draft papers of international standards on asset management were discussed among the members of WG. 3 experts from Japan (including a JWWA staff) have attended the meeting and introduced Japanese case studies on AM to be published on the standards.
Next WG 6 meeting is planned to be held at Japan Water Works Association, Tokyo in April 2014.

On 25-31 August, JWWA and PERPAMSI (Indonesian Water Works Association) held a training course in Jakarta, Indonesia. This training course was conducted with the cooperation of both associations and it was our first challenge.
Participants learned Indonesian water works and exchanged information about the differences of water supply between Indonesia and Japan.

[Candidate Leaflet (PDF)]

On 21st and 22nd May, Dr.Ger Bergkamp, IWA Executive Director, Mr. Keith Robertson, IWA Director of Operation and Congress and Mr. Roy Agterbos, IWA Exhibition Partner, visited Tokyo to make a Site-Visit for IWA World Water Congress 2018. Tokyo’s Bid Committee which consists of Tokyo Metropolitan Waterworks Bureau, Tokyo Metropolitan Sewerage Works Bureau, Japan Society on Water Environment, Japan Water Works Association, Japan Sewerage Works Association, Ministries of Japanese Government, Federation of Japan Water Industries and so on welcomed them and appealed an integrated power and passion of “Team Japan” to hold the 2018 event. Prof. Tambo, ex-IWA president, joined the welcome party and some private companies joined it and the presentation session as well.

The “Establishment Meeting of Bid Committee” and further its 1st meeting were held on 26 March 2013 at JWWA HQ. The bidding movement are gradually activating in the field of water in Japan.
This committee member consists of Prof. Hanaki as a proposer and top person of following relevant organizations;
- Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare
- Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
- Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
- Ministry of the Environment
- Japan Society on Water Environment
- Tokyo Metropolitan Government (Bureau of Waterworks and Bureau of Sewerage)
- Japan Water Works Association
- Japan Sewerage Works Association
- Japan Water Research Center
- Federation of Japan Water Industries inc.
- Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
- Japan National Tourism Organization
- Tokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau
The establishment of the “Bid Committee for IWA 2018 Tokyo” was unanimously accepted.
Furthermore, 1st Bid Committee meeting was held after its establishment.Prof. Hanaki was elected as a chairperson and each General Director of 5 organizations (Tokyo Metropolitan Waterworks Bureau, Tokyo Metropolitan Sewerage Works Bureau, Japan Sewerage Works Association and JWWA) was appointed and approved as co-chairs.
In the meeting, following bid activities were accepted;
- to conduct presentations to IWA inspectors group
- to confirm the final bit paper and to activate promotion activities in the opportunity of IWA events
In conclusion, it is decided that all members of the bid committee will make efforts as the “Team Japan” to success in the bid at the IWA Assembly Meeting on 14th September in Istanbul.

According to the decision of Tokyo Metropolitan Government, IWA-Japan National Committee (JNC) submitted the preliminary proposal of 2018 IWA WWC Tokyo to the IWA headquarters on February 1st 2013.
Before submission, on January 18th, JNC had a meeting with relevant organizations such as Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare, Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Ministry of the Environment/ Japan Society on Water Environment/ Tokyo Metropolitan Government (Bureau ob Waterworks and Bureau of Sewerage), Japan Water Works Association, Japan Sewerage Works Association/ Japan Research Center, Federation of Japan Water Industries INC/ Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Japan National Tourism Organization, Tokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau. At the meeting all members expressed their full support and cooperation for Tokyo 2018, and agreed to establish the Tokyo 2018 Bid Committee sooner and participate it.

　　　　　　　　-7th IWA Workshop in Yokohama Japan-
“Sustainability of Infrastructure toward Customer Awareness and Satisfaction” in Water Utilities

　1. Organizers: International Water Association (IWA)
　　　　　　　　 　 Yokohama Water Works Bureau (YWWB)
　　　　　　　　 　 Japan Water Works Association (JWWA)
　2. Date: 2 - 3 February 2012
　3. Venue: Yokohama Media and Communications Center
　4. Participants: 200
　5. Language: English and Japanese (Simultaneous Translation)

The 7th IWA Workshop was held in Yokohama in February 2012 with the aspects of Asset Management for sustainability of infrastructure toward customer awareness and satisfaction in water utilities.

