Making Gains with Water Loss Control
Programs
North American Water Loss Conference 2017
Amy McNulty
Irvine Ranch Water District
Irvine Ranch Water District Facts
181 Square Miles20% of Orange County
530,000 Daytime Population
390,000Residential Customers
6 Cities ServedIrvine
Lake Forest
Newport Beach
Tustin
Costa Mesa
Orange
Unincorporated Orange County
2
IRWD Services
Drinking Water5 water treatment plants
27 Wells and 36 reservoirs
1760 miles of water pipeline
Sewage Collection1070 miles of collection pipeline
Recycled Water2 recycled water plants
525 miles of recycled water pipeline
Urban Runoff TreatmentIRWD San Joaquin Marsh
27 wetland treatment sites
3
IRWD Supply Reliability. Then and Now.
Total Water Demands: ~90,000 AF
66%9%
14%
11%
Imported Water
Clear Groundwater
Recycled Water
Local Surface Water
15%
36%28%
21%
Imported Water
Clear Groundwater
Recycled Water
Treated Groundwater
2017Population Served: 390,000
Total Water Provided: ~82,000 AF
1990Population Served: 114,000
Total Water Provided: ~70,000 AF
4
IRWD’s Water Efficiency Efforts
5
• Budget-based Conservation Rate Structure
• Landscape Irrigation Management and Transformation
• New Technology Implementation
Water Loss Control Program Review
Water Loss Control Program – Then
• Full-system proactive leak detection
– Whole System (12-15 months)
• Targeted customer meter replacement
– 17 year replacement cycle, based on 1994 study
• Large meter testing
• Annual Water Audits AWWA Software
Contract with Water Systems Optimization
• Component Analysis of Real Losses
• Program Payback Assessment
– Proactive Leak Detection
– Meter Replacement Schedule
• Level 2 Validation of Previous Audit
Proactive Leak Detection Program
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Leak Detection Program
• Currently Two Employees
• Two Segments Residential and Mainline
• Residential Survey Independently, Walking 4 to
6 Miles Per Day
• Mainline – Work Together, Drive Major Arterials
Streets and All Commercial Developments
• Systematically Survey The Entire District
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Leak Detection Program
Potable, Recycled, and Untreated Systems
9
Contact points:
• Valves
• Fire Hydrants
• Air Vac’s
• Water Meters
If a leak is found:
• Customers are notified of scheduled repairs
• Repairs made within 48 hours
• If a customer side of the meter leak is suspected a work order is sent to the Water Efficiency Department to reach out to the customer.
• Fire Lines
• Service Lines
• Angle Stops
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Modeled optimal frequency of leak detection:
Full system every 17 months
Analysis was conservative – did not include indirect benefits
of proactive leak detection like:
• Avoided emergency repairs and overtime pay
• Early leak discovery
• Field knowledge and monitoring of distribution system
infrastructure
Findings: Proactive Leak Detection Program
Pace of survey every 12-15 months is cost-effective and reasonable.
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Small meters may still perform acceptably as they approach
replacement at 17 years of age.
Findings: Meter Replacement Schedule
Recommendations
1. Pilot extended small meter replacement at 18, 19, and 20 years.
2. Continue proactive customer meter testing for all meter sizes.
3. Continue proactive leak detection at the current pace.
4. Adjust leak repair tracking to capture leak repair durations and a few pieces of additional infrastructure information in an easily-extracted format.
5. Consider studying the potential for District Metered Area (DMA) pilots.
Added goal: Improve audit data collection and management.
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Infrastructure Leakage Index:
1.03
Apparent Losses:
6.84
Real Losses:
20.77
Water Audit Results
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Infrastructure Leakage Index:
1.4
Apparent Losses:
7.4
Real Losses:
28.3
Apparent Losses and Revenue RecoveryA Tale of Two Stuck Meters
Meter A Meter B
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Zero Read Meter Report Content Like Finding a Needle in a Haystack
No usage for 3 consecutive months:
• Type of Account – landscape, commercial, residential, etc.
• Customer name and address
• Meter and Account numbers
• Service Descriptor – text field not always containing information
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PREM_TYPE ACCT_ID ACCT_NAMESERVICE_ADDRESS
LANDLORD_ID
PREM_UNDER_PROPERTY_MNGR SERVICE_DESCRIPTOR SP_ID SP_TYPE SP_TYPE_DESC BADGE_NBR
FA_TYPE_CD LOG_DTTM START_DT READ_DTTM
Commercial 1870400000 Customer A 123 M St. YES POOL AREA 1870400201 C-WSCommercial - Potable - Water & Sewer 60365309 12/25/1980 12/10/2003
Commercial 6190900000 Customer B 5325 Alton Pkwy YES UNIT A B AND/OR C? 6190900434 C-WSCommercial - Potable - Water & Sewer 60449038
Meter Check 11/13/2015 05/23/1990 03/20/2006
Commercial 7145984536 Customer C 14281 Franklin 7491000326 C-WSCommercial - Potable - Water & Sewer 49248148 07/28/2016 04/08/2004
Commercial 8580600000 Customer D 500 Deerfield NO SEWER, DRINKING FOUNTAIN 8580600529 C-WCommercial - Potable - Water - No Sewer 68463492
Meter Exchange 05/21/2015 09/26/1995 05/21/2015
Commercial 4056800000 Customer E 13402 Heritage CAR WASH 4056800940 C-WCommercial - Potable - Water - No Sewer 51120049
Meter Check 11/10/2015 06/21/1989 10/09/2007
Commercial 5110225665 Customer F 363 Floral View 0114210177 C-R-WSCommercial - Recycled - Water & Sewer 60966068 02/02/2017 09/15/2016
Commercial 7036610000 Customer G 69 Shady Canyon Dr YES DRINKING FOUNTAIN 7036610625 C-WCommercial - Potable - Water - No Sewer 76916576 12/09/2002 11/05/2002
Stuck Meter Detection ImprovementsA Whole New World
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User defined number of months without use:
• Type of Account – landscape, commercial, residential, etc.
