ArticlePDF Available

Urban Water Losses Management in Turkey: The Legislation and Challenges

DOI:10.18038/btda.67184
Authors:
I.Ethem Karadirek at Akdeniz University
I.Ethem Karadirek
Download full-text PDF
Read full-text
Download citation

Abstract and Figures

Water losses from water distribution networks (WDNs) have become a crucial problem in many countries such as Turkey, where country average non-revenue water (NRW) is almost 45% of system input volume (SIV). Municipalities are responsible for water supply in Turkey but only a few of them have started to improve their WDNs for management of water losses and provide good application examples; whereas many of the other municipalities have no activities to reduce water losses. The Turkish Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs issued a new directive to control and reduce water losses from WDNs recently. With the issue of the new directive, all municipalities are now obliged to reduce water losses in WDNs within a given time frame. This paper represents a discussion and evaluation for the contents of the new Turkish directive on water losses management for the first time. Moreover, other existing guidelines and some country practices are presented to provide recommendations for the management of urban water losses. Reduction of water losses contributes directly to protection of water quality in WDNs and public health.
Figures - uploaded by I.Ethem Karadirek
Author content
All figure content in this area was uploaded by I.Ethem Karadirek
Content may be subject to copyright.
Content uploaded by I.Ethem Karadirek
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by I.Ethem Karadirek on Sep 27, 2017
Content may be subject to copyright.
*CorrespondingAuthor:ethemkaradirek@akdeniz.edu.tr
Anadolu Üniversitesi Bilim ve Teknoloji Dergisi A- Uygulamalı Bilimler ve Mühendislik
Anadolu University Journal of Science and Technology A- Applied Sciences and Engineering
2016 - Volume: 17 Number: 3
Page: 572 - 584
DOI: 10.18038/btda.67184
Received: 17 June 2016 Revised: 13 July 2016 Accepted: 04 August 2016
URBAN WATER LOSSES MANAGEMENT IN TURKEY: THE LEGISLATION AND
CHALLENGES
İ. Ethem KARADİREK *
Department of Environmental Engineering, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey
ABSTRACT
Water losses from water distribution networks (WDNs) have become a crucial problem in many countries such as Turkey,
where country average non-revenue water (NRW) is almost 45% of system input volume (SIV). Municipalities are responsible
for water supply in Turkey but only a few of them have started to improve their WDNs for management of water losses and
provide good application examples; whereas many of the other municipalities have no activities to reduce water losses. The
Turkish Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs issued a new directive to control and reduce water losses from WDNs recently.
With the issue of the new directive, all municipalities are now obliged to reduce water losses in WDNs within a given time
frame. This paper represents a discussion and evaluation for the contents of the new Turkish directive on water losses
management for the first time. Moreover, other existing guidelines and some country practices are presented to provide
recommendations for the management of urban water losses. Reduction of water losses contributes directly to protection of
water quality in WDNs and public health.
Keywords: Apparent water losses, Management challenges of water losses, Physical water losses, Urban water losses
management, Water losses directive in Turkey
1. INTRODUCTION
Water resources are currently under pressure due to climate change and increasing water demand, caused
by the increase in population, urbanization and industrialization [1,2]. Thus, sustainable water
management is becoming more crucial. A World Bank study showed that each year more than 32 billion
m3 of treated water is lost due to leakage from WDNs around the world, while 16 billion m3 of water is
used but not paid [3].
The difference between system input volume (SIV) and authorized consumption is defined as water
losses while the difference between SIV and billed water consumption is defined as non-revenue water
(NRW) [4]. Water losses in water distribution networks (WDNs) are classified as real/physical losses
and commercial/apparent losses. Real losses are mainly due to leakage on transmission and distribution
mains, leakage on service connections and leakage and overflows at storage tanks while apparent losses
are mainly due to unauthorized consumption, customer meter inaccuracies and data handling errors [5,
6]. Water losses from WDNs are not only a revenue problem but it also results in waste of sources such
as water, energy and chemicals [7]. Management of water losses from WDNs results in: i. reducing
demand on water supplies, ii. reducing costs and energy demand for water abstraction, transmission and
treatment chemicals needed for treatment and supply. Reducing water losses from WDNs provides
additional water for future demands and water authorities save time and money by postponing their
projects on water supply and infrastructure. However, most of the water authorities are not fully aware
of these facts [8]. Financial gains from reduced water production increase water revenue. Also, possible
delay of capacity expansion of water supply system could be achieved by reducing water losses from
WDNs. Moreover, leakage points may provide intrusion pathways under negative pressure conditions
in WDNs [9]. Consequently, water losses problem from WDNs is not only economic and environmental
but also a public health issue [10]. Reduction of physical water losses reduces the risk of potential
Karadirek / Anadolu Univ. J. of Sci. and Technology – A – Appl. Sci. and Eng. 17 (3) - 2016
573
contamination from leak points. Accordingly, many utilities have started to develop methods to control
water losses from WDNs [11, 12, 13].
International Water Association (IWA) developed the standard water balance concept to create a
common terminology for evaluation of WDNs [14]. Later on, IWA standard water balance was modified
by introducing economic dimensions of the volumetric IWA standard water balance [15] and also adding
a minimum charge difference component [16]. IWA developed a set of 170 performance indicators (PIs)
for assessment of water distribution efficiency [17]. The basic and most widely used PIs provided by
IWA are i) total water losses and real losses as a percentage of SIV, ii) volume of real water losses per
service connection per unit time, iii) volume of real water losses per property per unit time, iv) volume
of real water losses per length of system per unit time, where length of system equals to sum of length
of mains and length of service connections up to point of customer metering, v) infrastructure leakage
index (ILI) which is the ratio of current annual real losses (CARL) to unavoidable annual real losses
(UARL) [18]. ILI has no unit which makes it suitable for comparison between different WDNs in
different countries and is an efficient tool for assessment of WDNs in terms of management of real water
losses at current operating pressure [18]. ILI was developed by considering the fact that real water losses
cannot be eliminated totally. A simple matrix was developed, which can be used for classification of
real water losses in WDNs, as given in Table 1 [19].
Table 1. Real water losses assessment matrix [19]
ILI
Band General description of categories
Developed
Countries
Developing
Countries
1-2 1-4 A
Further loss reduction may be uneconomic unless
there are shortages;
careful analysis is needed to
identify cost-effective improvement
2-4 4-8 B
Potential for marked improvements; consider
pressure management,
better active leakage control
practices, and better network maintenance
4-8 8-16 C
Poor leakage record; tolerable only if water is
plentiful and cheap; even
then, analyze level and
nature of leakage and intensify leakage
reduction
>8 >16 D
Very inefficient use of resources; leakage reduction
programs
are
imperative with high priority
The lowest achievable annual volume of real losses for well-managed systems is named as UARL which
can be calculated using the following equation developed by IWA Water Loss Task Force [4].
  180,8
 25 (1)
where Lm is the length of mains in km, Nc is the number of service connections, Lp is the total length of
underground pipe between the edge of the street and customer meters in km, and P is the average
operating pressure in meters [4].