The workshop was chaired by Prof. Satoshi Takizawa (The University of Tokyo) and 9 speakers from 7 countries were invited, including Dr. Helena Aregle, Senior Vice-President & Chair of the Strategic Asset Management Specialist Group, IWA and Mr. Walter Kling, Vice President, IWA. The workshop was very successful with about 200 participants.

The workshop chair Prof. Takizawa summarized the workshop as follows;
"We recognized the importance and usefulness of asset management as a tool for the sustainable management of water utilities. We, the participants of the workshop, declare that we will put further efforts to realize sustainable management of water utilities by integrating asset management and public relations into the process of water utility management". And also he said "With the participants’and speakers’agreement, I would like to share the major substances with all people in the water sector as “Message from Yokohama”".

In addition, all speakers paid a formal visit to Ms. Fumiko Hayashi, Mayor of Yokohama on 3 February and they exchanged their views on the movement of water sector in the world.

Link to Download Page

Mr. Yoshihiko MISONO has handed over his assignments as Executive Director of Japan Water Works Association to next generation on October 27, 2011 at the 80th Annual General Assembly of JWWA held in Kitakyushu City, Japan.

Dr. Masaru Ozaki, former Director General of Tokyo Metropolitan Waterworks Bureau has succeeded its position on October 28, 2011.

At the inauguration speech on October 31, 2011, when he has confirmed of its mission as a leader of Japanese water sectors and expressed that he will put his utmost efforts to take an initiative to work on challenges what Japanese water sectors, in particular, water utilities face towards future through in collaboration with academia and water industries and JWWA’s good team-work as well.

Profile of Dr. Masaru Ozaki;
Before he joined JWWA, he had been the Director General of Tokyo Metropolitan Waterworks Bureau (TMWB) that supplies drinking water to 12 million people. He started his career on TMWB, one of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s self-sufficient entity, in 1976 after completing his education, BA of civil engineer at Musashi Institute of Technology.He holds a Doctoral degree from Tokyo Metropolitan University.
He had accumulated his careers of TMWB in the field of design, planning, purification before he served as Chief Engineer.

Korea Water and Wastewater Works Association (KWWA) and Chinese Taiwan Water Works Association(CTWWA) have donated money through Japan Water Works Association to those affected by the earthquake and tsunami.

On be half of Japan Water Works Association, I heartily appreciate their kind offer of support, which encourage us to pull together to get through serious occasion and to find a new path to move on.

All funds will be transferred to JWWA’s local body to make use of its further relief activities in collaboration with water utilities and the like.
JWWA thanks a lot for sharing information on progress with you all:

People in the Tohoku region are gradually advancing towards recovery.
While devoted efforts to restore tap water supply continue, and number of households without tap water re-declined to 140,000 in seven suffered prefectures as of April 17, 2011, after twice of strong aftershocks.
Households restored to access safe tap water also came up to 2.12 millions.

Tokyoites have been carrying on with their busy, yet calm daily lives.
For the moment, I am pleased to assure that The 4th IWA-ASPIRE in Tokyo is held in coming October as scheduled and encourage secretariat staffs keep putting their utmost efforts to make the 4th conference fruitful and success for participants.

With kind regards,
Yoshihiko Misono
Executive Director
Japan Water Works Association
(April 19,2011)

Japan Water Works Association (JWWA) and Indian Water Works Association (IWWA) have developed good relationship to date.

JWWA has arranged and coordinated a visit team named “JWWA delegation to Mumbai” in collaboration with IWWA from February 28 to March 4, 2001, so as to further strengthen mutual relationships through field visits to water supply facilities of municipal corporation/council, Luncheon Meeting as well as joining in Utilities Leaders Forum in Mumbai, and Aquatech India 2011.

The team consists of 13 organizations including government, utilities, private companies, and association, and its participants in total 25.

