The city of Aigialeia, situated at the Korinthian Gulf at the North of the Peloponese, Greece, has been facing frequent outages due to the antiquated water distribution network, leading to water losses of up to 15,000 liters of water/hour. The Aigio Water Replenishment Project, implemented by GWP-Med with funding from Coca-Cola HBC in cooperation with the Municipal Water Agency of Aigileia is expected to save 100 million litres of water annually, enough to cover the needs of 1,700 households.
The project was officially inaugurated in the Municipality of Aigialeia at a special ceremony on Tuesday 17 March, attended by the Mayor of Aigialeia Mr. Panagiotis Andriopoulos, the President of DEYA Mr. Ntinos G , Dr. Nikos Skondras, Senior Project Officer, GWP-Med and Mr. Cosmas Sotos, Plant Manager at the AVRA Mineral Water plant.
During the ceremony, the Mayor of Aigialeia, Mr. Andriopoulos acknowledged the impact of cross-sector collaborations and stated "Such collaborations between local government, municipal enterprises, and the private sector are particularly important for our Municipality, as they demonstrate in practice that when there is cooperation, significant projects can be achieved with tangible benefits for the local community."
At the project’s core is the replacement of 540 meters of aging, leak-prone pipelines with new piping, of much higher technical specifications designed for long-term reliability. The intervention took place at one of the busiest intersections of the city, benefiting both residencies and neighborhood businesses. GWP-Med worked closely with DEYA to implement an intervention that significantly reduces urban water supply network losses, contributing to the creation of a more reliable and resilient water system.
As highlighted by Dr. Nikos Skondras, Senior Project Officer GWP-Med: Interventions of this kind create a positive example that can be replicated in other regions, contributing to the dissemination of good water management practices and enhancing the resilience of local communities in the face of increasing challenges related to water scarcity and climate change.
By replacing aging pipelines with new ones, the project will save approximately 100 million liters annually, reduce service disruption, ensure a reliable, high-quality water supply for local residents while ensuring substantial long-term savings for the municipality in maintenance costs. In addition, in collaboration with DEYA Aigialeias, an awareness campaign will be launched to inspire citizens to embrace practical water-saving solutions in their everyday lives.
Mr. Nikolopoulos, Technical Director of DEYA Aigialeia, stressed the financial significance of the project: "The targeted replacement of water supply pipelines, combined with the municipality’s telemetry system, could save the municipality the total amount of €30 million that would otherwise be needed to replace the entire water network."
Building on over 20 years of experience, such initiatives have delivered 133 technical applications across Greece, Cyprus, Malta, and Italy—saving 2.6 billion liters of water and benefiting more than 380,000 people. Specifically in Greece, the partnership between GWP-Med/Coca-Cola partnership started in 2006 with the identification of the most water stressed island areas and the design of technical interventions. By 2026, more than 80 water protection and conservation projects have been designed and implemented across 38 islands and cities. These initiatives have already benefited more than 212,000 citizens, while also helping to secure billions of liters of water annually.