Page 43 - Water Loss Control

Understanding the Types of W ater Losses 25

Considerable research work has been conducted in the past decade on the nature
and impact of leakage and highly effective practices and technologies have been devel-
oped and successfully implemented around the world to reduce, control, and manage
real losses. It should be in the foremost interests of all water suppliers to closely evalu-
ate leakage occurring in their systems and take advantage of these methods which may
be considered the best practice model in controlling leakage losses.

3.1.2 Apparent Losses
It is important to notice that apparent losses are not caused by leakage. They do not
include any physical losses of water, since the water has reached the destination of an
end user. However, this successful supply function was inaccurately metered, archived
improperly in the billing system, or the use of water was unauthorized. Apparent losses
are a very important component for the water supplier to keep under control as they
have a direct negative impact on suppliers’ revenue generation for a product that was
delivered to the customer.
Accurate metering of customers provides valuable information on consumption
trends needed to evaluate loss control and conservation programs. It also elevates the
value of water in the mind of the consumer by linking a price with a volume. With
improved metering, automatic meter reading, and data-logging technologies now
widely available, customer consumption information has become a critical resource to
better manage water-utility operations and the water resources of individual water-
sheds or regions. 4
Before discussing the specifics of these losses, it is appropriate to review the typical
metering and billing structures used by water suppliers. With the establishment of
modern indoor plumbing, customer service pipes have been tapped directly into local
water pipes or mains to bring water directly into the homes of the consumer. Figure 3.5
shows a typical direct-feed situation.
Many water suppliers have chosen to incorporate customer water meters at the
end-user premises and gather regular meter readings for the purpose of billing per unit

Mixed volumetric and direct pressure use

House

Affected by pressure Shower
Not affected by pressure
Toilet
Bath

Garden Sink
Meter Washer
hose
Pool
Road
Service
Main
FIGURE 3.5 Typical direct pressure residential supply situation.