MOYA HOLDINGS: Insights from visit to its Jakarta operations

@ Aetra Air Jakarta water treatment plant: Water from West Tarum Canal is continuously channeled into an inlet on the right, which leads to a treatment plant nearby. Photo by Ngo Yit Sung As they patiently navigate the notorious traffic jam in Jakarta, motorists scarcely give rivers (photos) nearby much attention. 

As one of them flows, large volumes of water are diverted into pipes that go under the road and into the water treatment plant of Moya.

Near Moya Tangerang water treatment plant is the Cisadane River, which is controlled by a dam. The plant supplies water to Jakarta city, including 90% of the water reaching its international airport.
Photo by Ngo Yit SungThis plant is Aetra Air Jakarta (Buaran), which has the capacity to treat 6,000 litres per second.

It is the largest plant in Moya's operations, accounting for about 42% of its entire capacity of 14,000 litres per second.

@ Aetra Air Jakarta water treatment plant: Water from the river cascades down and is aerated. This increases its oxygen saturation,  removes carbon dioxide, and oxidizes soluble iron and manganese into insoluble precipitates. 
Photo by Ngo Yit Sung
Filter tank undergoing backwash cycle to dislodge the floc from the filter media (sand). Proper backwashing is a very important step in the operation of a filter. 
Photo by Leong Chan Teik
The plant delivers clean water over a 6,200km pipe network to the people of Jakarta.

This plant is one of the assets of Acuatico, which was co-owned by foreign institutional investors (Avenue Luxembourg and Hagerty Investments) who sold out to Moya in June 2017 for US$245.18 million through a competitive bid process involving several bidders.

Intricate piping network which collects and channels treated water from filter tanks to a reservoir for distribution.  Photo by Leong Chan TeikAcuatico, which serves 3 million residents, is a high cashflow business.

When Moya first consolidated Acuatico's financials, ie 3Q17, Moya's operating cashflow was positive S$9.1 m versus negative S$4.9 m in the same quarter of 2016.

But Acuatico's concession operated under PT Aetra Air Jakarta came with a thorny challenge.

It has a high level of  non-revenue water (NRW), which is water that is lost, mainly, through pipe leakage and, to a smaller extent, through theft.


@ Aetra Air Jakarta water treatment plant: Sludge cake is produced as a by-product for use in landfills, etc. Photo by Ngo Yit Sung The NRW is about 43.5%.

In Singapore, the NRW is just below 5%.

Through repairs and replacement of pipes, which would entail significant capex, Moya is seeking to reduce the NRW by about half over the next 6-7 years.

@ Aetra Air Jakarta: A new high-tech control room. Photo by Leong Chan Teik This would crystallise an opportunity: The bulk of the incremental gross profit from the sale of water that is recovered would become pre-tax profit.

Positive action by Moya would put it in good standing with the government, enhancing its prospects for clinching new concessions and expanding the production capacity of existing water treatment plants.