Senior officials at the CWA pushed for implementing GIS in mapping the water distribution system. GIS displays dashboards and maps to make information faster to process for all stakeholders involved in water distribution throughout the country.
"Very few government organizations in Mauritius are using GIS, but we have been able to make rapid progress due to the capabilities in GIS and share information quickly," said Veemul Gopaul, senior technical design officer, drawing office, CWA.
With the new GIS maps, when complaints are logged, an application pinpoints the client's location and sends a message to the regional field maintenance department. In the past, complaints were logged with a series of phone calls and emails, and sometimes inaccurate instructions were given to mobile staff. Now, a single step saves time and effort.
In addition to helping residential customers, the CWA uses GIS to create accurate maps of water asset locations, including the CWA's pipe network and water distribution appurtenances. Currently, 95 percent of the CWA network is mapped, with plans to continue to add data. These maps display boreholes, reservoirs, and impoundments over basemaps of the region. "Due to the ease of having visual information, GIS easily provides visual support in terms of dynamic maps that tell us the behavior of water networks and our customers," said Gopaul.