-Outline of JWWA delegation-
【Period of stay in Mumbai】
From February 28 to March 4, 2011
【Number of participants】
25 persons (13 organizations including government)
【Program outline】
[March 1]
14:00-15:00 Courtesy Visit to IWWA
[March 2]
8:30-12:00 Technical visit to “Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation”
13:30-15:30 Luncheon Meeting at Westin Mumbai Garden City
15:30- Visiting and surveying Aquatech India 2011
[March 3] Attending Utilities Leaders Forum
[March 4]
7:00- 9:00 Breakfast Meeting, JETRO briefing
11:00 Courtesy Visit to Japanese Consulate in Mumbai
14:30 Technical Visit to “Kulgaon Badlapur Municipal Council”

A month marked since disasters struck on March 11, in Tohoku region.

A strong aftershock with a preliminary magnitude of 7.0 or beyond jolted east and northeast Japan twice on April 7 and 11 respectively.

While devoted efforts to restore tap water supply continue, but number of households without tap water rebounded to 320,000 in nine suffered prefectures as of April 12, 2011, due to twice of aftershock.
Households restored to access safe tap water also came down to 1.98 millions.

JWWA thanks a lot for sharing information on progress with you all.

Mr. Yoshihiko Misono, executive director of Japan Water Works Association, will speak June 13 at ACE 11(American Water Works Association’s annual conference 2011) Opening General Session in Washington D.C.

With kind regards,
Japan Water Works Association
(April 12,2011)

【Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare】 Radioactive materials in tap water is one of serious focal points, this link will help you find the latest information.

Today marks 26 days since the earthquake and tsunami hit Tohoku region.
Since then JWWA in collaboration with water sectors across the nation put the utmost efforts to restore tap water supply and relief activities.

Thanks to their devoted efforts the number of households without tap water declined to 170,000 in 8 suffered prefectures as of April 4, 2011.

On the contrary, 1.99 millions of households have been restored to access safe tap water.
However, medias in the world reported nuclear power plants situations remain uncertain, and devastated areas ravaged by tsunami inaccessible in terms of water sectors relieves.

JWWA has dispatched staffs to three prefectures such as IWATE, MIYAGI, and FUKUSHIMA and shifted its relief activities from temporary water supply at 2,300 evacuation sites to area surveys without water and restoration planning.
JWWA thanks a lot for sharing information on progress with you all.
Here in Tokyo cherry blossoms are in full bloom close to JWWA office.

With kind regards,
Japan Water Works Association
(April 4,2011)

【Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare】Radioactive materials in tap water is one of serious focal points.

【World Health Organization】FAQs: Japan nuclear concerns

Today mqrks three weeks since the earthquake hit and tsunami that followed.

Thanks to continuous efforts by utilities, the number of households without tap
water declined to 260,000 as of March 31, 2011.Households with tap water restored
up to 1.89 millions.

JWWA has secured 520 trucks with water tank in collaboration with 400 water utilities nationwide, of which 320 trucks put into operations in 6 prefectures, more than 50 % of them focused in Miyagi prefecture.

According to survey results on radioactive detected in tap water, radiation-tainted water found in Fukushima, Ibaragi, Tochigi, Chiba and Tokyo.

Water utilities in these prefectures have advised that people in particular infants should refrain from drinking tap water, due to it went beyond the recommended limit of 100 becquerels per liter for infants and 300 for anyone older.
But following the latest findings it will no longer warn against consumption of tap water in the Tokyo metropolitan area and other prefectures but Iitate, Fukushima as of March 30, 2011.

The government notified that water utilities should take realistic approach controlling intake volumes including suspension in particular after it rained.
Mr. Misono, Executive Director of JWWA has visited the earthquake-hit regions including meeting with mayors and confirmed a path ahead by relief teams, and appreciated for their efforts to date.

Based on local information, he indicated the next step on how and where to restore safe tap water supply as early as possible and asked that relief activities should further strengthen, focusing on places where behind schedule areas to recover, due to affected by nuclear power plants situations.