1.1. Methods for Water Losses Reduction
The formation of district metered areas (DMAs) which makes it possible to divide WDNs into small,
isolated WDNs provides an efficient way to manage water losses [7, 20, 21]. There are four basic
methods to control real water losses: i) pressure management, ii) active leakage management, iii)
pipeline and assets management and iv) speed and quality of repairs [22]. Pressure management, which
can be achieved by implementing DMAs, aims to reduce excess water pressure in WDNs, whereas active
leakage management aims identifying and quantifying physical losses on a regular basis, basically by
Karadirek / Anadolu Univ. J. of Sci. and Technology – A – Appl. Sci. and Eng. 17 (3) - 2016
574
performing acoustic leakage methods. Pressure management through hydraulic modeling, is also
reported as an efficient tool to reduce real losses from WDNs [23]. Pipeline and assets management,
which aims to increase efficiency while reducing costs, deals with the management of all physical
components of WDNs such as pipe, valves and pumps. Speed of repairs affects the volume of real losses
in case of pipe bursts whereas repair quality is important for sustainability. On the other hand, the main
four components of apparent water losses are illegal consumption, meter reading errors, data handling
errors and meter under-registration depending on factors such as installation method, water quality, type
and class of water meter [24, 25].
1.2. Water Losses Levels & Guidelines
The issue of water losses and NRW from WDNs is a common problem in many countries such as Turkey
where country average NRW is 43.6 % of SIV based on water statistics of Turkish Statistical Institute
[26]. Percentage of SIV as the sole PI for water losses in WDNs is not recommended; however,
percentage of SIV is the only available PI for water losses in Turkey. Therefore, water losses and NRW
levels as a percentage of SIV are summarized in Table 2 for some countries to compare their water
losses/NRW levels. It can be noticed from the table that WDNs in some European countries, such as
Italy and Portugal, exhibit high water losses, which are above 30% of SIV. Still, water losses from new
WDNs are not expected to be none where the losses could reach up to 10% of SIV. A few countries
have clear and direct guidelines for water losses management although it is a serious problem in many
countries.
Table 2. Water losses and NRW levels in some countries around the world
Country Water Losses / NRW Reference
Turkey NRW, 43.6% [26]
Latin American Water Utilities NRW, 40-55% [27]
Brazil Water losses, 39.1% [28]
Italy Water Losses, 36% [29]
Portugal Water losses, 36% [30]
Slovenia Water losses, 25-30% [31]
Spain NRW, 24% [32]
North America NRW, 23.1% [33]
UK Water losses, 20-23% [34]
Denmark Water losses, 7% [35]
Netherlands Water losses, 3-7% [36]
To control water losses, the DVGW (German Association of the Gas and Water Sector) has issued a
guideline titled “W 392 - Network inspection and water losses - activities, procedures and assessments”
replacing the old three guidelines namely i) W 390 - Control of Water Supply Networks, ii) W 391 -
Water Losses in Water Distribution Systems, iii) W 393 - Leak Detection Methods for Water Supply
Pipelines. English language version of this guideline, including IWA water balance and definitions, was
published. Many concepts such as pressure relation with leakage have also been included in this
guideline [37]. German water losses guideline gives volume of real water losses per length of system
per unit time as a PI in WDNs. According to the German guideline, water utilities are divided into three
different categories based on network structure, namely urban – large cities, urban and rural areas,
whereas the level of real water losses is divided into three different categories as low, medium and high.
Low level of real water losses might be considered as UARL, medium level should not be more than
twice of UARL while high levels of real water losses require a water losses reduction program to be
Karadirek / Anadolu Univ. J. of Sci. and Technology – A – Appl. Sci. and Eng. 17 (3) - 2016
575
undertaken [37]. Italian Decree 99/97, issued in 1997, introduced some recommendations such as
DMAs, reduction of excess pressure, flow and pressure measurements in WDNs to reduce water losses.
Currently, Italian water utilities are required to calculate and report water losses of each WDN according
to Italian Decree 99/97 where volume of water losses as percentage of SIV is given as a PI [38].
In 2014, Turkish Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs issued a directive titled “Control of Water
Losses from Drinking Water Distribution Systems” [39]. The aim of this paper is to discuss and evaluate
the contents of this recent Turkish directive on water losses for the first time and to provide
recommendations for other countries.
2. DESCRIPTION OF WATER SERVICES IN TURKEY
In Turkey, 52.5% of drinking water is supplied from surface water resources including dams, rivers,
lakes and sea while 47.5% is abstracted from wells and springs [26]. According to the official Turkish
water statistics of the year 2012, physical, conventional and advanced treatment methods were applied
to 55.3% of supplied water to the network while the remaining 44.7% was supplied to the network after
only disinfection process due to good raw water quality [26]. In Turkey, there are 30 metropolitan
municipalities, 51 provincial municipalities, 519 metropolitan district municipalities, 400 district
municipalities, and 396 town municipalities [40]. Municipalities are the only responsible organization
for water supply in Turkey and they are classified into five types as follows:
i) Metropolitan municipality: This is the municipality of an urban area that is the central settlement of a
province with a population in excess of 750000 capita [41]. A metropolitan municipality serves to a
province including both urban and rural areas. Each metropolitan municipality has a legally separate
and financially autonomous municipal water and wastewater administration that serves to the whole
province.
ii) Provincial municipality: This is the municipality of an urban area that is the central settlement of a
province with a population less than 750000. A provincial municipality provides water services only to
the capital city of the province [41].
iii) Metropolitan district municipality: This is the municipality of a central urban settlement of a district
within the boundaries of a metropolitan municipality [41]. A metropolitan district municipality is not
responsible for water services.
iv) District municipality: All districts in provinces, which are outside the boundaries of a metropolitan
municipality, have district municipalities and they provide water services to each district [41].
v) Town municipality: If an urban settlement is neither within a central urban settlement of a province
nor of a district, then it has a town municipality and it provides water services to the town [41].
There is no single water related directive and no single institution charged with developing policies for
water supply in Turkey. Instead, there are many water related directives and many institutions to apply
these directives and this situation causes a lack of coordination and cooperation between the responsible
institutions for water. Bank of Provinces, a related establishment of the Ministry of Environment and
Urban Planning, is responsible for financing of water supply and sanitation projects. The Ministry of
Forestry and Water Affairs is in charge of developing, monitoring and management of water resources
while the Ministry of Health is in charge of monitoring drinking water quality. Therefore, a number of
governmental entities form the framework of the sector whereas local governments play a central role
as water service providers. There was no directive regulating quantitative management of water in
WDNs at national level until the issue of the directive entitled “Control of Water Losses from Drinking
Water Distribution Systems”. The only existing guideline was on “project preparation of water supply
Karadirek / Anadolu Univ. J. of Sci. and Technology – A – Appl. Sci. and Eng. 17 (3) - 2016
576
systems” issued by Bank of Provinces in 1985 which provides figures for water consumption per capita
and water pressures. In this guideline, allowable minimum water pressure in WDNs was set as 20 m
H2O in settlements with a population up to 50000 and 30 m H2O in settlements with a population in
excess of 50001 while the allowable maximum water pressure was 80 m H2O. In this guideline, there is
also an item describing a target of 10% water losses reduction in water mains. However, this guideline
is all about project preparation and gives no method for operation and evaluation of WDNs.
