5 Water Loss Mistakes to Avoid

In the United States we are expecting long-term water shortages.

Between city growth, new data center development, and leaking waterlines we have a crisis emerging. We desperately need every gallon, but at the time of our greatest need we are still losing around 20% of our drinking water into the ground. AWWA’s 2026 State of the Water Industry survey found 33% of utilities rate their long-term supply as “borderline.”

Nearly half of U.S. river basins face future water shortages

Without further adaptation, 96 of the 204 major river basins in the contiguous U.S. are projected to experience monthly water shortages by 2071–2095, driven by population growth and climate change.

96 of 204

major U.S. river basins projected to face water shortages by 2071–2095

Where the study finds the greatest risk

Most vulnerable regions named in the study: the central and southern Great Plains, the Southwest, the central Rocky Mountains and California
Also at risk: parts of the South, including Florida and Louisiana
Lower projected risk; the study finds very limited shortages in the Northeast

Simplified state-level view of basin-level results. Shading marks states that contain the regions named by the authors; risk varies within each state. Alaska and Hawaii were not part of the study.

Source: Brown, T.C., Mahat, V., & Ramirez, J.A. (2019). Adaptation to future water shortages in the United States caused by population growth and climate change. Earth's Future. doi:10.1029/2018EF001091. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. Redrawn and simplified by InfraSync; not a reproduction of the original figure. Base map: U.S. Census Bureau (us-atlas).

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Most city managers, utility leaders, and utility operators want to solve this issue. However, it can be very complex and expensive to find and fix the pipeline leaks. There are multiple ways we track water losses as an industry. From bad meters, to pipeline leaks, to theft, we have so many ways to lose water.

We need to solve these issues today, not wait 5 more years for them to get even worse.

Below are five common mistakes people make when trying to solve their water loss issue.

1. Reporting as a Percentage vs. per Connection

The national guide on tracking water loss and non-revenue water, American Water Works Association Technical Manual M36, revised the standard in 2016 to track in terms of gallons of loss per connection per day. AWWA took percentage indicators out of the fifth edition of Manual M36 and out of version 6.0 of its Free Water Audit Software, calling them “imprecise, misleading, and not actionable.” This is because if you just sell less water in a year but the water leaks are the same, you see an odd scenario where your customers conserved more water but on a % basis your losses went up.

This is a more accurate way of tracking losses for the system based on the connections and size vs. just the total volume. The regulations for losses vary. In Texas the threshold is 30 (urban) or 57 (rural) gallons of loss per connection per day.

Same leaks. Worse percentage.

Why AWWA recommends tracking water losses in gallons per connection per day instead of a percentage

NRW as a % of water supplied

Rises from 16.7% to 19.7%

0%5%10%15%20%25%Year 1Year 2Year 3Year 4Year 516.7%19.7%

Water losses (gallons per connection per day)

Flat at 50 every year

0102030405060Year 1Year 2Year 3Year 4Year 55050

Customers used 5% less water each year and the leaks never changed, yet the percentage says losses got worse.

Illustrative example: 10,000 connections; billed use of 250 gal/connection/day in Year 1, falling 5% per year; water losses constant at 50 gal/connection/day. NRW % = losses ÷ (billed use + losses). Texas threshold: Texas Water Development Board (2023).

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2. Not Auditing the Billing Data

Just as an example, one utility’s billing system showed over 561 million gallons of consumption. However, once duplicate records were checked and removed, the total gallons dropped to 516 million gallons. We see this in many systems: the billing system has errors, omissions, manual overrides, and data gaps that may lead a utility to have a false sense of their monthly water demands.

It’s important to go to the raw data generated by the metering system, not the changed version. So when looking at your utility water consumption, figure out how to access the original data and use that for reporting.

Your billing system is not always the same as your meter data.

Annual consumption reported by one utility's billing system, before and after removing duplicate records

Million gallons (MG) per year

0100200300400500600Billing system totalDuplicate records removedVerified meter data561 MG−45 MG516 MG

of reported consumption was duplicate billing records

45 MG/yr

of water losses hidden as billed consumption

≈123,000 gal/day

of losses the utility couldn't see

Source: Texas Water Development Board, Texas Water Loss Audit Validation Study (Dec 2021), pp. 25–26. Annual billed consumption before and after removing duplicate billing records. 45 MG ÷ 365 days ≈ 123,000 gallons per day.

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In this example, 45 million gallons, or 8% of reported consumption, were duplicate records. Each of those data issues reflected actual gallons of water. About 123,000 gallons a day the utility wasn’t tracking. Other common billing distortions include estimated reads posted as actual, zero reads from dead meters or radios, manual overrides, and accounts missing from billing entirely. At one utility we assessed, zero-billed and estimated bills had climbed above 10%, well above the industry benchmark of 0.6%.

3. Not Testing Production Meters

The production meters are just after the water plant and before the water distribution system. Older meters can lose accuracy of 0.5% to 2% a year. It’s important to test critical meters on an annual or quarterly basis to make sure you know exactly how much water is entering your system. A 2% error at a 10 MGD plant is 200,000 gallons a day, or 73 million gallons a year.

Just doing a test isn’t enough; it is critical to make sure of the testing method being used. We have seen many temporary measures for testing and non-standard testing certifications. Your utility must follow the AWWA meter testing requirements and guidance for best results. Otherwise you run the risk of mismanaging large amounts of water.

