CaseWater utility

Wholesale Water Supply Service and Water Management Integration
with Mizumaki Town
Water and Sewer Bureau, City of Kitakyushu

General information of the utility (as of 2021)
Operation

Public (wholesale &type

retail water supply)

Population
servedService area (km2)

514.56

968,095

Distribution (m3/d)

293,765

99.67

Pipe length (km)

4,684

9.40

Number of staff

344

Servicecoverage(%)
NRW (%)
Number ofwater

Surface water (10), Groundwater (0), Others (0)sources
Water rates(JPY)780(in case of 10m3 of water per month forresidential customers with 13mm diameter)

Water and Sewer Bureau, City of Kitakyushu (“Bureau”) has beenpromoting various wide-area collaborations, including "amalgamation ofwater supply services," "provision of wholesale water supply service" and"outsourcing of comprehensive operations” (Figure 1).
In the Bureau’s “Medium-Term Management Plan 2025 (FY2021FY2025)" formulated in FY2020, "promotion of various wide-area
partnerships" was positioned as one of the priorities. Also, the "Vision forSummary

the Kitakyushu Metropolitan Area" based on the "Kitakyushu Metropolitan
Area Partnership Agreement" concluded in 2016 between Kitakyushu and16 neighboring municipalities also includes a "further development ofwater supply and sewerage services”. The city is actively promoting widearea cooperation by utilizing the technology and know-how cultivatedover many years of operations.

Shimonoseki City

Northern Fukuoka
Emergency
Connecting Main

Emergency
Connecting Main

Managementintegration
Ashiya Town

Okagaki Town

Wholesale
Water
supply(Munakata City)

Mizumaki
Town
Onga Town

Kitakyushu City

Nakama City

Munakata District
Administrative Association

Kurate Town
Kanda Town

(Fukutsu City)
Koga CityShingu Town

Emergency
Connecting Main

WholesaleWatersupply

Yukuhashi Town

Expandedservice area
Technical cooperationagreement

Kawara Town

Current state of wide-area cooperation/collaboration (4 cities & 6 towns)
1. Service integration: Ashiya Town (2007.10), Mizumaki Town (2012.10)
2. Wholesale water supply:
Munakata District Administrative Association [Munakata City] and Shingu Town (2011.4), Okagaki Town (2015.4)
Munakata District Administrative Association [Fukutsu City] and Koga Town (2016.4), Kawara Town (2017.4)
3. Partial water supply: Kanda Town (2008.3)
4. Comprehensive outsourcing contract:
Munakata District Administrative Association [Munakata City & Fukutsu City] (2016.4)
5. Sharing of facilities:(=Emergency connecting main) Kawara Town (2005.5), Shimonoseki City (2006.3), Fukuoka urban area (2011.4)
6. Technical cooperation agreement:
図１ これまでの広域連携
Munakata District Administrative Association, Nakama City & Okagaki Town, Yukuhashi City & Kanda Town, Kurate Town,
Noogata City

Figure 1 Wide-area collaboration in Kitakyushu
Nationwide, water utilities are facing challenges such as "aging water
facilities," "delays in making seismic upgrades," "weak management

Current Status& Challenges

bases in small utilities” and "decreasing number of personnel involved inwater supply services". It is becoming increasingly difficult for each utility
to operate sustainably and efficiently on its own. How to strengthen thewater infrastructure and pass on related technology to next generations
is an important issue.
【Management integration with Mizumaki Town】
Kitakyushu began water diversion to the neighboring Mizumaki in
1969, and since then, the City has deepened its cooperation through"contracted water quality testing" and "emergency support agreements".
In order to further promote wide-area cooperation, various studies wereconducted, including system sharing, joint outsourcing, and management
integration. At the time, Mizumaki identified lowering water rates

