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Contr olling Appar ent Losses—Capturing Missing Revenue and Data Integrity 157

while collections focus on payment efficiency, which is beyond the scope of this textbook.
The reader should consult publications on water rates and finance to obtain guidance
on tracking their collection rate and instituting policies that maximize collections.

11.3 Customer Meter Inaccuracy
Customer meters that inaccurately measure the volumes passing through them can be
a major source of apparent loss in drinking water systems. While most North American
drinking water utilities meter their customer consumption, a notable number do not.
For example, only 56% of all residences in Canada were metered as of 1999, therefore
1
many customers are unmetered and typically pay a flat-rate fee for water service. In
unmetered water utilities, meter accuracy cannot be evaluated as an apparent loss;
although these utilities are behooved to use other methods to quantify the amount of
customer consumption and separate it from components of authorized consumption
and water losses.
Figure 11.1 gives the American Water Works Association’s (AWWA) policy state-
ment on metering and accountability. This publication supports AWWA’s recommen-
dation to meter water supplied to distribution systems as well as all customer
consumption, therefore this discussion exists in the context of water utilities having
fully metered customer populations. Water utilities that do not meter their customers
can obtain an approximation of customer consumption by metering and data-logging
representative samples of customer accounts and statistically evaluating the results to
infer general customer consumption trends.
Customer meters provide valuable information on consumption trends for long-
term planning, and data needed to evaluate loss control and conservation programs.
Metering also elevates the value of water in the mind of the consumer by linking a price
with a volume. With highly capable metering, automatic meter-reading systems, and
data-logging technologies now widely available, customer consumption information
has become a critical element to better manage water utility operations and the water
resources of individual watersheds or regions.

The American Water Works Association (AWWA) recommends that every water
utility meter all water taken into its system and all water distributed from its
system at its customer’s point of service. AWWA also recommends that utilities
conduct regular water audits to ensure accountability. Customers reselling utility
water – such as apartment complexes, wholesalers, agencies, associations, or
businesses – should be guided by principles that encourage accurate metering,
consumer protection, and financial equity.
Metering and water auditing provide an effective means of managing water system
operations and essential data for system performance studies, facility planning, and the
evaluation of conservation measures. Water audits evaluate the effectiveness of
metering and meter reading systems, as well as billing, accounting, and loss control
programs. Metering consumption of all water services provides a basis for assessing
users equitably and encourages the efficient use of water.
An effective metering program relies upon periodic performance testing, repair, and
maintenance of all meters. Accurate metering and water auditing ensure an equitable
recovery of revenue based on level of service and wise use of available water resources.

FIGURE 11.1 Policy statement: metering and accountability. (Source: American Water Works
Association)