Water Loss Programs in North America

Wisconsin M36 Water Loss Auditing

Pilot Program | 6 Systems

The State of Wisconsin is located in a water rich region, with surface water, groundwater, and ample rainfall. The proximity to water sources, however, does not exclude communities from water quality and supply issues. , Through a collaborative effort from the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC), the Wisconsin Section of the American Water Works Association, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and Cavanaugh & Associates, Wisconsin has taken the step to enhance the state’s water loss programs by implementing a pilot program to train utilities in analysis and management of non-revenue water. The aim of this pilot training program was to guide and advance adoption of best-practices for water loss control in the State of Wisconsin. 

New Mexico Water Loss Control Training Program

Statewide Program | 130 Systems

The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) conducted a Statewide Water Loss Control Training Program that ran from September 2015 to August 2016. NMED engaged the Southwest Environmental Finance Center and Cavanaugh to design and implement the program, with the objective to provide training and technical assistance for regulators and funding agencies and a broad group of water utilities regarding the American Water Works Association (AWWA) M36 Water Audits & Loss Control practices.

The New Mexico program was constructed with a separate track for large (≥10,000 population) and small systems (<10,000 population). The large track consisted of two (2) workshop circuits in Albuquerque and Las Cruces over 2 months. The small track consisted of four (4) training circuits in Las Cruces, Albuquerque and Espanola over 7 months. Each track began and ended with a statewide webcast. In total there were 134 water systems that participated in the program.

 Here is a fun recap of the program that captures the collaborative nature of the participating utilities...enjoy! 

California Water Loss Technical Assistance Program

Statewide Program | 450 Systems / Validation Certification

The California Water Loss Technical Assistance Program, funded through the State Water Resources Control Board and part of the CA-NV AWWA’s California Water Loss Collaborative, was delivered through a collaboration between Water Systems Optimization, Inc. and Cavanaugh & Associates, with incredible support from the California-Nevada Section of AWWA and valuable advocacy groups across the state. Reaching more than 450 utilities and over 1,500 individuals, this is easily the largest statewide program of it's kind in the United States.

To learn more, check out the final report  here .

The state's requirement for water audits to be Level 1 validated annually also created it's own  Water Audit Validator certification program .

Utah Water System Efficiency and Water Loss Control Pilot Programs

Pilot Program | 12 Systems

The Intermountain Section of the American Water Works Association, in conjunction with the Utah Division of Water Resources, Division of Drinking Water, and Division of Water Rights completed the Utah Water Efficiency and Water Loss Control Program for water utilities to learn how to improve water efficiency within their systems and to control water loss through a water system audit process.

Phase 1 included a large group workshop welcoming all interested utilities in the state and then focused a 3 utilities to take a deeper dive through Level 1 Validation.

Phase 2 expanded the number of pilot utilities to nine and ushered them through in-person refresher of key concepts and conducted a Level 1 Validation.

 Find out more on the IMS-AWWA Water Loss Control page. 

Washington Water Loss Pilot Program

Pilot Program | 10 Systems

For more than ten years, the Washington Department of Health Office of Drinking Water has required that drinking water suppliers report distribution system leakage (DSL) annually and maintain DSL at less than 10% of the volume of supply (tracked as a three-year average). Acknowledging that drinking water system best practices have evolved over the years, the Department of Health provided offered a pilot AWWA water audit program to ten utilities from late 2017 to early 2018 to evaluate the introduction and applicability of AWWA water audit methodology and performance indicators.

For more information, you can find the final report  here .

Florida Water Loss Pilot Technical Assistance Program

Pilot Program | 10 Systems

Statewide Program | 100 utilities

The Florida Water Loss Pilot Technical Assistance Program was developed by Tampa Bay Water in collaboration with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), with assistance provided by the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD). The purpose of this Pilot Program was to provide technical assistance to a pilot group of water systems to implement best-management practices for water loss control following the methods established in the AWWA Manual of Water Supply Practices M36 Water Audits and Loss Control Programs.

The Pilot Program included ten (10) utilities, reflecting a variety of system sizes and level of water loss management experience, specifically including many of Tampa Bay Water’s member government water agencies and others in the region.

Success through the pilot program created the opportunity deliver a statewide training and technical assistance program through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. This statewide program will usher 100 utilities through a four-stage program and equip them to estimate water losses, evaluate data validity, and make more informed decisions toward water loss intervention strategies.

For more, go to www.floridawaterloss.org

North Carolina Water Loss Program

Pilot Program | 10 Systems

The North Carolina Division of Water Infrastructure launched a Water Loss Control Pilot Program in 2018 to evaluate how a M36 methodology-based program could help North Carolina’s small and medium-sized water utilities achieve statewide goals for system viability. The program also sought to evaluate effective ways to use state funding to build internal utility capacity.

The program provided a pilot group of ten participant utilities with a foundational understanding of the M36 methodology and the accompanying AWWA Free Water Audit Software, how they are applied, and how utility data collected and analyzed with the methodology may be used to assess and improve water loss performance at the utility level.

At the end of the program a Water Loss Summit was held with all participating utilities and all interest parties throughout the state from municipal and county officials, state agencies, contractors and non-governmental organizations.

Check out the program website to see an overview of the summit including panel discussions at  northcarolinawaterloss.org .

