Medan is the capital of the North Sumatra province in Indonesia and the country’s third largest city.  Located in the northern part of the province and along the coast, Medan occupies 265.1 km².  Water supply service in Medan City is mainly provided by the Tirtanadi Water Supply Company or PDAM Tirtanadi.  Service coverage is around 78% of the total of 2.5 million city residents.  Unserved residents get water from groundwater wells, water vendors or directly from surface water bodies. PDAM Tirtanadi is considered one of the leading water supply companies in Indonesia, with reported unaccounted-for water at around 24% and staff/customer ratio at 1:200.

Maynilad Water Services, Inc., serves the western concession zone of Metro Manila with a population 6.2 million in the coverage area.  As of December 2007, there were 703,519 water service connections (including private meters), 67,420 sewerage connections and a workforce of 1,555.  Maynilad has notably developed a menu of options to serve low-income communities including: bulk water provision to NGOs to operate water schemes in informal settlements; leveraging community labor contributions to reduce costs; and serving 2-5 homes in ‘clustered’ connections through a single meter at a reduced connection fee, among others.