Page 278 - Water Loss Control

CHAPTER 15

Controlling Apparent

Losses—Unauthorized

Consumption

George Kunkel, P.E.
Julian Thornton

Reinhard Sturm

15.1 Unauthorized Consumption Occurs in Many Ways
Unauthorized consumption is a label for water that is taken against the policies of the
water utility and often occurs from
• Illegal connections to the water distribution system
• Open bypasses, typically around large customer meters
• Buried or otherwise obscured meters that result in water consumption being
hidden from the water utility
• Misuse of fire hydrants and fire fighting systems (unmetered fire lines)
• Vandalized or manipulated consumption meters (meter tampering)
• Tampering with meter reading equipment
• Illegally opening of valves or curb-stops on customer service piping that has
been discontinued or shutoff for nonpayment
• Illegally opening valves to neighboring water distribution systems that are
intended to stay closed except for emergency or special use
• Dishonest actions by water utility employees working in the metering, meter
reading, or billing functional groups of the utility
• Failure to notify the water utility to activate a billing account after new customer
service connections are placed into service

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