3. CHALLENGES OF WATER LOSSES MANAGEMENT IN TURKEY
Due to a fast increase in population from 45 million in 1980’s to 77 million in 2014, available fresh
water resources has decreased from around 4000 m3 to 1500 m3/capita/year, and as a result, Turkey has
started to experience water stress [42, 43, 44]. Average NRW in Turkey is 43.6% of SIV [26]. Many
metropolitan municipalities in Turkey have recently established SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data
Acquisition) systems for the on-line continuous monitoring of water quantity such as flow rates, water
pressures, water levels in distribution reservoirs. SCADA system can provide numerous data sets that
can be used for understanding and management of water losses. There are a number of good examples
for water losses management in several Turkish municipalities such as Antalya, Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir
and Kocaeli. In these municipalities, the WDNs were divided into a suitable number of DMAs where
the water inputs to each DMA were intensively monitored by the SCADA systems. On the other hand,
there are many other municipalities where there is no single flow or water pressure meter to measure the
supplied water and the pressure. The recent values of water losses and NRW in some Turkish
municipalities were gathered following a survey carried out by the Turkish Ministry of Forestry and
Water Affairs, as shown in Figure 1. In this figure, a comparison of water losses and NRW values in
some municipalities of Turkey is illustrated based on annual reports of 2013 [45, 46]. In Figure 1, water
losses and NRW values were sorted in a descending order of population for municipalities which starts
with the highest population of around 14 million and ends with the lowest population of around 500000.
The average value of water losses in these municipalities is about 39.2% while NRW is about 43.2%.
Water losses values in Istanbul, Diyarbakir, Safranbolu and Çanakkale municipalities were reported as
equal to NRW rates. On the other hand, NRW value in Malatya municipality was reported as almost
two times more than water losses value. This evaluation shows the necessity of a detailed water audit
and common terminology for water losses management at national level in Turkey.
Figure 1. Water losses and NRW values of some municipalities in Turkey [26, 45, 46]
Istanbul Izmir Burs a Adana Kocaeli Diyarbakir Samsun Malatya Safranbolu Canakkale
0
20
40
43.6
60
80
100
%
Water Losses
NRW
Countr y Average NRW
Karadirek / Anadolu Univ. J. of Sci. and Technology – A – Appl. Sci. and Eng. 17 (3) - 2016
577
Aging infrastructure, inadequate assets management, poor maintenance of networks, water theft, and
insufficient reliable data for evaluation of WDNs are the main challenges of water losses management
in Turkey. Many municipalities started to improve and update their infrastructure. It was estimated that
around 50% of WDNs in Turkey is older than 50 years old [47]. The elements and components of
WDNs, which are known only by a few technicians, are not digitized into GIS.
There are many small municipalities that have no facilities and/or activities for estimating or reducing
water losses. In many cases, the WDNs at these municipalities have no single flow or pressure meter;
therefore the amount and cost of water losses are not properly quantified. Funding for water losses
management is required in short term; however it is a self-financing program in long term.
Unfortunately, there is often a shortage to get funds for such activities [8]. Consequently, the average
value of water losses in Turkey is still high when compared with many European countries.
4. THE TURKISH DIRECTIVE ON WATER LOSSES CONTROL
In 2014, Turkish Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs issued a directive titled “Control of Water
Losses from Drinking Water Distribution Systems” to reduce water losses from WDNs [39]. The
directive has three parts. The first part includes aim, scope, legal basis and definitions. The second part
is about the management of water distribution systems and reduction of water losses while the third part
is about reporting. Technical procedure of this directive is under development by the Ministry of
Forestry and Water Affairs. In the following sections, some brief information about the new directive is
introduced, rather than a translation of the whole contents, to present a good code of practice. The aim
of the directive is to protect water resources and provide water use efficiency through reduction of water
losses from water distribution systems. In this manner, this directive could be a good guide and example
for many developed and developing countries.
4.1. Management of WDNs and Reduction of Water Losses
The directive [39] states that municipalities should carry out the following activities to manage WDNs:
Water consumption and unit cost of water supply should be determined and submitted as an
annual report each year.
Municipalities should determine their water consumption and budget needs of water supply,
carry out cost benefit analysis for water supply and include necessary precautions for water
losses reduction methods in their strategic plans.
Monitoring, reporting and determination of water consumption and revenues should be carried
out. For this purpose, customer water meters should be installed at all water users for analysis
of water audit, measurements and monitoring of water pressure at critical points should be
conducted.
Digitizing the elements of WDNs and updating existing GISs of WDNs should be carried out
by the municipalities.
Recommended activities under the title of reduction of water losses start with water balance, which is
needed to adopt new technologies such as use of flow meters for analysis of water audit. The
recommended form of water balance follows the IWA Best Practice of water balance and the definitions
of its components with a slight change in physical losses components [4], as illustrated in Table 3. IWA
Best Practice of water balance includes three components for physical losses: i) leakage on transmission
and distribution mains, ii) leakage and overflows at storage tanks, iii) leakage on service connections up
to point of customer water meter. Leakage on transmission and distribution mains and leakage on service
connections up to point of customer water meter components were unified as one component, so physical
components of water balance recommended by the directive has now two components for physical
losses.
Karadirek / Anadolu Univ. J. of Sci. and Technology – A – Appl. Sci. and Eng. 17 (3) - 2016
578
Table 3. Recommended form of annual water balance [39]
System Input
Volume
… m3/year
(100%)
Authorized
Consumption
… m3/year
(...%)
Billed Authorized
Consumption
… m3/year
(...%)
Billed Metered Consumption
… m3/year
(...%)
Revenue Water
… m3/year
(...%)
Billed Unmetered
Consumption
… m3/year
(...%)
Unbilled Authorized
Consumption
… m3/year
(...%)
Unbilled Metered
Consumption
… m3/year
(...%)
Non-revenue
Water
… m3/year
(...%)
Unbilled Unmetered
Consumption
… m3/year
(...%)
Water Losses
… m3/year
(...%)
Apparent Losses
… m3/year
(...%)
Unauthorized Consumption
… m3/year
(...%)
Customer Meter Inaccuracies
… m3/year
(...%)
Real Losses
… m3/year
(...%)
Leakage on Transmissions
and Service Connections
… m3/year
(...%)
Leakage and Overflows at
Reservoirs
………………………
m3/year
(...%)
Karadirek / Anadolu Univ. J. of Sci. and Technology – A – Appl. Sci. and Eng. 17 (3) - 2016
579
Municipalities should carry out the following activities to reduce water losses:
Pressure management: Maximum pressure is defined as 60 m H2O in the directive. The former
value of the allowable maximum pressure in WDNs was 80 m H2O. The former allowable
maximum pressure in WDNs has been replaced with the new value.
Speed and quality of repairs: Municipalities should provide proper repair where pipe bursts are seen.
Maintenance of pipeline systems: Rehabilitation, maintenance and repairs should be carried out
regularly depending on system needs.
Active leakage control: Municipalities should carry out an active leakage control program using
proper monitoring systems such as SCADA.
Pipeline and assets management: Selection and installation of components of WDNs should be
done properly to prevent physical water losses.
Forming pressure zones and DMAs: New WDNs should be designed considering pressure zones
and DMAs. Hydraulic modelling should be carried out in existing WDNs which should be
divided into DMAs and pressure zones where it is applicable.