Situation remains tough in damaged area, rolling blackout accepted daily here and there, under these circumstances, cherry blossoms start bloom near JWWA office. We found it this morning. Spring comes around us again, and new fiscal year starts.

We thank you a lot for being with us.

With best regards,
Japan Water Works Association
(April 1.2011)

【Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare】Detection of radioactive materials in tap water has been press released to date.

I would firstly like to express my most sincere appreciation for the concerns and sympathy from approximately 30 countries, more than 10 water associations and people all around the world in response to the Tohoku-Pacific Ocean Earthquake.

Today marks twelve days since the earthquake struck, JWWA is able to share the followings information with you all.

Situations remain tense and tough to help suffered people access to safe drinking water there, however according to the latest JWWA information, the number of water suspended households declined to 740,000 (as of March 23, 2011)

In other words, the number of households getting tap water came up to 1.34 millions, due to utmost efforts by water utilities having damaged pipes repaired to date.

JWWA in collaboration with water utilities nationwide have dispatched staffs to devastated regions focusing on three prefectures such as Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima. They have engaged in helping people access to tap water as an urgent assignments, followed by research works on water suspension areas and its recovery planning toward future.

JWWA has been required to dispatch trucks with water tank to the region, in collaboration with 361 water utilities, it has acquired 462 trucks, of which 311 trucks have been in action there.

Radioactive iodine detected in tap water in several cities in Fukushima prefecture, the government reported.

The Health, Labour and Welfare Ministry notified 6 municipalities through Fukushima prefecture that people in particular infant should refrain from drinking tap water. And the each of municipalities has informed its people of refraining from drinking tap water.

JWWA has made a brief sheet of Q/A on radioactive materials in tap water, due to utilities should respond to the queries from customers.

With kind regards,

Yoshihiko MISONO
Executive Director
Japan Water Works Association
(March 23,2011)

Staffs of Japan Water Works Association are all safe.
We really appreciate expressions of sympathy and moral support extended from water professionals, water associations as well in the world, which encourages us to manage and get through this serious situation.

JWWA has set up an emergency headquarters to collect information and arrange relief teams. These teams are collaborating with our JWWA Regional Branch and utilities to provide water-impacted areas.

At present, more than 300 trucks with water tanks are headed to the devastated regions. However, there are unprecedented conditions, including traffic, cold weather and the uncertainty of the nuclear power plant situation.

We are putting our utmost effort into providing the suffering local people access to safe water.

As of at 0:30 on March 17, 2011, the number of water suspended households came up to 1.6 million over 12 earthquake hit prefectures.

With kind regards,

Yoshihiko MISONO
Executive Director
Japan Water Works Association

【Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet】Latest Transcript of Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary

【NHK World】NHK has been providing updated information in relation to the earthquake in 16 languages other than Japanese.

Mr. Andrew Cook, Deputy Chief Executive / Ditrector of Communications & Fundraising of WaterAid and Mr. Daniel Yeo, Senior Policy Advisor of WaterAid had courtesy visit to Japan Water Works Association on February 4, 2011.

-WaterAid-
WaerAid, an international charitable organization based in the UK. Its mission is to alleviate poverty by providing access to safe drinking water and proper sanitation, as well as by offering hygiene education to the poorest people around the world.

Mr. Misono, executive director of JWWA and JWWA staffs welcomed them and exchange views on what is going on in water sectors in and around Asia including Japa as well.

JWWA is willing to cooperate with WaterAid to share information on what WaterAid works on in and around Japan with JWWA members of water utilities across the nation through its web and the like.

Tops of AWWA and JWWA met in Tokyo, Japan in February 2011.

Mr. David LaFrance, Executive Director, American Water Works Association (AWWA) came to Tokyo, Japan all the way from Denver Colorado last month to meet with his counterpart,
Mr. Misono, Executive Director, Japan Water Works Association.

Both of them shared information and ideas on challenges what they face so as to make it better management in the field of water supply services including capacity building.

They have confirmed that both associations would further strengthen in collaborations.

