California's Water Utilities Prepare For New Water Loss Law

California water utilities will need to report water loss figures to the state under a new law that aims to reduce non-revenue water and conserve resources.

“Soon Californians will know exactly how much their water utilities are leaking. Senate Bill 555, a law passed by the state legislature in 2015, requires large urban water utilities — those treating more than 3,000 acre-feet (3.7 million cubic meters) of water annually or with more than 3,000 connections — to file water loss audits starting in October. There are 410 utilities subject to the law,” News Deeply reported.

Todd Thompson, a senior engineer at the California Department of Water Resources, spoke to News Deeply about how the law will be implemented. He noted that about 60 percent of the water utilities affected by this law already prepare water loss reports on a voluntary basis.

“[The law is] part of improving best management practices on the water supply side. And it is a first step in improving system operation and efficiency,” he said, per the report.

On its blog, Master Meter published a state-by-state comparison of water-loss policies in different locations. It said California is among the states with the most water loss policies. Along with the new reporting requirement, “by 2020, the State Water Resources Control Board must adopt a performance standard for the volume of losses from urban water distribution systems,” the blog said.

The blog also singled out Georgia as mandating the highest level of water-loss policies among the states. Thompson explained how California has learned from Georgia.

“That was also a result of a drought they went through. They are at least six years ahead of us. I think their law started in 2010. They’ve had good acceptance with it and actually we are using some of the info they’ve learned in our program. We have gained from their experience,” he said, per News Deeply.

The following states have no water loss reporting requirements, according to the Master Meter blog: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, and Wyoming.

Non-revenue water plagues every water system. According to a report by the World Bank, "The total cost to water utilities caused by non-revenue water worldwide can be conservatively estimated at $141 billion per year, with a third of it occurring in the developing world. In developing countries, about 45 million cubic meters are lost daily through water leakage in the distribution networks — enough to serve nearly 200 million people."

To read more about drought issues visit Water Online’s Water Scarcity Solutions Center.