Measures &(approximately 1.8 times higher than those of the City) as its mostSolutions

important issue, and in August 2011, Mizumaki formally requested
management integration with Kitakyushu in order to achieve a drastic
solution to this issue. During the study phase of the management
integration, it became clear that there was a disparity in the level ofwater supply facilities between Mizumaki and Kitakyushu, so thenecessary financial resources were secured by keeping Mizumaki's water
rates unchanged for a certain period of time after the integration. Later,
the water rates were unified with those of Kitakyushu within one year
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after the integration.
Through the management integration, Mizumaki was able to realize areduction in water rates, and furthermore, their water supply service
level was greatly improved by enabling the use of Kitakyushu's
mechanisms such as payment at convenience stores and customer callcenter services. In turn, Kitakyushu was able to eliminate water
diversions and secure stable revenues.
【Emergency communication pipe and wholesale water supply】
metropolitan

The March 2005 "Fukuoka Prefecture West Offshore
Earthquake" triggered a top-level meeting between

the Governor of Fukuoka Prefecture and the Mayors of Fukuoka andKitakyushu, and an agreement was reached to quickly implement the"Northern Fukuoka Emergency Communication Pipe Project" to ensure astable supply of water in Fukuoka Prefecture. The project will mutually
supply up to 50,000 m3 of water per day between Kitakyushu and theFukuoka area in the event of an earthquake, accident, or otheremergency.
In order for the emergency pipeline to function immediately when it’sneeded, it is necessary to maintain the water quality and facility functions
by constantly flowing water within the pipeline. On the other hand, thewater utilities along the emergency pipeline (Munakata District
Administrative Association, Koga City, and Shingu Town) had their own
water sources and were considering conversion.
Under these circumstances, the " City of Kitakyushu Wholesale WaterSupply Project" was established in conjunction with the emergency
communication pipeline project, utilizing the water for maintenance ofthe emergency communication pipeline to supply up to 20,000 m3 ofWholesale water supply project(up to 20,000m3/d from Kitakyushu City)
Shingu Town

Koga City

up to 4,000m3/d

up to 3,000m3/d(FY2016 to start)

Fukutsu City

Munakata City

up to 3,000m3/d up to 10,000m3/d(FY2016 to start)

Emergency Connecting Pipe [approx. 47km]

Kitakyushu City

Fukuoka urban area

metropolitan

Munakata District Administrative Association

Northern Fukuoka Emergency Connecting Main Project
Mutual water accommodation in emergency (up to 50,000m3/d)

Figure 2 Emergency communication pipeline and wholesale watersupply project

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water per day to the water utilities located along the pipeline (Figure 2).
Both projects were initiated in 2006 as a joint project for emergency
communication pipeline and wholesale water supply, and were put into
service in 2011. The wholesale water supply project, which utilizes the47-km long emergency communication pipeline and its maintenancewater, was an unprecedented undertaking in Japan.
Under the revised Water Supply Act enacted in October 2019, theprefectures were positioned as the promoters of wide-area cooperation,and the government requested prefectures to formulate a "Plan forPromotion of Wide-Area Utilization of Water Supply Services" by the endof fiscal year 2022. In March 2023, Fukuoka Prefecture formulated the"Fukuoka Prefecture Plan for Promotion of Wide-Area Utilization of Water
Supply Services", which outlines related policies of the prefecture and thespecific measures to be taken.
In collaboration with Kitakyushu Water Service Co., Ltd., the Bureau
believes it necessary to continue its "wide-area water supply seminars","study meetings" and "individual consultations", as well as to carefully
promote consultations according to the needs of each related entity in

Future Plans

order to materialize various cooperation measures, with the support of
the national government and Fukuoka Prefecture, which are thepromoter of wide-area cooperation.
Kitakyushu, as the central city of the Kitakyushu metropolitan area,
expects to exercise leadership and actively work toward the developmentof a wide-area development that could have a synergistic effect on theentire metropolitan area.

Picture1
Wide-area
water supply seminars

Picture 2 Study meetings on
wide-area water supply
Web page on the Northern Fukuoka Emergency Communication Pipeline
Project
Cross-Regional Project Division, Cross-Regional and International Project

References

Department, Water and Sewer Bureau, City of Kitakyushu
https://www.city.kitakyushu.lg.jp/suidou/s00500006.html
Planning Division, Water Service Department, Water and Sewer Bureau,
City of Kitakyushu
http://www.city.kitakyushu.lg.jp/suidou/s00600009.html
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