Prevention of illegal usage: installation of proper consumer water meters based on consumption
profile of consumers, replacement of water meters that are older than ten years with new and
more accurate ones should be practiced to reduce apparent losses.
Appropriate technologies for detection of pipe bursts should be selected to reduce physical water
losses.
Employment of qualified personnel to control and reduce water losses is necessary as well.
Metropolitan and provincial municipalities are obliged to reduce water losses by 30% of SIV within 5
years and 25% of SIV within 9 years after the issue of the new directive. Additionally, other
municipalities are obliged to reduce water losses by 30% of SIV within 9 years and 25% of SIV within
14 years [39].
4.2. Reporting Duties of Water Authorities
According to the new directive, water authorities are obliged to give information about water
consumption, water losses, NRW and other data related to management of WDNs. For this purpose,
each water authority should prepare an annual report including general information about water losses
reduction program carried out by the water authority. Recommended water balance, given in Table 3,
and an inventory form, given in Table 4, should be prepared by each municipality annually [39].
4.3. Evaluation of the Turkish Directive on Water Losses
The Turkish directive on water losses management gives the percentage of SIV as a water loss target
and PI. Systems with higher SIV show lower level of water losses compared to systems with lower SIV
[37]. Expressing water losses as a percentage does not reflect any other influencing factors such as
number of service connections and the length of water mains; however it is better than having no targets.
The elements and components of WDNs, which are vital for dividing WDNs into DMAs, modeling
issues and using PIs such as ILI which allows international comparisons of assessment of WDNs, are
only known by a few technicians in many municipalities. So it seems that many municipalities are not
ready for such activities yet. The municipalities are recently obliged to digitize and update the
components of WDNs, to install flow meters and customer water meters. Therefore such activities might
be conducted after these requirements are implemented. Although water potential and the conditions of
network structures in Turkey differ between regions, the target level of water losses is the same which
is also independent from economic level of water losses. Financial resources should be allocated to
enhance the basis in terms of capacity building of both infrastructure and human resources with the issue
of the new directive. Raising awareness for decision makers and training for technical personnel are
required to achieve the targets given in the new directive.
Karadirek / Anadolu Univ. J. of Sci. and Technology – A – Appl. Sci. and Eng. 17 (3) - 2016
580
Table 4. Inventory form of water losses in water distribution networks [39]
Groundwater Surface water Total
1 Water abstraction for municipal water supply
network (m3/y) (Name of source)
2 Treated water (m3/y)
(If treatment applicable)
3 SIV (m3/y)
4 Number of consumers
5 Authorized consumption (m3/y)
6 Water Losses (m3/y)
7 Length of mains (m)
8 Is there any SCADA system? Yes No
9 Is there any GIS software? (If yes, define it.)
10 Is there any consumer information system?
(If yes, define it.)
11
Is there any work for inspection and reduction of
water losses? (Active leakage management,
DMAs, pressure management, etc.)
(If yes, define it.)
Yes No
12
Is there any working team for inspection of
water losses? (If yes, indicate the number of
employees.)
Yes
No
13 Number of reported and unreported bursts in
WDN.
Reported:
Unreported:
14 Unit price of water per m3
Residential Industrial Other
15 Types and numbers of customer water meters
4.3. Evaluation of the Turkish Directive on Water Losses
The Turkish directive on water losses management gives the percentage of SIV as a water loss target
and PI. Systems with higher SIV show lower level of water losses compared to systems with lower SIV
[37]. Expressing water losses as a percentage does not reflect any other influencing factors such as
number of service connections and the length of water mains; however it is better than having no targets.
The elements and components of WDNs, which are vital for dividing WDNs into DMAs, modeling
issues and using PIs such as ILI which allows international comparisons of assessment of WDNs, are
only known by a few technicians in many municipalities. So it seems that many municipalities are not
ready for such activities yet. The municipalities are recently obliged to digitize and update the
components of WDNs, to install flow meters and customer water meters. Therefore such activities might
be conducted after these requirements are implemented. Although water potential and the conditions of
Karadirek / Anadolu Univ. J. of Sci. and Technology – A – Appl. Sci. and Eng. 17 (3) - 2016
581
network structures in Turkey differ between regions, the target level of water losses is the same which
is also independent from economic level of water losses. Financial resources should be allocated to
enhance the basis in terms of capacity building of both infrastructure and human resources with the issue
of the new directive. Raising awareness for decision makers and training for technical personnel are
required to achieve the targets given in the new directive.
5. CONCLUSION
Management and reduction of water losses in WDNs is a global issue and it requires a common
understanding from both social and technical sciences. The social part is related to conservation of water
for the next generations and maintaining direct and reliable regulations for coordination between the
responsible organizations and enforcement. The technical part is related to use of the best technology to
reduce water losses in WDNs using cost effective approaches. It is inevitable to eliminate water losses
totally and even the existing WDNs in highly developed countries have real and apparent water losses.
The critical action is to reduce water losses to the minimum acceptable level considering both
economical and technical constraints. Municipalities in Turkey are now obliged to manage water losses
with the issue of the new directive that will help increasing awareness for protection of water resources
and saving water. Water losses management needs investment on some new technologies such as
SCADA and GIS which are crucial for management and operation of water supply systems. With the
application of the new directive, municipalities will be forced to invest in such technologies to improve
their service and contribute to resilience of water in WDNs. All these improvements necessitate funding
in short term, however, water losses management is a self-financing program in long term. Following
the positive advances in water losses reduction programs, public perception on the quality of distributed
water will be improved in the successful municipalities and public will be more volunteered to consume
tap water instead of bottled water. Reducing water losses in WDNs and the overall improvements in
water supply systems will contribute to protect water quality in WDNs and reduce possible
contamination risks of distributed water. Consequently, management of water losses in WDNs will
contribute to protection of public health by reducing the risks for water-borne diseases.
REFERENCES
[1] United Nations Water - Climate change adaptation: The pivotal role of water, 2014. [Online].
Available: http://www.unwater.org/downloads/unw_ccpol_web.pdf (Accessed 3 December 2014).
[2] Dimkic MA, Milovanovic M, Dimkic D. Sustainable and Adaptive Water Management: Case Study
of Water Management in Serbia. Water Research and Management 2011; 1(4): 9-19.
[3] Kingdom B, Liemberger R, Marin P. The challenge of reducing non-revenue water (NRW) in
developing countries, 2006. [Online]. Available:http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWSS/Resources
/WSS8fin4.pdf. (Accessed 10 February 2015).
[4] Lambert A, Brown T, Takizawa M, Weimer D. Review of Performance Indicators for Real Losses
from Water Supply Systems. J. Water Supply: Res. T.-AQUA 1999; 48: 227-237.
[5] Mckenzie R, Seago C. Assessment of real losses in potable water distribution systems: some recent
developments. Water Science and Technology: Water Supply 2005; 5(1): 33–40.
[6] Tabesh M, Asadiyani Y, Burrows R. An integrated model to evaluate losses in water distribution
systems. Water Resources Management 2009; 23(3): 477–492.