The Catawba-Wateree Water Loss Program

Basin-wide Program | 18 Systems

The Catawba-Wateree Water Management Group (CWWMG) has embarked on a Water Loss program to develop meaningful basin-wide targets for water loss. In November 2014, the CWWMG initiated a training workshop for its 18 members to introduce the basic concepts of the AWWA M36 Methodology of Water Loss Control Management. Since then, the CWWMG has taken the exemplary long-view in their water loss control by establishing a baseline in water auditing data, establishing loss profiles and economic analyses to design a program based on reliable, insightful data; enabling the basin group to identify, fund, and manage projects that will help preserve, extend, and enhance the capabilities of the basin.

Arizona Water Loss Pilot Program

Pilot Program | 31 Systems

In 2017, the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority of Arizona (WIFA), in partnership with the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR), initiated Phase 1 of its Water Loss Control Program. The program utilized the American Water Works Association's (AWWA) Program for Water Audits and Loss Control Programs; as the industry's best practice for water loss accounting, otherwise known as the M36 methodology. The purpose of the Water Loss Control Program is to provide utilities with a foundational understanding of the M36 methods, how to apply the technique, and how water audit data can improve water loss performance at the utility level. In 2019, an extension of the pilot program (Phase 2) was developed to expand the number of participating utilities from 6 in Phase 1 to 25 in Phase 2. You can read more about these programs on the  WIFA Water Loss Control page .

Colorado Water Loss Initiative

Pilot Program | 50 Systems

Statewide Program | Multiple Phases | 165 Systems

Following House Bill 1051 in 2010, covered entities (selling 2,000 acre-feet or more per year) in Colorado were required to submit reporting on water loss. In 2015, a pilot program was introduced to 50 water systems delivering the key concepts of water auditing and the M36 methodology. In 2018, the Colorado Water Conservation Board created the Colorado Water Loss Initiative - a 24-month program designed to teach water utilities and assist them with the implementation of best practices for the management of water losses. There is no requirement for utilities in Colorado to submit annual water audits. As such, this is the largest voluntary statewide water loss program in the United States to date.

Phase two of the program goes beyond water audits and assists participating utilities with targeted interventions for water loss management, such as supply input meter testing, billing data analysis and prorating, customer meter test design and result analysis, real loss component analysis, and leak detection. The second phase of the CWLI started in August 2021 and will run through 2023. It will integrate basic training and practices to new participants, as well as advanced training and technical assis tance to those that successfully com plete the water audit validation step. More than 25 systems have taken advantage of the training or technical assistance offerings in phase two of the program, with others on track to continue the journey in 2023.

You can watch an interview with one of the participating utilities  here .

Listen to a CWCB podcast on Phase 2 here.

Check out the program website at  coloradwaterloss.org .

Quebec's Water Efficiency Strategy

Validation Certification Program

On World Water Day, March 22nd 2019, the Québec government (a Canadian Province) and its municipal and technical partners announced the renewal of the Québec Water Efficiency Strategy for 2019-2025.

The three main objectives for the province are to reduce the quantity of water distributed by at least 20% compared to 2015, to reduce water losses to achieve an Infrastructure Leakage Index of 4 and to ensure the sustainability of water services by increasing investments to maintain water assets and gradually eliminate the accumulated backlog. With the 2019-2025 Strategy, all municipalities in Québec will complete annually the AWWA Free Water Audit Software, receive level 1 validation of their audit by a Qualified Water Loss Auditor of the Québec government and have specific reduction targets for each of their system.

The International Water Association - Water Loss Specialist Group hosted a webinar on August 23, 2020 explaining the structure and the implementation of the Strategy as well as the path toward a Level 1 validation program. You can view it  here .

Southern Nevada Water Authority - Water Loss Program

Regional Program | Multiple Phases | 4 Systems

While the state of Nevada looks to obligate water systems that serve 3,300 persons or more to conduct a water audit in accordance with M36 methodology, the SNWA is getting ahead of the curve.

As the wholesale water provider to Southern Nevada’s municipal water agencies, the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) is responsible for managing the region’s current and future water resources. In the first phase of the program, four water purveyors in southern Nevada have:

Established an annual water balance that disaggregates all subcomponents of water loss in terms of volume and value;

Conducted a rigorous assessment of data validity to benchmark audit reliability and identify where data improvements are warranted; and

Plan next steps toward improved data and water loss management, particularly with a focus on cost justification.

In Phase 2, these water purveyors will continue to move their water loss programs forward with the following objectives:

Continue baseline auditing practice, conduct advanced validation to determine levels of uncertainty and any impacts that will have to NRW reduction strategy in subsequent phases of work.

Assess the magnitude of volumes and costs between the current and target non‐revenue water at the component and aggregate levels to establish NRW targets.

Design system‐specific activities for NRW reduction pursuant to established targets.

Texas Water Audit Validation Pilot Project

Pilot Program | 10 Systems

The Texas Water Development Board is providing a state-funded program of AWWA M36 water loss validation training and technical assistance for select systems in the state.

As a follow up to the pilot study, TWDB is now currently training staff to become water audit validators.

Indian Health Service Water Loss Program

Regional Pilot Program | 9 Tribal Utilities

Tribal utilities are not immune to water loss. Whether the driving factor to controlling water losses is environmental, economic, or both, tribal utilities are still tasked with operating their systems as efficiently as possible. Although unique scenarios such as no billed consumption and/or no customer meters exist for many tribal utilities, taking the first step in learning how to apply the AWWA Free Water Audit Software gives them a starting point and action plan in which to reduce losses and operate more efficiently. The purpose of the IHS Water Loss program is to develop the capacity of a pilot group of tribal utilities across four states in the southwestern United States to implement a water loss auditing and control program based on the American Water Works Association (AWWA) M36 tools and methods including the AWWA Free Water Audit Software.