What's The Value Of Non-Revenue Water?

By Tom Walski, Ph.D., Bentley Systems

Everyone wants to reduce water loss. No one likes to see water running over the ground. But people who understand the water industry know that reducing water loss to zero just isn’t economical. Spending $10,000 to save $50 worth of water may not be good management. It depends on the value of water which is not necessarily the price customers pay for water.

Not all water loss, more correctly nonrevenue water, has the same cost to the water utility, and not all reduction is worth the same. First, it’s important to distinguish between the two main categories of water loss, apparent loss and real loss.