Karadirek / Anadolu Univ. J. of Sci. and Technology – A – Appl. Sci. and Eng. 17 (3) - 2016
582
[7] Control and Mitigation of drinking water losses in distribution systems., 2010. [Online]. Available:
http://water.epa.gov/type/drink/pws/smallsystems/upload/Water_Loss_Control_508_FINALDEc.pdf.
(Accessed: 19 December 2014).
[8] Fanner P. Non-Revenue Water reduction - Contracts and illustrated examples, 2008. [Online].
Available:http://www.miya-water.com/user_files/Data_and_Research/miyas_experts_articles/2_NRW
/07_Non-Revenue%20Water%20reduction%20Contracts%20and%20illustrated%20examples.pdf
(Accessed 25 February 2015).
[9] Fumani SMR. Contaminant intrusion in water distribution systems: advanced modelling approaches.
PhD, The University of British Columbia, Canada, 2013.
[10] Mutikanga HE. Water loss management: Tools and methods for developing countries. PhD,
UNESCO-IHE, Netherlands, 2012.
[11] Tooms S, Pilcher R. Practical guidelines on efficient water loss management. Water 21- Magazine
of the International Water Association 2006; 8(4): 47.
[12] Mutikanga HE, Sharma SK, Vairavamoorthy K. Multi-criteria decision analysis: a strategic
planning tool for water loss management. Water Resources Management 2011; 25 (14): 3947–3969.
[13] Kanakoudis V, Gonelas K, Tolikas D. Basic principles for urban water value assessment and price
setting towards its full cost recovery—pinpointing the role of the water losses. J. Water Supply Res.
Technol. AQUA 2011; 60(1), 27–39.
[14] Alegre H, Hirnir W, Baptista JM, Parena R. IWA Manual Best Practice Series: Performance
Indicators for Water Supply Services. 1st ed. London, England: IWA Publishing, 2000.
[15] McKenzie R, Seago C, Liemberger R. Benchmarking of losses from potable water reticulation
systems results of IWA Task Team. In: IWA International Conference ‘WaterLoss 2007’; 23-26
September 2007; Bucharest, Romania.
[16] Kanakoudis V, Tsitsifli S. Water volume vs. revenues oriented water balance calculation for urban
water networks: The “Minimum Charge Difference” component makes a difference! In: IWA
International Conference ‘WaterLoss 2010’; 6-9 June 2010; Sao Paolo, Brazil.
[17] Alegre H, Baptista JM, Cabrera E Jr, Cubillo F, Duarte P, Hirner W, Parena R. IWA Manual Best
Practice Series: Performance Indicators for Water Supply Services. 2nd ed. London,England: IWA
Publishing, 2006.
[18] Winarni W. Infrastructure Leakage Index (ILI) as Water Losses Indicator. Civil Engineering
Dimension 2009; 11(2): 126-134.
[19] Liemberger R, McKenzie R. Accuracy Limitations of the ILI: Is It an Appropriate Indicator for
Developing Countries? In: IWA Leakage 2005 Conference; 12-14 September 2005; Halifax, Canada.
[20] Morrison J. Managing leakage by District Metered Access: a practical approach. Water 21-
Magazine of the International Water Association 2004; 6 (1): 44–46.
[21] Sturm R, Thornton J. Proactive leakage management using District Metered Areas (DMA) and
pressure management-Is it applicable in North America In: IWA Leakage 2005 Conference; 12-14
September 2005; Halifax, Canada.
Karadirek / Anadolu Univ. J. of Sci. and Technology – A – Appl. Sci. and Eng. 17 (3) - 2016
583
[22] Lambert A. International Report: Water Losses Management and Techniques. Water Supply 2002;
2(4): 1–20.
[23] Karadirek IE, Kara S, Yilmaz G, Muhammetoğlu A, Muhammetoğlu, H. Implementation of
hydraulic modelling for water-loss reduction through pressure management. Water Resources
Management 2012; 26 (9): 2555-2568.
[24] Rizzo A, Vermersch M, John GS, Micallef G, Pace R. Apparent Water Loss Control: The Way
Forward. Water 21- Magazine of the International Water Association 2007; 9 (4): 45–47.
[25] Kanakoudis V, Muhammetoğlu H. Urban water pipe networks management towards non-revenue
water reduction: Two case studies from Greece and Turkey. Clean: Soil, Air, Water 2014; 42(7): 880-892.
[26] Turkish Statistical Institute Municipal Water Statistics, 2012. [Online]. Available:
http://www.turkstat.gov.tr/PreHaberBultenleri.do?id=16171 (Accessed 7 December 2014).
[27] Corton ML, Berg SV. Benchmarking Central American Water Utilities, 2007. [Online]. Available:
http://warrington.ufl.edu/centers/purc/purcdocs/papers/0729_Berg_Benchmarking_Central.pdf
(Accessed 21 December 2014).
[28] Cheung PB, Girol GV. Night flow analysis and modeling for leakage estimation in a water
distribution system. In Boxall J, Maksimovic C, editors. Integrating Water Systems. London, England:
Taylor and Francis Group, 2009. pp.509-515.
[29] OECD environmental performance reviews: Italy. Paris, France: OECD Publishing, 2013.
[30] OECD environmental performance reviews: Portugal. Paris, France: OECD Publishing, 2011.
[31] OECD environmental performance reviews: Slovenia. Paris, France: OECD Publishing, 2012.
[32] OECD environmental performance reviews: Spain. Paris, France: OECD Publishing, 2015.
[33] Simmons WG. Going Viral: Emerging benchmarks for water efficiency – Water loss in North
America,2014.[Online]Available:http://www.ncsu.edu/wrri/pdfs/pastevents/ac2014/1B/B4%20Simmons
%20-%20New.pdf (Accessed 9 March 2015).
[34] Service and delivery-performance of the water companies in England and Wales 2009-10 report,
2010.[Online]. Available:http://www.ofwat.gov.uk/regulating/casework/reporting/rpt_los_2009-10.pdf
(Accessed 25 March 2015).
[35] Water in figures: Danish Water and Wastewater Association’s Benchmarking and Water Statistics,
2010.[Online].Available:http://www.danva.dk/Admin/Public/DWSDownload.aspx?File=%2fFiles%2f
Filer%2fUdgivelser%2fBenchmarking%2fVand+i+tal%2fWater_in_Figures_2010.pdf (Accessed 27
March 2015)
[36] Beuken RHS, Lavooij CSV, Bosch A, Schaap PG. Low leakage in the Netherlands Confirmed. In:
8th Annual Water Distribution Systems Analysis Symposium; 27-30 August 2006; Cincinnati, OH, USA.
[37] Liemberger R. The New German water loss regulations in context with other international
applications of the IWA water balance and real loss performance indicators. International Water
Association Specialist Workshop; 24 February 2005; Queensland, Australia.
Karadirek / Anadolu Univ. J. of Sci. and Technology – A – Appl. Sci. and Eng. 17 (3) - 2016
584
[38] Fantozzi M. Italian case study in applying IWA WLTF approach: results obtained. In: Thornton J,
Sturm R, Kunkel G, editors. Water Loss Control, New York, NY, USA: McGraw-Hill, 2008. pp. 421-
432.
[39] Turkish Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs, İçme Suyu Temin ve Dağıtım Sistemlerinde Su
Kayıplarının Kontrolü Yönetmeliği, 8 May 2014, Official Gazette No: 28994.
