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The Financial and Policy Implications of Water Loss
Author(s) -
Ress Erin,
Roberson J. Alan
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal ‐ american water works association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.466
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1551-8833
pISSN - 0003-150X
DOI - 10.5942/jawwa.2016.108.0026
Subject(s) - audit , investment (military) , finance , business , control (management) , accounting , actuarial science , environmental economics , economics , management , politics , political science , law
This research analyzed the financial and policy implications of potentially using a regulatory requirement as a mechanism to reduce water loss. This research compared validated water audits from North America, voluntarily submitted in calendar years 2010 to 2013, with audits from Georgia, required to be submitted to the state in calendar years 2011 and 2012. The analysis did not show any significant differences between the two data sets. This article also compares performance indicators on the basis of the size of the utilities and their geographic distributions and found no trends. Two methodologies are presented for calculating the benefits of reducing losses, which could be used as part of an analysis to assess the return on investment when prioritizing among competing infrastructure needs and when evaluating a water loss control program.