The Geographic Information Services allows us to apply policies that reduce water consumption and increase revenue from water distribution and sanitation. It contributes to the sustainable development of water distribution, especially as the increase in revenue contributes to the possibility of enlargement of water and sanitation systems. It also increases water-use efficiency, helps to deal with periods of water shortage, and reduces the severity of those suffering from water shortages.

The integration of geographical information infrastructures, which can be obtained with the correct use of GIS, contributes to the integrated management of water resources and international cooperation in activities and programs related to water and sanitation. The inclusion of customers in the user portfolio of the sewage system, obtained through analysis of aerial photographs and spatialized data, contributed to the expansion of adequate and equitable sanitation, and reduction of water pollution.

Currently, Project Atlas is a corporate system that improves the process, assists in decision making and assists the operational team. Since its implementation, the Atlas Project has allowed the increase of revenue in value higher than its implementation cost.

Important internal partnerships were signed between the Geoprocessing Area and the IT Department, that supports the GIS’ IT infrastructure and data integration to Maps generation that permits the analysis. The Caesb Superintendence Commercial is another important partner, that used the GIS solution to make analyses of irregular connections and take appropriate actions to solve this problems.

CAESB directors benefited from the maps produced that pointed out the main areas with irregular network connections, thus making data-based decisions, to combat these clandestine connections. Citizens benefited from the final result of the solution, since after identifying and combating clandestine connections, service delivery tends to improve, as the water distribution network has fewer problems of leakage or pressure caused by irregular connections.

In 2017, Caesb began to observe a reduction in losses in the water supply system. In April of that year, the loss index was 370 liters per extension/day on the average of the last twelve months. The expectation is that the loss is reduced to 250 liters per extension/day. In addition to improving the company's results, we initially identified 116 areas with more than 40 000 possible clandestine connections, which was responsible for a potential water loss estimated at 8,731,368m³/year. By identifying these possible clandestine connections, this allowed us in 2016 to regulate more than 4 000 connections, with a potential financial return of around R $ 3.7 million (approx. 915 000 $USD).
With the increase in revenue, Caesb will recover its investment capacity. It will also allow the creation of new systems so that more people can receive water in enough quantity and quality for their needs. In addition, a greater amount of wastewater will be treated before returning to nature.

Identifying fraudulent or clandestine links is a complex and virtually unachievable task relying only tabular data and files. The challenge overcoming was achieved through complex spatial analyses using the GIS system, images produced by aerial photogrammetry and georeferenced data. After a deployment of the infrastructure, the challenge was teaching Caesb's employees to work with GIS. The company invested in internal and external training. Several employees acting like multipliers of the knowledge that was acquired. After the initial challenges, the lack of spatial data challenge emerged. It took a colossal effort by the company to scanning plants and convert files from CAD (computer aided design) format to GIS data architecture. Equipment that collects the coordinates at the time of reading the water consumption was acquired, allowing the geo-referencing of all the clients.

Caesb's experience has shown that to succeed in projects like these, it is necessary, above all, to have the commitment of those involved, since the implementation of this solution necessarily generates a change in the processes of the daily work of some areas. Besides adaptation in the way of working, it also requires some investment in GIS editing software and user training.

A similar solution is perfectly applicable in other agencies or companies, even in sectors other than sanitation, since practically all utilities have a customer registry. The next step is to perform the geo-referencing of these clients. Using the right techniques and appropriate technological tools, this work is not so complex.

The initial costs of implementing a GIS system in Caesb were considered high and we did not have a tangible perspective on how and when the return on investment would occur. Due to the complexities associated with the use of GIS, there was a risk that the technology would be overlooked by the employees and not incorporated into the company's processes. It is possible that mistakes can be made in the process of identifying clandestine connections, causing waste of time and resources.
However, these losses are insignificant to the benefits obtained. These problems that were identified during the implementation of this solution in CAESB were solved with a lot of communication, presentation of prototypes and results and active participation of the end users of the solution and important stakeholders. This experience of CAESB may interest other water and sewer agencies to follow similar paths.