Page 182 - Water Loss Control

156 Cha pte r Ele v e n

• Customer metering inaccuracies
• Systematic data-handling errors, particularly in customer billing systems
• Unauthorized consumption
Certain occurrences of apparent losses are easily identified; and assumptions can be
made to initially approximate the more complex components of apparent losses. Ulti-
mately, detailed components should be verified as bottom-up work (field investiga-
tions) is conducted and the water loss control strategy develops.

11.2 How Apparent Losses Occur
Apparent losses occur due to inefficiencies in the measurement, recording, archiving,
and accounting operations used to track water volumes in a water utility. These inef-
ficiencies result from inaccurate or oversized customer meters, poor meter-reading,
billing and accounting practices, weak policies, or ineffective management. Apparent
losses also occur from unauthorized consumption, which is caused by individual cus-
tomers or others tampering with their metering or meter-reading devices or other-
wise maliciously obtaining water without appropriately paying for the service. For
any type of apparent loss, it is incumbent upon utility mangers and operators to real-
istically assess metering and billing operations for inconsistencies, and then develop
internal policies and procedures to economically minimize these inefficiencies. It is
also important to clearly communicate to customers, utility executives, elected offi-
cials, financing agencies, and the media the problems of apparent losses and the need
to control them.
The specific ways in which apparent losses occur are many and varied and, particu-
larly with unauthorized consumption, always changing. Those taking water in unau-
thorized fashion do so for varied reasons. Some sincerely believe that water should be
free and it is their right to obtain water without paying for it. Others feel that they do
not have the financial resources to pay for the service. More often, however, such users
take water maliciously, always thinking of new ways to “beat the system.”
The water utility must therefore be vigilant in its effort to manage its product (water)
via effective meter management and rational billing, auditing, collection, and enforce-
ment policies in order to realize projected levels of revenue and maintain accurate mea-
sures of the water that it supplies.
A note regarding collections: As water utility financial managers know, not all of their
customers pay their water bill as required, or pay their bill on time. The collection rate is
a financial performance indicator that reflects the rate at which customers pay their
water bills. The collected payments are measured as a percentage of the money billed
each month for the utility’s services. Collection rates at the 30-day, 60-day and 90-day
milestones are typically tracked in order to provide a representative picture of the cus-
tomer population’s payment record. While the collection rate is a highly important
measure that represents the pace at which revenue is gained by the water utility, collec-
tions are not included in the water audit methodology detailed in this publication
because the collection rate measures payments based upon billed consumption, whether
or not all water has passed through customer meters, or was accurately measured. The
water audit methodology has as its terminal boundary the customer meter which gen-
erates the consumption data that is the basis for the customer billing. This publication
provides utilities guidance in maximizing the efficiency of their water billing process,