Mr. Misono also expressed his sincere thanks to Mr. LaFrance for his support that AWWA has dispatched public relation staff to join in the 6th IWA Workshop held in Yokohama, Japan in January 2011. This workshop was co-organized with IWA, JWWA and Yokohama Waterworks Bureau.

-6th IWA Workshop in Yokohama Japan-
“Promotion of Tap Water Drinking” and “Public Relation Practices” in Water Utilities

1. Organizers:
International Water Association (IWA), Yokohama Water Works Bureau (YWWB), Japan Water Works Association (JWWA)
2. Date: 20 - 21 January 2011
3. Venue: Yokohama Media and Communications Center
4. Participants: 200
5. Language: English and Japanese (Simultaneous Translation)

The 6th IWA Workshop was held in Yokohama in January 2011 with the aspects of the promotion of tap water drinking and the public relation practices."
The workshop was chaired by Prof. Satoshi Takizawa (The University of Tokyo) and 14 speakers from 10 countries were invited, including Mr. Walter Kling Vice President, IWA, Mr. Paul Reiter, Executive Director, IWA and Ms Brita Forssberg, chair, IWA Specialist Group on Marketing and Communications.
The workshop was very successful with about 200 participants.
The workshop chair Prof. Takizawa summarized the workshop as follows;
"We have already taken various measures for the promoting tap water but we have to make more effort to fill the gap between the customers and the water utilities under the limited budget.
Furthermore, we recognized the importance of international networks to share the information.".

Link to Download Page

Mr. Yoshihiko Misono, Executive of JWWA Director has participated in the 42nd Annual Convention held in Jodhpur, India from January 29 to 31, 2010, organized by Indian Water Works Association (IWWA).
JWWA also has established good relationships to date with several water works associations in Asian region and would like to contribute to help water utilities develop their own water supply systems through partnerships of associations.
Dr. K.M.L Mathur, chairman of the convention has invited Mr.Misono to the convention so as to further strengthen good relationships as for developed between IWWA and JWWA.
Visit-Program for the convention was very short period of time though, Mr. Misono made use of his time to meet with executive members of IWWA and exchanged views and information on challenging issues they face.

The City of Yokohama and JICA co-organized "the Executive Forum for Enhancing Sustainability of Urban Water Service in Asian Region" from January 20 to 22, 2010 in Yokohama, Japan. The forum was attended by a total of 30 executive water professionals took part in the forum from nine Asian countries (Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.)

Representatives from each country gave presentations on such issues as policy on urban water supply, sound management of urban water service, measures against non-revenue water, urban water service for the poor, financing water supply, water tariff system, water quality management, public and private partnership on urban water service, and human resources development. Discussions followed the presentations.
On the final day, the General Director of the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority read out the Yokohama Forum Declaration, which summarized the accomplishments of the forum.
While the event helped intensify collaboration and dialogue between governments and water utilities, a proposal was made that each country should put into action the ideas that emerged from discussions and follow up on outcomes at future forums, which would be held regularly in order to keep the dialogues going.
Subsequent to the forum, JWWA held a workshop to exchange information with the waterworks associations of India, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Cambodia, and all participants agreed to continue deepening exchanges.

Link to relevant web page on JICA

Final Joint Statement on U.W.S.A. Forum 2010

The Japan Water Works Association (JWWA) held the 78th JWWA General Assembly Meeting in November 11 – 13, 2009, in Sakai city (Osaka prefecture), Japan.
The meeting acknowledged the JFY2008 financial reports and approved JFY2010 budget. In addition, the meeting discussed challenges what utilities face. The number of participant registered 1700.

The 6th Taiwan-US-Japan Workshop on Water System Seismic Practices was held from October 14 to 16, 2009, co-organized by the Chinese Taiwan Water Works Association (CTWWA), the Water Research Foundation (US), and JWWA, in a conference room of the National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering (NCREE) in Taipei.

