Every drop counts: How water utilities are putting water efficiency first

摘要

If the past several years have reinforced anything, it's the idea of making the most of what you have. Water utilities in particular live out this lesson every day in their budgeting, planning, purchasing, and operations. It all centers on water efficiency. Of course, that includes the lifeblood of the industry, water itself. But it also applies to the management of infrastructure investments, revenues, costs of energy, and other resources. These days, it isn't enough just to collect meter readings. Water efficiency has become an issue that utilities cannot ignore-so much so that many states are adopting standardized water auditing measures promoted by AWWA and adopted by state environmental agencies. To reduce nonrevenue water, a utility must address not only the real losses of physical leaks along distribution lines but also apparent losses, including inaccurate metering and theft.