Page 57 - Water Loss Control

What is Necessary to Contr ol the W ater Loss Pr oblem? 39

services for hard-to-find leaks and to conduct periodic surveys of their systems to search
for unreported leaks.
More sophisticated leakage management technologies such as district metered
areas (DMA) or flow-modulated pressure control are only used by a handful of utilities
in the United States.

4.2.7 Positive Developments in the United States—Regulations,
Standards, and Practices
Water and energy conservation has become increas-
ingly important for water utilities and policy mak-
Significant progress was
ers, and utility managers are increasingly realizing made over the past 5 years
that the improved accountability and loss control is
with several groundbreaking
important from environmental, political, and eco-
nomical points of view. This trend is strengthened regulations and publications—
by factors such as ongoing droughts, increasing leading the United States into
population in the U.S. western states, expensive active and efficient manage-
water resources, and possible future regulations for ment of water losses.
distribution systems by the USEPA.
Since the first edition of this manual was published in 2002, several very important
and positive initiatives took place, preparing the way for successful water loss manage-
ment in the United States.
The most important initiatives are listed below:
• In 2001, the American Water Works Research Foundation (AwwaRF) Research
Advisory Council funded project #2811 “Evaluating Water Loss and Planning
5
Loss Reduction Strategies” to help refine water loss definitions, measures, and
standards for North America. The final report of this important project was
published in 2007, and is now a standard reference for water loss management
in North America.
• In 2003, the AWWA-WLCC recommended both the IWA water balance and the
IWA performance indicators (including the infrastructure leakage index) in their
committee report as the current industry best practice for assessing water losses. 6
• In 2003, the Texas State Legislature passed House Bill 3338, which includes in its
language a requirement for drinking water utilities to submit a water audit
every 5 years. The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) was charged to
identify the method to be used for these water audits and has established the
method developed by IWA. Texas is the first state in the United States that has
adopted the IWA best management practice for water audits. Texas has set a
clear signal that it supports standardized and unambiguous assessment of
water losses.
• Since 2003, several other water oversight agencies have set forth to improve
water supply efficiency and long-term sustainability. The following organiza-
tions are reviewing state regulations, statutes, and water plans:
• California Urban Water Conservation Council (CUWCC)
• California Public Utilities Commission
• Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC)
• States of Georgia, New Mexico, Washington, Tennessee, Maryland, and
Pennsylvania