A BETTER TOMORROW made possible

Canadian Utilities Learn to Fly through Benchmarking of Water Loss Management

Christine McCormack, P.Eng.

September 13th, 2005

Benchmarking Evolution

• Introduction to NWWBI

• Collecting PM data

• Comparison of results

• Water loss management strategies and best practices

What is Benchmarking?

•How well are we doing?•How well do we comparewith similar organizations?

•Are we getting value for money?•How can we improve?

The Early Days

• Pilot study in 1997 – NRC, four wastewater utilities & Earth Tech

• Determine utility goals

• Ensure apples-to-apples comparison through on-site data collection

• Water Utilities joined in 2001

National Benchmarking

34 Wastewater Utilities

32 Water Utilities

15 Stormwater Utilities1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Canadian Utilities

Water Utility Goals

Water Loss in 2001

• “Unaccounted for water”

• Many using PM “% of supply”

• Adopted PM of m³/km/day of UFW

• Leak detection primary strategy

• Relevant to Reliable and Sustainable Goal

2000 UFW m³/km/day

-10

0

10

20

30

40

50T

RA

NS

-1

TR

AN

S-2

TR

AN

S-3

TR

AN

S-4

TR

AN

S-5 B F G P K H O L D C R M T A U N E J S Q

Min 55 L/conn/dayMax 545 L/conn/day

Metric vs Process BM

Metric Benchmarking

ProcessBenchmarking

Identify Performance Gap:•How much•Where•When

Management Commitment

Employee Participation

SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE

How to Close the Gap•Improved Knowledge•Improved Practices•Improved Processes

Water Loss Task Force

• Conference calls

• Breakout session at the Annual Workshop

• Sharing of BPs: IWA Water Balance, InfraGuide, AWWA etc

• Sharing of water loss reduction strategies

Water Loss in 2005

Non-Revenue Water

1. Transmission only systems PM: m³/km/day

2. Distribution & Integrated systems PM: L/connection/day

2003 NRW L/conn/day

-100

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y

NR

W (

L/c

on

ne

cti

on

/da

y)

-20%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

140%

160%

% o

f S

yst

em M

ete

red

2001 2002 2003 2003 % Metered

Min 105 L/conn/dayMax 655 L/conn/day

2003 NRW & Pipe Age

-100

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y

NR

W (

L/c

on

ne

cti

on

/da

y)

-10

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

% o

f S

yst

em M

ete

red

2003 NRW 2003 Average Pipe Age

Water Loss Reduction Strategies

The InternationalStandard Water Audit

Water Metering, Testingand Replacement

Leak Detection

Pressure Management

Infrastructure Renewal

Bylaw Enforcement &Design Standards

Pricing

SCADA

Distribution SystemModeling

Operation & MaintenancePractices

Water Efficiency /Conservation

District Metered Areas

Public RelationsManagement

Mission: Performance Improvement

• Learn from others

• Validate existing best practices

• Report back on PII at Annual Workshop – solutions, problems, ideas

• Group peer pressure

2005 Workshop - Abbotsford

• Previously had separate fire and domestic line to ICI customers

• New practice – combined domestic and fire line

• Eliminates unauthorized use

• Reduces O&M $

2005 Workshop - Calgary

• Water demand management – reduce per capita demand by 33% by 2032 (no change in total consumption despite 50% growth)

• Temporary DMAs, leak detection, main replacement, meter calibration

2005 Workshop - Peel

• 7 pressure zones

• 124 zone valves to maintain zone integrity = 248 dead end mains

• Flushing required to maintain water quality

• Pressure zone bypass (small pipe and control valve) with minor constant flushing minimizes flushing volumes, reducing NRW and $ but maintaining water quality

Leaks in the Far North

“Victim”

Pipe damage

Benefits of Water Loss BM

• Compare water loss to peers

• Share methodologies for estimating Water Balance components

• Share Canadian experiences with water loss reduction strategies

• Validate best practices by monitoring PM results

Conclusions

• Canadian utilities now have data to manage their water loss

• Water loss management has many strategies and applies to most of the utility goals

• Next steps: Collect ILI data

More information

www.nationalbenchmarking.ca