The total number of participants reached 60, including a group of 20 from Japan led by Professor Nagaoka of the Tokyo City University, 12 from the United States, 25 from Taiwan, and one from Italy. Participants from Taiwan represented water utilities, research organizations and consultants such as CTWWA, NCREE, the National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction (NCDR), the Water Resources Agency of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taiwan Water Corporation, and the Taipei Water Department of the Taipei Municipal Government. On October 14 and the morning of the 15th, a total of 34 papers were presented on topics such as "earthquake protection measures taken at waterworks facilities," "earthquake-resistant facilities," "risk management measures," and "emergency measures."

In the afternoon of October 15, an open discussion was held under the theme, "Business continuity management in the event of disaster". Mr. Craig Davis wrapped up the workshop by commenting that the event served as a great opportunity to hear the views of other organizations in other countries and that he hoped it would continue to be held.

The fourth WG7 (risk management) meeting was held in a JWWA meeting room from October 26 to 28, 2009 and attended by 19 participants from nine countries (Japan, Israel, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, and Austria). Discussions centered on the draft guidelines which had been revised in response to the previous conference in Banff, Canada.
The WG6/AHG2 (working group) meeting was held in a JWWA meeting room from October 28 to 29, 2009 and attended by 17 participants from nine countries (Japan, Israel, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, and Austria). Discussions were held for the purpose of finalizing the draft guidelines to be submitted at the TC224 general meeting in 2011.

The 3rd IWA–ASPIRE (International Water Association-Asia Pacific Regional Group) Conference and Exhibition was held in Taipei, Taiwan from October 19 to 21, 2009. Under the theme entitled "Working for Asia-Pacific Water Sustainability". The conference attracted 830 participants from 35 countries. A total of 500 oral and poster presentations were given, out of which about 100 were provided by Japanese representatives on such topics as the latest technologies for purification and pipelines, human resources development initiatives, and environmental measures adopted in Japan.

The exhibition featured business activities of 21 organizations from seven countries including Japan. It joined in the exhibition as Japan Pavilion, as co-exhibition, KUBOTA, Hitachi, TAISEI KIKO, METAWATER, KITZ, SHOWA RASENKAN SEISAKUSHO, MAEZAWA KYUSO INDUSTRIES, TOKYO WATERWORKS SERVICE, KURIMOTO and JWWA demonstrated their made-in-Japan products and technologies. In addition, the Organizing Committee for the next IWA–ASPIRE, to be held in Tokyo in 2011, was also present to invite participation.

Link to The 4th IWA-ASPIRE Conference & Exhibition website

Water Operators Partnerships (WOPs) provide the framework for capacity building in developing countries by means of global cooperation between water utilities including associations of water utilities. The WOPs initiative is coordinated by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) as a useful tool for achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

WaterLinks, a regional network that supports WOPs in Asia, was established by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the International Water Association (IWA), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and currently runs about 20 partnership programs in Asia.
From September 28 to 30, 2009 in Bangkok, a WaterLinks Forum was organized with the aim of further promoting partnerships through discussions between mentors and recipients. Representing Japan were Saitama City, City of Yokohama, JICA, Japan Water Forum, the Japan Water Research Center and Japan Water Works Association, while the developing countries represented were Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Laos, Macau, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Maldives, Samoa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. Furthermore, water professionals from Australia, Belgium, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, the Netherlands, and the United States also participated.

The forum was held at the University of Seoul from September 24 to 26, 2009. JWWA and the Korean Water and Wastewater Works Association (K.W.W.A), as our neighboring counterpart, gave presentations and exchanged views on the current state of water utilities in the two countries and challenging issues they face as well.

The Tokyo Metropolitan University and the Bureau of Waterworks of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, representing Japan, as well as the University of Seoul and the Office of Waterworks of Seoul Metropolitan Government, representing South Korea, gave presentations on facility renewal and water quality management.

