Presentation I helped make at the Safe Drinking Water Act Seminar on 11/5/10.

1. Water Loss –
A Business
Case for
Action
Bernie Bouman, PE and Dan Barr, PE

2. Water Loss Program

3. Goals of a Water Loss Program
 Maximize revenues
 Minimize costs
 Equitable to customers
 Improve reputation
 Greener operations
 Meet any future regulations

4. Goals of a Water Loss Program
Maximize Revenues
 80 to 90% of all revenues are user fees
 Properly collect all revenue with accurate
meters and eliminating theft

5. Goals of a Water Loss Program
Minimize Costs

6. Unaccounted For Water
Billed Consumption
Plant Production

7. What is Missing?
Unmetered Consumption
 Public Facilities
 Fire Protection
 Flushing
 Main Breaks
 Theft

8. What Else?
 Benchmarking
against other
communities
 Making a business
case for a water
loss reduction
program

9. What’s Next

10. Modern AWWA Water Audit

11. Modern AWWA Water Audit
System Input Volume
The annual volume input
to the water supply
system

12. Modern AWWA Water Audit
Authorized Consumption
The annual volume of metered and/or
unmetered water taken by registered
customers, the water supplier, and others
who are authorized to do so.
Water Losses
The difference between the above:
System Input Volume – Authorized
Consumption

13. Modern AWWA Water Audit
Apparent Losses
Unauthorized Consumption, all types of
customer metering inaccuracies and
systematic data handling errors including
theft.
Real Losses
The annual volumes lost through all types of
leaks, breaks, and overflows up to the point of
customer metering

14. Modern AWWA Water Audit
Revenue Water
Those components of the System
Input Volume that are billed
and produce revenue.
Nonrevenue Water
The sum of Unbilled Authorized
Consumption, Apparent Losses
and Real Losses.

15. Free AWWA Water Audit Spreadsheet

16. AWWA Water Audit Spreadsheet
What this spreadsheet will
help determine
– Water Losses in gallons
and dollars
– Apparent Losses in gallons
and dollars
– Non-Revenue Water in
gallons and % of Water
Supplied

17. AWWA Water Audit Spreadsheet
What this spreadsheet
will help determine
– Performance Indicators
like:
 Unavoidable Annual Real
Losses (UARL)
 Current Annual Real
Losses (CARL)
 Infrastructure Leakage
Index (ILI) [CARL/UARL]

18. AWWA Water Audit Spreadsheet
What this spreadsheet will help determine
– A Business Case for Improvements
 Where should we spend capital to best improve our
performance?
 How much should we spend?
 How much is lost and where?
 How does utility compare to peers?

19. AWWA Water Audit Spreadsheet
Required Input data for
Spreadsheet
– Water Volume Supplied in gallons
 Water Imported / Exported
 Water Produced
 Production Meter Inaccuracy
– Authorized Consumption in gallons
 Billed Metered / Unmetered
 Unbilled Metered / Unmetered
– Estimate of Apparent Losses in
gallons
 Unauthorized Consumption
 Customer Metering Inaccuracies by
volume or percentage
 Systematic Data Handling Errors

20. AWWA Water Audit Spreadsheet
Required Input data for Spreadsheet
– System Data
 Length of mains in miles
 Number of service connections
 Average length of service lines
 Average Operating Pressure
– Cost Data
 Total Annual Operating Costs
 Retail Cost / 1000 gallons
 Production Cost / million gallons

21. Quantifying Unbilled Unmetered
Authorized Consumption
– Spreadsheet will assume 1.25 % of Water Supplied
– Review following:
 Fire fighting and training
 Flushing mains, sewers
 Street cleaning
 Irrigation of Public Areas
 Fountains
 Swimming pools
 Construction sites
 Unmetered Public facilities

22. Quantifying Unauthorized Consumption
– Spreadsheet will assume 0.25 % of Water Supplied
– Review following:
 Illegal connections
 Hidden meters
 Misuse of hydrants
 Bypassed or tampered with meters
 Illegally opening closed curb stops
 Uninstalled meters

23. Water Audit Case Study
 A city has the following input data for 2008:
– Water Supplied = 2,117,000,000 gallons imported.
– Authorized Consumption
 Billed Metered = 1,792,000,000 gallons
 Unbilled Metered = 2,000,000 gallons
 Unbilled Unmetered = 2,000,000 gallons