[40] Turkish Ministry of Interior, Civil Administration Servives, 2016. [Online]. Available:
https://www.e-icisleri.gov.tr/Anasayfa/MulkiIdariBolumleri.aspx
[41] Local governments in Turkey, 2014. [Online].Available:http://www.migm.gov.tr/en/PDF/General
Information.pdf (Accessed: 20 March 2015).
[42] Turkish Statistical Institute Population Projection from 2013 to 2075, 2013. [Online]. Available:
http://www.turkstat.gov.tr/PreHaberBultenleri.do?id=15844. (Accessed: 13 December 2014).
[43] Fresh water resources Turkey: Present situation in Turkey, 2014. [Online]. Available:
http://www.climateadaptation.eu/turkey/fresh-water-resources/. (Accessed 9 February 2015).
[44] Annual Report of Turkish General Directorate of State Hydraulic Works, 2012. [Online]. Available:
http://www.dsi.gov.tr/docs/stratejik-plan/dsi-2012-faal%C4%B1yet-raporu.pdf?sfvrsn=2 (Accessed 20
January 2015).
[45] Adiguzel A. İçme suyu temin ve dağıtım sistemlerinde su kayıplarının kontrolu, 2014. [Online].
Available:http://suyonetimi.ormansu.gov.tr/Libraries/su/Su_Ekonomisi_ve_Verimliligi_Sube_Mudurlugu.
sflb.ashx (Accessed 16 February 2015)
[46] Annual report of Istanbul water and wastewater administration, 2013. [Online].
Available:http://www.iski.gov.tr/Web/UserFiles/File/faaliyetraporu2008/faaliyet_raporu2013.pdf
(Accessed: 16 November 2014).
[47] Öztürk I, Uyak V, Çakmakcı M, Akca L. Dimension of water loss through distribution system and
reduction methods in Turkey. In: River Basin Management Congress; 22-24 March 2007; Antalya,
Turkey.
... Estudios realizados por el Banco Mundial demostraron que anualmente más de 32 mil millones de metros cúbicos de agua se pierden debido a fugas en las redes de distribución en todo el mundo [2]. En los Estados Unidos se reportan pérdidas del 20% del agua producto a la ocurrencia de fugas [3]. ...
... En los Estados Unidos se reportan pérdidas del 20% del agua producto a la ocurrencia de fugas [3]. Países europeos como Portugal e Italia incurren en pérdidas de hasta un 36 % y en el Reino Unido de 20-23% del volumen de agua introducido en los sistema de distribución de agua [2]. En Cuba el Instituto Nacional de Recursos Hidráulicos (INRH) reportó que en el año 2017 se perdió el 45 % del agua bombeada en los SDA [4]. ...
... La estimación de la velocidad se realizó determinando el retardo de tiempo mediante la función correlación cruzada de las señales acústicas de las fugas detectadas en el primer y segundo escenario y evaluando el resultado en la ecuación (2). A d 1 y d 2 se le hacen corresponder los valores de distancias de la Tabla 1. ...
Detection and location of background leakage in plastic water pipes under a noisy environment
Article
Full-text available
  • Dec 2019
Detection and location of background leaks in water pipes is an issue of great importance for water distribution systems because this phenomenon is one of the events involved in the loss of this natural resource. This problem has led to great interest by the scientific community in developing procedures that improve the detection and location of the background leak, making for this measurements under a controlled environment. In practice, however, leakage signals coexist with white and colored noise. For this reason, this article proposes a new procedure for detecting and locating background leakage under a noisy environment. In order to carry out the detection, the coherence function was used and in the location a digital band-pass filter was used to apply the cross-correlation function in the frequency range where the best signal-to-noise ratio exists. To validate and compare the proposed procedure with those reported by the scientific community, MATLAB was used and 150 signals were acquired in the laboratory, which were divided into two groups. The first group presents 90 signals with the presence of background leakage and in the other group there is only noise. After finishing the analysis, the new procedure used showed an error of 2.1 % in the location of the background leak.
View
... Estudios realizados por el Banco Mundial demostraron que anualmente más de 32 mil millones de metros cúbicos de agua se pierden debido a fugas en las redes de distribución en todo el mundo [2]. En los Estados Unidos se reportan pérdidas del 20% del agua producto a la ocurrencia de fugas [3]. ...
... En los Estados Unidos se reportan pérdidas del 20% del agua producto a la ocurrencia de fugas [3]. Países europeos como Portugal e Italia incurren en pérdidas de hasta un 36 % y en el Reino Unido de 20-23% del volumen de agua introducido en los sistema de distribución de agua [2]. En Cuba el Instituto Nacional de Recursos Hidráulicos (INRH) reportó que en el año 2017 se perdió el 45 % del agua bombeada en los SDA [4]. ...
... La estimación de la velocidad se realizó determinando el retardo de tiempo mediante la función correlación cruzada de las señales acústicas de las fugas detectadas en el primer y segundo escenario y evaluando el resultado en la ecuación (2). A d 1 y d 2 se le hacen corresponder los valores de distancias de la Tabla 1. ...
Detección y localización de fuga de fondo en tuberías plásticas de agua bajo un ambiente ruidoso / Detection and location of background leakage in plastic water pipes under a noisy environment
Article
Full-text available
  • Sep 2019
Detection and location of background leaks in water pipes is an issue of great importance for water distribution systems because this phenomenon is one of the events involved in the loss of this natural resource. This problem has led to great interest by the scientific community in developing procedures that improve the detection and location of the background leak, making for this measurements under a controlled environment. In practice, however, leakage signals coexist with white and colored noise. For this reason, this article proposes a new procedure for detecting and locating background leakage under a noisy environment. In order to carry out the detection, the coherence function was used and in the location a digital band-pass filter was used to apply the cross-correlation function in the frequency range where the best signal-to-noise ratio exists. To validate and compare the proposed procedure with those reported by the scientific community, MATLAB was used and 150 signals were acquired in the laboratory, which were divided into two groups. The first group presents 90 signals with the presence of background leakage and in the other group there is only noise. After finishing the analysis, the new procedure used showed an error of 2.1 % in the location of the background leak.
View
... As a result of these reasons, water loss should be conducted by creating a strong team work and coordination within the water administration departments or centers. Subsequently, drastic savings can be achieved in the process from the water supply until the water consumption process (Karadirek 2016). ...
... Every district that receives water should constantly be tracked and measured so that any increments in water going to that district area might have a water leak within its pipelines (Karadirek 2016). Attention to the minimum night pressure should be paid at the moment real losses within the network are being measured (Tabesh et al. 2009). ...
The strategic development for water loss prevention
Article
Full-text available
  • Feb 2021
The population growth and urbanization have gained importance in the Water Resource Management (WRM) works. The classic approach in relation to the development of the water resources has lost its sustainability. Water has, therefore, become an important, but also becoming a scarce natural source due to the global warming and its climate change impacts end results. The major aim of WRM is to increase the Water Distribution Network (WDN) to keep water supply sustenance by decreasing the water demand. The new approaches in relation to the WRM should take into consideration in a more refined manner the supply–demand balance with the improvements in the WDN. Recently, water resources performance improvements have become one of the significant investment topics in Turkey. However, data from the Turkish Statistical Institute and any academic research in this field have shown that there is a water loss of around 50% in the current water supply and distribution systems. In comparison to other developed countries, this loss is very high. It became, therefore, necessary that each Water Resources Administration should keep track on the costs, water leakage losses and the necessary technological investments. In the scope of this study, water loss levels reduction strategy possibilities are developed in the Sakarya City WDM system, Turkey. These strategies field applications have been presented in detail. Finally, the extent of accuracy in these strategies has been shown, which may provide guidance for other water administrations departments in the world.