Link to relevant web page on Bureau of Waterworks, Tokyo Metropolitan Government

In September 2009, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) took office, and then the JFY 2010 budget request from each ministry had to be resubmitted to the Ministry of Finance. In December, the Cabinet had decided to set its draft budget as 73,660 million yen in water supply sector which included national subsidies to water utilities. The amount was decreased to 76.9% of the previous year. The government subsidies had been reviewed under the new ruling party based on evaluation result of “Jigyo-Shiwake”, i.e. budget screening method newly adopted by the politics initiative of DPJ. According to the politics initiative, only the Secretary-General’s office of DPJ treats interest groups’ request for budget or policy. That had been done by each ministry under the previous ruling party. On the same line, only political appointed executives of government’s ministries are admitted to express government’s policy according to a ruling party’s directive. At the JWWA’s general assembly meeting in November a representative of Ministry, who was not the member of political appointed, did not express the Ministry’s view. That had changed from previous general assembly meetings' practice.

In July and August, 2009, Japan was hit by frequent typhoons and localized torrential rains. Western Japan suffered particularly heavy damage, with water facilities flooded and water supply suspended. Yamaguchi City, the capital city of Yamaguchi Prefecture was hit by record rainfall and the river adjacent to the purification plant flooded, affecting water pumps and electric equipment and leading to the suspension of water supply to large areas. JWWA’s Chugoku Shikoku regional branch and Yamaguchi prefecture branch sent emergency water supply trucks.

It is 120 years since the establishment of modern waterworks in Japan. Japanese waterworks facilities were developed intensively during the country's period of rapid growth and it is now time for the most extensive rehabilitation, replacement and upgrade project ever undertaken. Waterworks utilities need to make appropriate investments for such project. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare developed a set of guidelines to ensure widespread understanding of the significance of asset management. In July 2009, the Water Supply Division of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare relesed “Guidelines for Asset Management for Waterworks Utilities”. The guidelines emphasized the importance of systematic rehabilitation, replacement and upgrades of facilities and the securing of funding from medium- to long-term perspectives.

In July 2009, the Japan Water Works Association revised its “Guidelines and Instructions for Earthquake-Resistant Construction Methods for Waterworks Facilities” for the first time in 12 years. The new revision incorporated the latest findings based on lessons learned from large earthquakes such as the Hanshin-Awaji earthquake and the development of new analysis technologies. The new guidelines are to be used in the construction of new facilities and will further facilitate the efforts of water utilities to build earthquake-resistant facilities at the earliest date possible.

The nation-wide Annual Waterworks Week starts from June 1 to 7.The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, and municipal water utilities hold various kinds of events during the week with cooperation of JWWA (Japan Water Works Association).
Key ideas behind this event can be said that it helps customers to further deepen their understanding about water services and become awareness on preciousness of water for their daily lives.
In 2009, the message of the campaign says,
“How tasty, isn’t it tap water!
Precious water, let’s preserve it for next generations!!”

Water supply utilities management including water tariff setting is closely related to people’s daily life. So water utilities should provide people with enough information on them so as to further deepen their understandings. In reality, there are few small-scale water utilities to cope with these P.R. practices.
JWWA’s PR Special Research Committee sent out questionnaires to water utilities nationwide and made report on their PR activities. The committee also published a PR manual for water utilities, which consisted various kinds of PR tools, their characteristics and how to use of them.

The Japan Water Works Association (JWWA) held the 60th Annual Conference and Symposium during 20 – 22 May 2009, in Saitama city, Japan. 284 study reports, which classified into 10 categories, namely, Management, Planning, Purification, Water Quality, etc. were submitted for the conference. The conference attracted 1,500 participants from across the nation. This is one of the main activities held by JWWA, hosted by prefectual capital cities in their turns.
It has originally started as the Conference for Research and Study of Waterworks and Sewerage since 1950.
In 1964 Japan Sewerage Water Association became separated from JWWA, at the General Assembly Meeting held in Sapporo city. Since then JWWA has organized the conference by its own.

Kitakyushu City Waterworks Bureau has signed an agreement in April 2009 with Dalian Water Supply Co. Ltd (China) for three years term.
This agreement aims to accelerate conventional relationship for improving capacity building of water supply works, and will cover training programs in Dalian and Kitakyushu.
Also, Kitakyushu City Waterworks Bureau has signed an agreement in December 2009 with Hai Phong Water Supply One Member Company Limited (Vietnam) for three years term. This agreement aims to improve water purification methods against organic substance in Hai Phong City, and will cover training programs mainly in Kitakyushu.

