The reduction and control of losses, or Non-Revenue Water, is a permanent preoccupation for the decision-makers in the sector, the managers and operators of public services, given its direct impact on revenue and on the investment effort to be made to meet increasing demand for water in urban towns.
While the freshwater resource is becoming scarcer and scarcer and demand is continually increasing, a considerable number of operations throughout the world are posting water loss rates of more than 50%.
The challenge for service operators is considerable: An appropriate non-revenue water control and reduction strategy has not only short-term influence on revenue improvement but also makes it possible to optimize the production and distribution system, thus postponing the need for investment in new infrastructures.
This subject has all the more strategic importance since it concerns all fields of activity and therefore necessitates a multidisciplinary analysis and an iterative approach.
In order to manage this critical aspect, LYSA has developed a global, integrated solution including all the causes and components of the losses, as well as their interconnections:
- Non-Revenue Water diagnosis
- Network sectorisation plans
- Revenue improvement programs
- Network output improvement programs
- Leak detection, repair and prevention
- Production monitoring and tele-management systems
- Working pressure regulation strategies and systems
- Meter renewal and meter inventory strategies
- Fraud detection and management
- Technical interventions management and planning
- Network renewal programs and asset management
- Point of delivery census and GIS mapping
- Exhaustive treatment of the billing cycle taking into account each critical point of contact with clients: connections, meters, bills, payment agencies, call centers
- Outstanding payment management: reminders, disconnections, re-connections
- Customer relations management, in operational terms (reading, reminders, payment,…) and in terms of information systems
For each one of these tasks and according to the company situation, LYSA shall mobilize its workforce on different levels, in order to strengthen its work capacity while favoring global understanding and commitment to improve key performance indicators and fostering teamwork to design shared and pragmatic action plans strained on progress and fulfillment of the set targets.
Due to its transversal nature involving all key areas of the company, the Non-Revenue Water reduction plan shall be a central project within the utility management process. Non-Revenue water and its main items shall be part of the performance report panel on which shall be defined the remuneration of LYSA and the local staff.