What is non-revenue water?

Within discussions centered around sustainability, water scarcity, and the conservation of precious resources, one topic regularly covered is how utilities can better solve the challenge of water loss within their network. The need to protect precious resources and reduce water loss to more acceptable levels has made non-revenue water (NRW) one of the most challenging problems for water utility owners and operators to overcome.?

But what exactly is non-revenue water (NRW)?

NRW is the difference between the water entering a distribution system and the amount billed to water consumers. NRW is not the only actual loss of water, such as leakage or pipe bursts, but it also can impact all levels – from water abstraction to billing. Causes are as diverse as they are complicated to identify and measure, making #NRW a major topic to ensure the future of resilient utilities.

Highlighting the impact of non-revenue water

Current data indicates that non-revenue water has a significant economic impact; on average, 33%, or between 20 to 50% of water in distribution infrastructures, is lost due to leakages in the aging infrastructure at most utilities.

Why do leaks occur?

Physical losses, referred to as ‘real losses,’ are the annual volumes lost through all types of leaks, bursts, and overflows on mains, service reservoirs, and service connections, up to the point of customer metering. The most problematic leakages are those that are not visible on the surface. The reason for the leakages are numerous and can include individual or combined factors, including poor installation, accidental damage, corrosion or aging infrastructure, water hammer, earth movements, theft, and many more.

"We strive to conserve natural resources both in our daily business and in how our products are used in customer applications. By focusing on our core competence – water treatment and the safe transport of liquids – we help to ensure that the valuable resource water is used economically."

How GF Piping Systems is #SolvingWaterLossforLife

GF Piping Systems provide innovative products and solutions to help solve water loss and reduce non-revenue water for utilities. State-of-the-art pressure management technologies and long-lasting, corrosion-free polyethylene (PE) plastic piping solutions can help utilities mitigate the worldwide loss of drinking water due to leakages in aging infrastructure. We are protecting over-pressurized piping infrastructure while delivering stable flow capacity, testing the leak tightness of piping joints using Ultrasonic Non-Disruptive-Testing capabilities, and reducing corrosion with engineered plastic solutions. Whether combined or individually applied, our goal is to use our pioneering technology and domain expertise to help reduce the estimated USD 39 billion of non-revenue water lost annually1 and solve water loss for life.

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?? Solving Water Loss for Life booklet