Idrica – an international provider of services and solutions for the water cycle – has been awarded a public tender to implement and maintain billing and collection software for Sedalib S.A. – the water and wastewater utility operating in the Libertad region of northern Peru.

Spanish company Idrica is set to digitally transform the entire billing process for drinking water and sewerage services in the region. It will implement its latest-generation software to streamline the billing and collection services used by Sedalib – a utility that serves over 200,000 customers in this Peruvian department.

The purpose of the contract, awarded to Idrica via public tender, is to streamline, automate and standardise the reading, billing, collection, and customer service system, in order to reinforce control over this entire process. The contract includes software licensing and implementation, as well as ongoing maintenance, upgrades and support provided by Idrica. The technology is expected to be implemented within a period of 12 months.

Driving down costs, billing incidents and non-revenue water

“The GoAigua Billing and Customer modules interact throughout the water cycle, enabling integration with other business systems, such as administration and operations, which Sedalib plans to modernise through digital transformation,” said Rafael Plaza, Operations Manager for southern Latin America at Idrica.

 

Idrica recently implemented this technological solution in the Public Water Company (EPA) in Ecuador, which, together with other developments, led to an 80-per-cent drop in customer billing incidents, a 20-per-cent reduction in the costs of reading, billing and collection processes, and a significant decrease in non-revenue water. It also improved billing and collection by over 50 per cent.

Breaking into the Peruvian market

This contract represents the first deployment of Idrica's billing and collection solutions, GoAigua Billing and Customers, in the country. According to Francisco Salguero, the company's COO, this is boosting business, together with the introduction of other GoAigua technological modules, such as those aimed at monitoring drinking water networks for the early detection of leaks. Mr Salguero said this would “contribute significantly to the Loss Reduction Plan, and the integration, management and advanced data analysis obtained from meter readings in another project being developed for the Piura public water utility”. In Peru, the supervision of water resources, the entire water cycle and the environment are major issues.

Idrica's business strategy in the country involves identifying opportunities in digital transformation and services in the various water utilities operating in Peru. "We are currently working on two technological innovation projects with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and a profile study to provide water and sanitation services for rural communities in the Peruvian jungle. We are also exploring other opportunities, such as the provision of operational services for commercial activities, and projects for the implementation of micro-measuring,” concluded Mr Salguero.

Expansion in Latin America

Idrica's foray into Peru is part of its Latin America internationalisation plan as a priority area. The Spanish company recently opened an office in Colombia, where it is already involved in water management in six municipalities in the Atlántico department.

“This strategy also includes the expansion of business in Mexico, Ecuador, and Chile, implementing O&M projects, technical assistance, as well as providing technology that monitors and optimises processes,” advised Idrica's Business Development Director, Chema Nebot.

Corporate Information

Idrica is a leading international technology company for the water industry, specializing in digital solutions. It brings together more than a decade of experience in the industry in the areas of business management, O&M, engineering and consultancy in order to deliver digital solutions around the world. Thanks to its integrated water cycle platform, GoAigua, it boosts digital transformation in water utilities.

It operates in Europe, the United States, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, providing solutions that serve over seven million users. Its headquarters are located in Valencia (Spain) and it has a team of more than 200 experts. 

Idrica was born after the successful digital transformation of Global Omnium, a Spanish company with more than 130 years of history that currently manages the water supply of over 400 cities.