Non-Revenue Water

Lost Water is Lost Money.
Reduce your Apparent and Real Losses.

We know you’re focused on reducing non-revenue water (NRW) and closing the gap between the volume of water you supply and the water you bill your customers each month. Non-revenue water can quickly add up. In fact, in North America, NRW can amount to between 20 percent and 30 percent.

The sources of non-revenue water include:

• Main leaks and storage tank overflows
• Unauthorized use (theft and tampering)
• Unbilled consumption and meter inaccuracy
• Unmetered consumption
• Leak adjustments and bad debt

We all agree it’s no longer acceptable to miss out on meeting your revenue potential due to non-revenue water. NRW not only impacts your revenue stream, but it can also have a serious impact on your operational expenses. We work with thousands of utilities just like you to identify the source of your non-revenue water and provide a solution to reduce it.

Learn how Park City, Utah is monitoring it’s system for ongoing asset management and water loss reduction with the Sensus Smart Gateway.

Check out this infographic that provides an introduction to the significant impact of non-revenue water.

Partnering with Sensus helps a Florida utility recapture unaccounted for water and revenue across its water system. Learn how.

Our solution

The first step in addressing non-revenue water is ensuring accurate meter readings. From unmetered water and inaccurate billing to delayed customer leak detection resulting in higher leak forgiveness costs to unauthorized use, apparent loss can cause revenue instability. Within your distribution system, water leaks, bursts and overflows also create costly problems. To help you address these issues we offer a range of metering, measurement, communications and analytics solutions to support you on your non-revenue water journey from revenue assurance to real loss reduction.

• iPERL® water meters: Capture previously unmeasured low flow water, with unprecedented accuracy. This smart water meter comes equipped with smart alarms such as tamper alerts to detect attempted theft and can help you improve your revenue stream from your residential accounts.
• ally® water meters: Reduce bad debt write-offs and enhance customer service with faster service activation and shut-off through an integrated remote three-state service valve. With proven pressure sensing capabilities, ally can also help you profile your system pressure to more efficiently and cost-effectively address water loss within your water distribution.
• OMNI™ commercial and industrial water meters: Maintain greater revenue capture from your commercial and industrial accounts through field-adjustable accuracy. OMNI uses patented floating ball technology (FBT) which gives you a wider range of accurate measurement and revenue assurance.

iPERL, ally and OMNI meters integrate seamlessly with the FlexNet® SmartPoint® modules, and offer a wide range of remote system management options through the Sensus FlexNet two-way communication network. SmartPoint modules let you automate remote water meter reading and monitor distribution lines for leaks.

• FlexNet® communication network: Our long-range radio network provides a scalable and reliable smart utility network infrastructure that enables smart water and smart cities. Working with smart meters and sensors, FlexNet securely transmits and receives the right data at the right time to let you actively monitor and dynamically optimize your water system.
• SmartPoint® modules: With versions designed for both submersible and non-submersible environments, SmartPoint modules record hourly reading data that you can review either on site or through the FlexNet network. This data can not only show an active leak or loss, but also show the time and dates the events occurred. SmartPoint modules operate in walk-by, drive-by or fixed-base mode to give you even more flexibility.
• Sensus® Smart Gateway sensor interface: This battery-powered device maximizes your investment in the FlexNet communication network by sending data without the need to “plug” into electrical power. Remotely monitor pressures, temperatures, levels and switches. You can also analyze pressure data to identify potential leaks and other conditions in your system.
• Permalog+ acoustic monitoring sensors: Monitor distribution lines and help localize leaks. Using sound waves to detect flow, these sensors activate overnight, listening to the distribution system when ambient noise is at its lowest. They then report flow conditions back via the SmartPoint. You can analyze the data to determine if a leak condition exists. Then service crews can quickly investigate and make repairs before they become costly problems.
• Sensus Essential Analytics: These powerful applications deliver data from your AMR or AMI system, giving you the information needed to quickly respond to system issues.

Benefits to you

• Helps you remotely identify sources of non-revenue water via Sensus software
• Provides revenue assurance with accurate billing and enabling proactive customer service
• Alerts your utility via alarms to potential acts of unauthorized use
• Identifies areas to reduce flow rate for water leaks and bursts with pressure management
• Enables and bolsters regulatory compliance and water loss programs