Yokohama City Waterworks Bureau has signed an agreement in August 2009 with Vietnamese water sectors such as Thua Thien Hue Construction and Water Supply State-owned One Member Company Limited, Saigon Water Corporation and Water Sector Training Center of College of Construction No.2,(Ministry of Construction)in the South for three years.
This agreement aims to improve capacity building of water sectors and will cover training programs in Vietnam and Yokohama.
Yokohama city Waterworks Bureau will annually dispatch 2 staff members to attend seminar program as lecturers and will welcome 3 trainees so as to help them improve water supply management and technical skills as well.

Saitama City Waterworks Bureau has signed an agreement in September 2009 with Vientiane Capital City Waterworks (Laos) for two years term.
This agreement aims to establish management and technical skills for Vientiane Capital City Waterworks, and at the same time to enhance the middle-class-officer's ability to make policy and their leaderships of Saitama City Waterworks Bureau as well.

Osaka City Waterworks Bureau has signed an agreement in December 2009 with The Saigon Water Corporation (Vietnam).
This agreement aims to exchange information and opinions for strengthening sustainability of water supply works. Each of organizations will alternately on yearly basis dispatch some staff.

In April 2009, the government instructed waterworks utilities to check supply systems and promote awareness of H1N1 influenza. The Water Supply Division of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare shared methods for combating H1N1 influenza in its “Guidelines for Preventing the Spread of H1N1 Influenza for Waterworks Utilities.”

Mr. Yoshihiko Misono, Executive Director of Japan Water Works Association has participated in the 5th World Water Forum held in Istanbul, Turkey from March 16 to 22, 2009.
The main theme of the Forum was titled as "Bridging Divides for Water" and the number of participants came up to about 33,000 from 192 countries.
While Mr. Misono stayed there, he has made use of his busy schedule to meet with executive staffs of water sectors globally.
In particular, he has met with Mrs. Anne Le Strat, President of EAU DE PARIS for about 2 hours to exchange views on water supply management including reform plan of EAU DE PARIS, which attracted strong concerns among Japanese water professionals nationwide.

In recent years, environmental problems such as global warming have become very important issues. Water utilities are required to preserve environment CSR (corporate social responsibility).
The Machinery, Electricity and Instrumentation Technical Committee of Japan Water Works Association (JWWA) published “Present Energy Conservation for Water Supply Facilities 2009”.This report aims to help, have water utilities to promote energy conservation methods on practical basis so as to solve energy-related issues what they face.

This workshop was held from Feb. 2-3, 2009 at the Training and Technical Development Center of the Bureau of Waterworks of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, attracting 131 water professionals.

Professor Hideki Ide of the Faculty of Business and Commerce, Keio University chaired the workshop, and water professionals from six countries, namely, Italy, the United States, Australia, Singapore, South Africa, and Japan, as well as Mr. Paul Reiter, Executive Director of IWA and a former water supply expert at ADB, took part as speakers, giving introductory explanations on water utility management and tariff structure, debating how water tariffs can contribute to building a sustainable society, and probing the issues surrounding water tariffs and tariff collection.

Link to relevant web page on Bureau of Waterworks, Tokyo Metropolitan Government

“Team Water Japan” was launched to address both domestic and global water problems by gathering the wisdom of various experts under the leadership of the political power, beyond administrative and corporate frameworks. The Water Security Council of JAPAN was founded to support the activities of Team Water Japan, and the Japan Water Works Association (JWWA) also decided to participate in the initiative. In order to make an international contribution to waterworks development, it is important to solve domestic issues faced by water utilities and develop a robust base for management.
JWWA set up “Team-Water Services for Life-Japan” to facilitates public and private collaboration and consolidation/regionalization of water utilities in order to strengthen the base of waterworks management, while resolutely maintaining public entity. It also helps increase the international competitiveness of the waterworks industry in response to the current trend toward globalization.
In October 2009, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry established and held the first meeting of the Global Water Business Study Group, to investigate the international operation of water business.

Link to relevant web page on Team Water JAPAN