Idrica, an international company that specializes in providing services and solutions for the water cycle, is about to digitally transform the entire billing process for drinking water and sewerage services in the Libertad region, on the northern coast of Peru. It will be implementing 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 the Spanish company by public tender, is to streamline, automate and standardize the reading, billing, collection and customer service system, reinforcing 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 in a period of twelve months.
This contract represents the first deployment of Idrica's billing and collection solutions, GoAigua Billing and Customers, in the country
"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 modernize through digital transformation," says Rafael Plaza, Operations Manager for southern Latin America at Idrica.
Incident reduction
Idrica recently implemented this technological solution in the Public Water Company (EPA) in Ecuador, which, together with other developments, led to an 80% drop in customer billing incidents, a 20% 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%.
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, which will 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 different water utilities 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", concludes Francisco Salguero, Idrica's COO.
Expansion in Latin America
Idrica's incursion into Peru is part of its Latin America internationalization 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 optimizes processes," says Idrica's Business Development Director, Chema Nebot.