View
... For instance, between 2014 and 2020, water system transmission lost 41% of Glendale's potable water production [6] and 10-30% in the United States and the United Kingdom. Developing countries may reach 70%; in addition, 3-7% in the Netherlands [7], 45% in Turkey [8], 47% in rural Iran [9], 40% in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia [10], 54% in Gabon, 20% in Burkina Faso, 72% in Nigeria [11], and 57.2-58% in Skiathos, Greece [12]. The quality and the type of pipe material have a significant impact on it [13]. ...
Evaluation of Pipe Materials in Water System Networks Using the Theory of Advanced Multi-Criteria Analysis
Article
Full-text available
  • Mar 2023
This study used a multi-criteria analysis to find the optimal material for water pipes in water systems. This paper used FRISCO for calculating the criteria weights and ranking the considered types of pipes. Five different types are considered using 22 criteria. The considered criteria included economic, environmental, and pipe properties. The results showed that the FRISCO method could be used for decision-making in water systems.
View
... 7) Some WDN needs to shift away from this traditional top-down approach towards a bottom-up approach, emphasizing multiple-stakeholders' involvements (Lai et al., 2017). 8) Organizations can result in leakage and NRW reduction and the protection of public health (Aboelnga et al., 2018a;González-Gómez et al., 2011;Karadirek, 2016;Saadr & Anuar, 2019;Silombela et al., 2018). ...
Analyzing the cost-effectiveness of enhancement approaches for rehabilitating water distribution network
Thesis
Full-text available
  • Jun 2021
Sustainable water management has been a trending goal in the world. Non-revenue water (NRW) is one of the forms of water loss. There is a tremendous amount of NRW, especially in developing countries. The real losses represent the more significant portion of the NRW. These losses negatively affect the economy and formulate a barrier towards reaching water sustainability. Therefore, the aim of the study was to that reduce NRW. A systematic review was first conducted to find the relevant techniques and methods for rehabilitating water distribution networks (WDN), which is one of the methods to reduce NRW and to achieve the research aim which is reducing the NRW, after identifying the WDN rehabilitation approaches, a questionnaire survey in Malaysia and Egypt was carried through five months period from June 2020 to October 2020. The main aim of the questionnaire survey was to identify cost-effective enhancement approaches. A total of 109 respondents from Malaysia and 67 respondents from Egypt, which means a total of 176 respondents were collected and analyzed. The sample size is suitable as most of the targeted population are among the managers and project managers with at least three years of experience in the WDN field. The population was determined based on the top companies and water authorities as the research focuses on advanced WDN rehabilitation enhancement approaches. Then, Cronbach’s alpha, mean score ranking, normalization value, and agreement analysis were carried in the data analysis phase. The results show that cost-effective enhancement approaches are programming, models, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), and twin digital. Additionally, the data from Malaysia suggest two more cost-effective enhancement approaches: zoning network and genetic algorithm. These two techniques might possess great potential for other developing countries, such as Egypt. Then finally, after identifying the cost-effective approaches, a comparison between the cost-effective approaches between Malaysia and Egypt was done. Choosing the right technique can help industry practitioners maximize the benefits of WDN rehabilitation. The comparison would help the researchers and industry participants to adopt and further develop the suggested approaches. The discussion of the WDN enhancement rehabilitation approaches can help in adapting them from other countries in the future. Proper WDN rehabilitation supports NRW reduction, which mainly helps move towards sustainable water management in developing countries.
View
... [16] Meanwhile, the national water loss average, which comes in at 39.2%, needs significant work. [17] Thanks to central and local government efforts, all new buildings taking up more than 2,000m 2 will legally have to integrate a rainwater collection system from this year onwards. Shortly after this decision was made, many local governments, including Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB), adopted the improvement into their own legislation. ...
Supply, demand or prayer
Article
Full-text available
  • Sep 2021
View
... Bir şehirde yaklaşık % 10 oranında su kaybı normal sayılabilmektedir. Dünyadaki birçok büyük şehirde % 50'ye ve hatta daha yüksek oranlara ulaşan su kayıpları olduğuna dair veriler bulunmaktadır (Karadirek, 2016). Türkiye'deki durumun dünyadakinden farklı olmadığı bilinmektedir. ...
View
Leak identification in non-pressurized concrete pipelines by the use of geophysical methods
Article
The production of treated water is a social service and leakages are also related to issues of sustainability of water resources. Water distribution losses can reach 40% in certain parts of Brazil and are common even in European countries, where, on average, 23% of the water does not reach the final consumer. Different factors may cause leakage and there are several methods for leak detection. Most studies focus on estimative of loss quantification, without worrying about the failures' location, and on the problems of pressurized pipe in small diameters (< 1 m). This study aimed to determine the usefulness of the Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and Electrical Resistivity (ERT) in leak detection from failures of a concrete large (> 1 m) and unpressurized pipeline. Both methods were able to indicate soil zones with features related to water losses, which were previously identified by visual analyses of failures in the pipeline. The accuracy of these methods depends on environmental factors (soil moisture and granulometry) and the time of the leaking opening. In this study, the leak zones varied from 6 to 15 m in the horizontal and 2.5 m in the vertical direction. The geophysical technologies may be helpful to improve the management of water resources especially in areas with significant losses in the water supply system.
View
Night flow analysis and modeling for leakage estimation in a water distribution system
Conference Paper
Full-text available
  • Jan 2010
Water distribution system management is an increasing complex problem for a significant number of reasons. General requirements force water utilities to continuously improve and update their system in order to guarantee safe water to consumers at all times. In countries with rapidly increasing population, the control of water losses has became a major challenge. The Brazilian National Information System on Sanitation (SNIS) registered in 2007 a water losses average of 39, 1%. This rate is similar to lose almost 5 billons of m 3 of supplied water per year. As leakages frequently are located on water distribution pipes, it is important to quantify total water losses, disaggregating real and apparent rates in order to define different action strategies. Practical applications have adopted Minimum Night Flow Analysis as method for estimating real losses. In addition, researches have proposed computational tools based on system analysis techniques for estimating and locating leakages. The present study adopted two distinct techniques for estimating leakages: Minimum Night Flow Analysis and Calibration Process (Epanet Calibrator Software). Both techniques were applied to two existing district from water distribution systems situated on south of Brazil. The estimation of real losses using both methods presented results quite similar.
View
Water volume vs. revenues oriented water balance calculation for urban water networks: the "Minimum Charge Difference" component makes a difference!
