Page 49 - Water Loss Control

CHAPTER 4

Water Loss Management

in the United States and

Internationally—What is

Necessary to Control the

Water Loss Problem?

Reinhard Sturm

Julian Thornton
George Kunkel, P.E.

4.1 Introduction
Water loss is a chronic, and often severe, global problem; spanning from highly devel-
oped countries with extensive infrastructure to developing countries with limited
resources. Climate change, drought, and water shortages, often occurring in arid or
semiarid regions of expanding population, are having an increasing impact on water
supplies and water is becoming a limiting factor for economic growth and environmen-
tal sustainability. Given this stark reality, it is inconceivable that most countries do not
require reliable tracking of water supplies and losses. Commonly heard justifications
from water utility managers for their inaction are a perceived lack of resources and the
burden of many other priorities of system operation. Some utilities downplay their
losses out of fear of public resentment, especially in cases where the utility is asking the
customer to conserve water or pay higher rates or tariffs. In areas with limited water
audit regulations, some utility managers distort their true losses on paper using “pencil,”
audits that are not scrutinized by outside authorities. Most of these practices, however,
are merely a reflection of the lack of a regional or national agenda for water loss control
for these utilities.

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