A proper production meter test has four steps:

Electronically check or calibrate the transmitter and confirm its signal matches SCADA.
Run an in-place flow test against a recently calibrated reference: a Pitot traverse, insertion meter, or clamp-on ultrasonic meter.
Calculate the volume-weighted error and compare it to a ±3% target.
Repair or recalibrate, document the results, and apply the error adjustment in your water audit.

How a production meter test should work

Every gallon downstream is measured against the production meter, so a small error at the plant skews the entire water audit.

Treatment plant

Production meter

Distribution system

Four steps

Calibrate the electronics

Check the transmitter and confirm its signal matches what SCADA records. A bad signal skews every reading.

Field-test the flow

Run an in-place flow test against a calibrated reference: Pitot traverse, insertion meter or clamp-on ultrasonic.

Calculate the error

Compute the volume-weighted error across the meter's normal flow range. Target: within ±3%.

Fix, document, adjust

Repair or recalibrate, record the results and apply the error adjustment in your AWWA water audit.

Field-test at least once a year. AWWA's Free Water Audit Software gives its top data grade only for semi-annual testing and calibration, with a volume-weighted error within ±3%.

Sources: AWWA Manual M33, Flowmeters in Water Supply; AWWA Manual M36, Water Audits and Loss Control Programs; AWWA Free Water Audit Software v6 data grading matrix.

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4. Not Testing the Customer Meters

We see this at many utilities, as new meters can be expensive, in the $200–400 range! So they may defer replacing older meters and get the additional use and life out of the old ones. This can be a very expensive mistake. Older-style mechanical meters are fairly accurate for the first 8–12 years of life and then begin to degrade in accuracy, up to 2% a year.

There are so many variables that impact meter health. The water quality: hard water can cause scaling faster than soft water. The high and low flows can wear out the mechanical parts. Long periods of no usage. High pressure spikes can damage the rotating components. Some meters can quickly lose accuracy at your utility, others may last decades. The only way to know is through actual testing in your utility.

So your 16-year-old meter may be under-counting by 10–20% a year. On an average water bill of $530 a year, that comes out to $53–106 a year!

Old meters quietly under-count

Mechanical meters hold accuracy for most of their first decade, then slowly register less water, first at low flows

Share of actual flow recorded

Accuracy loss begins, years 8–10AWWA range for new meters: 98.5–101.5% at normal flow

75%80%85%90%95%100%105%05101520ILLUSTRATIVE~88% at year 16AWWA range for new meters: 98.5–101.5% at normal flowAccuracy loss begins, years 8–10

Meter age (years)

Holding accuracyDeclining accuracyRange across individual meters

10–20%

possible under-registration on a mechanical meter well past its accuracy life

$4.43–$8.85

lost per meter, per month

$53K–$106K

per year across 1,000 aging meters

*Based on the U.S. average drinking water bill of $531/yr (≈$44/mo). Fixed charges aren't affected by meter error, so actual losses are lower.

Illustrative curve; actual decline varies by meter type, water volume and flow profile. Sources: AWWA C700 / Manual M6 accuracy limits; InfraSync utility assessment (onset at years 8–10); Food & Water Watch, Oct 2026 (2025 bills); Stoker, Barfuss & Johnson (2012), Journal AWWA.

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5. Tracking Only 1x a Year

If your water losses are low, under 20 gallons per connection a day, then annual tracking can make sense. However, most systems are well above those limits and should be doing monthly water loss tracking. This enables the utility to see exactly what months they have higher losses and detect failing meters or breaking pipes that same month, not just in January when they update numbers for the year.

Different states have varying requirements for reporting on water losses. Every utility that has a capacity limitation, older pipelines or meters, and limited funding needs to be tracking this each month to prevent any nasty surprises at the end of the year.

Another problem from only tracking once a year is our memories can falter. There may be a good reason, such as new construction or a fiber contractor breaking multiple waterlines in March, but if you wait until the next year to add up all the water losses you can miss the true reasons.

WATER BALANCE · SELECTED DMAs AND PERIOD

System Input Volume

MG | 106.2 MG / month

3,821.9

Authorized Consumption

MG · billed + unbilled

3,193.3

Apparent Losses

MG - theft, meter, data

218.0

Real Losses

MG · leakage & breaks

410.6

Water Loss %

628.6 MG lost

16.4%

Non-Revenue Water

% of system input

19.2%

Real Loss / Conn / Day

Apparent 17.4 GCD

32.9

ILI

Real losses / UARL

2.36

MONTHLY WATER BALANCE BY AWWA CATEGORY

System Input by AWWA Category (MG, stacked) and Water Loss % (lines)

Billed meteredBilled unmeteredUnbilled authorizedApparent lossesReal lossesWater loss %Water loss % (12-mo rolling)

02040608010012014015%20%25%30%35%Jan 2023Jul 2023Jan 2024Jul 2024Jan 2025Jul 2025Volume (MG)Water loss % and Water loss % (12-mo rolling)

InfraSync Ray: monthly water balance by AWWA category for selected district metered areas.

Water loss is typically complex, and the real issues require good data and a team that understands the meters, the data systems, and the water utility. Looking at specific issues in isolation can give a false sense of where the real problems are. At InfraSync we provide water loss audits, validations, and set up reliable testing systems so you can KNOW, not just assume, where your real problems are as a utility.

Get help from InfraSync to find your water loss and fix your system capacity

About Infrasync: Infrasync helps water utilities modernize operations through smart technology implementation and data-driven decision-making. We partner with utility leaders to identify constraints, implement solutions, and measure results, transforming complexity into clarity.

5 Water Loss Mistakes to Avoid