24. Water Audit Case Study
– Water Losses
 Unauthorized Consumption = 5,000,000 gallons
 Customer Metering Inaccuracies = 91,000,000 gallons
 Systemic Data Handling Errors = 0 gallons
– System Data
 351.6 miles of main
 18,047 service connections
 72.4 psi Average Operating Pressure
– Cost Data
 Retail cost per 1000 gallons - $2.49
 Production Cost - $1,640 / million gallons

25. Water Audit Case Study Results
PERFORMANCE INDICATOR RESULTS
Financial Indicators
 Non-revenue water as percent by volume of Water Supplied: 15.4%
 Annual cost of Apparent Losses: $238,080
 Annual cost of Real Losses: $369,000

26. Water Audit Case Study Results
PERFORMANCE INDICATOR RESULTS
Operational Efficiency Indicators
Apparent Losses per service connection per day: 14.57 gallons/connection/day
Real Losses per service connection per day: 34.16 gallons/connection/day
Real Losses per service connection per day per psi pressure: 0.47
gallons/connection/day/psi
Unavoidable Annual Real Losses (UARL): 155.67 million gallons/year
Real Losses = Current Annual Real Losses (CARL): 225.00 million gallons/year
Infrastructure Leakage Index (ILI) [CARL/UARL]: 1.45

27. Water Audit Case Study Results
WATER AUDIT DATA VALIDITY SCORE
*** YOUR SCORE IS: 72 out of 100 ***
A weighted scale for the components of consumption and water loss is included in the
calculation of the Water Audit Data Validity Score.
PRIORITY AREAS FOR ATTENTION: Based on the information provided, audit accuracy can
be improved by addressing the following components:
1: Water imported
2: Total annual cost of operating water system
3: Customer metering inaccuracies

28. Long Term Analysis using Audit
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
MGD
Fiscal Year
City of Philadelphia, PA Water Audit Trends over 10 Years
Water System Input Volume, mgd
Billed Consumption, mgd
Unbilled Unmetered (firefighting, etc.),
mgd
Apparent Losses (billing data error,
unauthorized consumption, customer
metering inaccuracies), mgd
Real Losses (Leakage), mgd

29. Long Term Analysis using Audit
0
5,000,000
10,000,000
15,000,000
20,000,000
25,000,000
30,000,000
35,000,000
40,000,000
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
CostinDollars
Fiscal Year
City of Philadelphia, PA Water Audit Cost Trends over 10
Years
Unbilled Unmetered water cost
Apparent Loss Cost
Real Loss (leakage) Cost
Non-revenue Water Cost Total

30. Begin a Program

31. Data Handling Errors
 Accounting Procedures
– Manually check your
processes from meter
reading to customer billing

32. Metering

33. Metering
 Large and Production Meters
– Meters 2” and larger.
– Up to 60% of consumption.
– Calibrate annually.

34. Metering
 Residential Meters
– Inventory and Sample
– Average Customer Meter
often needs replaced
after 10 years.

35. Leakage Reduction
 Acoustic methods very
cost effective
– Start with pilot
 Pressure Management
 Area Master Meters
 Other Upcoming
Technologies

36. Leakage Reduction
 Canton, OH Case Study
– Surveyed about 280 miles of
water mains
– Found 80 leaks
 31 at hydrants
 19 at services
 23 on the main lines

37. Leakage Reduction
 Canton, OH Case Study
– Estimated 773,520 gpd from
identified leaks
– Survey Cost $35,000
 $100 to $150/mile

38. Leakage Reduction
 Surveyed 200 miles of water transmission main
for a cost of $15,000
“Elimination
of leaks paid
for the
survey.. and
then some!”
• Located 36 leaks that were repaired
• Reduction of 350,000 GPD of real
water losses!
• Represents 12% of the water being
purchased daily for Erie County!
• Resulted in a savings of $500 daily
or $182,500 per year!
Erie County, OH Case Study

39. Summary
 The AWWA M36 Water Audit Manual
creates a business case and benchmarking
tool.
 Starting points for water loss reduction
include:
– Auditing your accounting procedures
– A meter testing and replacement program
– A leak detection survey
 Continuous Improvement

40. Summary

41. Questions?