Conference Paper
Full-text available
  • Jun 2010
The IWA Standard International Water Balance (IWA WB) has proven to be an excellent water-volume oriented tool when a water utility manager wants to calculate the actual levels of the Non Revenue Water (NRW) and the Water Losses (Real and Apparent Ones) of the water distribution network he is responsible for. But there is one problem. If the water tariffs used by the water utility include fixed minimum charges related to water volumes being charged but not actually used (according to meters’ readings), the level of the Real Losses, calculated through the formed IWA WB, is underestimated by this very difference, which, although producing revenues (falsely decreasing the NRW level), it remains to be a part of the Real Losses. This is the predominant water charging practice adopted almost by all water utilities in Greece. There, as a significant portion of the Real Losses (up to 43% in some cases) produces revenues, the necessity to plan and implement any water loss reduction strategy is diminished. To avoid these misleading results, a modification on the IWA WB is being proposed that introduces its full economic dimension. The proposed modified IWA WB is being applied in the water distribution networks of two Greek cities. The analysis of the results made quite evident that in cases where there are big demand peaks (seasonal) it is better to evaluate the network in smaller time periods. The results also verified that during the high water demand period, when the operating pressure level decreases, the real losses are less compared to those during the low demand period.
View
Low Leakage in the Netherlands Confirmed
Conference Paper
Full-text available
  • Mar 2008
Leakage is a problem that draws worldwide attention. In the United States and the United Kingdom leakage ranges from 10 to 30 %. In developing countries leakage may reach even 70 %. In international perspective, leakage in the Netherlands is low: approximately 3 to 7 % distribution input. This low leakage draws international attention. Recently, a research project has been completed where experiences from British and Dutch water companies have been exchanged. Part of this research was the application in the Netherlands of UK leakage measuring methods. Also a leak detection survey has been performed by UK staff. Both the measurements and the leak detection surveys confirmed the low leakage levels in the Netherlands. This paper was presented at the 8th Annual Water Distribution Systems Analysis Symposium which was held with the generous support of Awwa Research Foundation (AwwaRF).
View
Dimension of water loss through distribution system and reduction methods in Turkey
Article
Full-text available
  • Jan 2007
Current statistical surveys indicated that approximately 50% of the treated drinking water in city centers is loss and unaccounted in Turkey. On an average, 30% of treated water is lost within distribution systems and storage tanks leakages. Unac-counted usage of water is about 20%, and, however, just only 50% of distributed water is used for residential, industrial and other consumptions. It was reported that total water loss and illegal usages is only less than 30% in limited residential places. On the other hand, average water loss level is about 20% in European Union (EU) Countries, and some countries have water loss levels lower than 10%. This study is aimed to put forward dimensions of water loss and leakage through country on the processes involved in establishing and implementing effective water loss manage-ment strategies with providing national and international experiences. In addition to this, some engineering proposals for effective control of real and apparent losses with general water economy are suggested. Investigation of economic value of extra sources obtained by reducing water loss and leakages is also estimated. Further, in the scope of this search, distribution of water consumption patterns is also presented for metropolitan cities of Turkey.
View
View
Urban Water Pipe Networks Management Towards Non-Revenue Water Reduction: Two Case Studies from Greece and Turkey
Article
Full-text available
Non Revenue Water (NRW) accounts for water, revenues and energy losses. NRW is a big part of the water input in the water distribution systems (WDS) worldwide, exceeding even 50% in several cases around the globe. The need for conservative water use is today more pressing than ever due to the stressing climate change (CC) impacts, forcing water utilities to consider applying effective Non Revenue Water reduction strategies. The problem gets even worse across the Mediterranean basin that faces severe water scarcity conditions along with increasing water needs. An integrated methodology addressing the NRW problem is currently lacking. The assessment of a network’s current operating status based on the IWA Water Balance (WB) and Performance Indicators (PIs) available is a good start. The Real or Physical Losses represent the biggest “water use” due to the high leakage often being the case. The most effective way to address them is through pressure management. To increase its efficiency, the use of the system’s hydraulic simulation model is necessary. The present paper presents two cases (Kos Town in Greece and Antalya City in Turkey) where the above mentioned concept was applied.
View
Basic principles for urban water value assessment and price setting towards its full cost recovery - pinpointing the role of the water losses
Article
Full-text available
  • Feb 2011
This paper attempts to set the basic methodological framework for an integrated action plan (in terms of successive steps) to be developed that will guarantee the reliable calculation of the Full Water Cost (FWC), as defined by the WFD 2000/60/EC. Towards this goal, the crucial role of the water losses occurring in a water distribution system is demonstrated. This will help an effective and socially just water pricing policy to be developed. The cost components (direct – DC; environmental – EC; and resource – RC) comprising the FWC are analysed, introducing approaches for their reliable calculation. Regarding the DC, the marginal capacity cost and the necessary preconditions for its integration to the final water price along with its contribution towards effective water demand reduction are analysed. Regarding the EC, its dynamic character and the ways it interacts with the DC are presented. The role of the stakeholders in setting those price levels is also checked. Crucial parameters are analysed for a socially just water cost allocation to domestic users. The role of the water utility is examined, considering its responsibility in water losses. The basic policies (market-based vs. conventional) used to achieve conservative water use are evaluated. In addition, the role of the State is criticized
View
International Report: Water losses management and techniques
Article
  • Sep 2002
Since the 1991 IWSA International Report on “Unaccounted for Water and the Economics of Leak Detection”, the topic of management of water losses in distribution systems has received increased attention. This International Report seeks to present an overview of the “state of the art” in management of Water Losses, based on the Reports prepared by National Rapporteurs, the recent recommendations of the IWA Task Forces on Water Losses and Performance Measures, and improved concepts for modelling components of leakage and pressure: leakage relationships. The IWA Task Force recommendations provide overdue clarification and guidance on several issues that have caused persistent problems in quantifying Water Losses and comparing the effectiveness of their management. It is hoped that this Report will assist in the promotion of a more standardised international approach to the definition, assessment, monitoring and management of Non-Revenue Water and Water Losses.
View
Practical guidelines on efficient water loss management
Article
  • Aug 2006
Practical guidance notes by two of the IWA's water loss tank force teams with regard to efficient monitoring and active leakage control techniques are discussed. One of these techniques is the monitoring of flows and pressures to small sectors of a water network called District Meter Areas (DMAs). DMA management guidance notes are intended as an introduction for leakage practitioners to the benefits of the DMAs as a tool for leakage management. The notes are supported by a set of appendices that explain key calculations such as calculating the night-day factor to convert night-flow measurements into daily leakage and, assessing customer night use. Another technique is Active Leakage Control, a strategy to reduce water loss by the detection of non-visible leaks and their repair. The document describes how leak detection methods have developed over the years leading to those currently available to practitioners.
View
Apparent water loss control: The way forward
Article
  • Aug 2007
Several managerial and technical issues related to the control of water losses in water supply utilities are discussed. An integrated approach needs to be undertaken, to control water losses that are comprised of four types. Wter utility operators need to understand the multidimensional problem, adopting an apparent water loss strategy, and finding out ways of carrying out apparent loss control audit. A team of international professionals from the IWA's Water Loss Task Force, have been involved in a prolonged study, to understand the phenomena of apparent water loss. The team of international professionals has been able to develop a performance indicator for measuring apparent losses. The team has recommended to use a concept that is similar to that used for measuring real losses and the Infrastructure Leakage Index (ILI), to measure apparent losses from water utilities.
View