• Service Descriptor – text field not always containing information
• Key Dates
• Summary Data
• Irrigated Area
• Historical Usage Graph
SA_TYPE
ACC_ID
STARTED
DATE
METER
INSTALLED
DATE
MONTHS
WITH ZERO
USAGE
MONTHS
SINCE ACCT_ID
STARTED
MONTHS
SINCE METER
WAS
INSTALLED
MONTHLY
AVERAGE
USAGE SINCE
ACC_ID
STARTED
(CCF)
LAND AREA
(SQ FT)
SERVICE
DESCRIPTION
WATER USE TRENDS
(Since Jan 2009)
SELECT
ROW
LI-R-W 7/25/2007 7/25/2007 6 123 123 548 164,657 NULLDouble
Click
LI-R-W 10/31/2011 10/31/2011 4 72 72 432 213,444 LNDSCP: EL CAMINO
SCHOOL
Double
Click
LI-R-W 6/1/2004 3/10/2014 3 161 43 359 344,124 NULLDouble
Click
C-WS 6/3/2003 6/3/2003 9 172 172 343 436 MULTI UNIT OFFICES
(8) & LANDSCAPE
Double
Click
AG-R-W 10/21/2014 3/12/1991 25 36 319 629 1,306,800 NULLDouble
Click
LI-W 11/16/1992 6/8/2015 16 299 28 210 108,900 LANDSCAPEDouble
Click
LI-R-W 6/23/1987 3/31/2004 5 364 163 179 111,514 NULLDouble
Click
LI-R-W 1/9/1995 12/1/2014 3 273 35 176 254,390 STRTSCP: PELICAN
HILL CIR
Double
Click
Individual Account Detail
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2003060360344600
ACCT_ID 6800100000
SP_ID: 6800100666
ACC Started Date: 6/3/2003 ACCT Status: ACTIVE
Name:
Address: 14805 JEFFREY, IRVINE
Phone: (714) 241-1550
Village:
Premise Type:
Service Point Type:
Service Point Description:
DW_Units: DW_Units Effect Date:
Service Point Installed Date: 12/25/1979
Landscape Area (sq ft): 436
Landscape Area Effective Date: 01-01-2000
Meter_ID: 6800006635 9 -
Badge_Number 60344606 172
Type: D-1-1/2 172 Stuck Date: Stuck Date Update:
Installed Read Date Time: 6/3/2003 343 (CCF)
Manufacture Code: NE 404 (CCF)
CUSTOMER INFO
Service Description:
Service Point Analysis
ARBOR COMM REAL ESTATE #0493
WILLOWS
COM
COMMERCIAL - POTABLE - WATER & SEWER
C-WS
METER INFO
MULTI UNIT OFFICES (8) & LANDSCAPE
Customer Service
Monthly Average Aloocation:
Comments:
Status Date:
Months with Zero Usage:
Months Since ACCT Started:
Months Since Meter Installed:
Monthly Average Usage Since ACCT Started:
Meter Stutus Code:
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
01-2
009
04-2
009
07-2
009
10-2
009
01-2
010
04-2
010
07-2
010
10-2
010
01-2
011
04-2
011
07-2
011
10-2
011
01-2
012
04-2
012
07-2
012
10-2
012
01-2
013
04-2
013
07-2
013
10-2
013
01-2
014
04-2
014
07-2
014
10-2
014
01-2
015
04-2
015
07-2
015
10-2
015
01-2
016
04-2
016
07-2
016
10-2
016
01-2
017
04-2
017
07-2
017
10-2
017
CCF
Water Use Trends Since 2009
Account Started Meter Installed Stuck Date Stuck Update Water Usage
<< BACK to DASHBOARD SAVE
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
1 1 - 2 0 1 6 1 2 - 2 0 1 6 1 - 2 0 1 7 2 - 2 0 1 7 3 - 2 0 1 7 4 - 2 0 1 7 5 - 2 0 1 7 6 - 2 0 1 7 7 - 2 0 1 7 8 - 2 0 1 7 9 - 2 0 1 7 1 0 - 2 0 1 7
CCF
AXIS TITLE
LAST 12 MONTHS WATER USAGE VS ALLOCATION
Allocation Water Usage
Revenue RecoveredFirst 6 months
Site AF* Revenue Recovered Payment Status
1 195 $137,640 Paid in full
2 141 $3,333(only 3 months
were back billed,174 months total)
Paid in full
3 306 $127,935 Payment plan
4 269 $129,514 Paid in full
5 69 $32,161 Pending back billing
Total 980 $430,583
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*AF is cumulative from the time the meter stopped registering usage.
Water Loss Control Program - Now
• Full-system proactive leak detection– Whole System (12-15 months at the time)
– Whole System up to ~3 years now due to new construction
• Reevaluate schedule & resources (future)
• Targeted customer meter replacement– 17 year replacement cycle, based on 1994 study
– Pilot test for 18, 19, and 20 year cycles (considering)
• Large meter testing
• Source meter testing (considering)
• Small meter testing (considering)
• Annual Water Audits AWWA Software
• Water Loss and Revenue Recovery Program (implemented)
• Data Collection and Management (implemented)
Data Collection and Management Goals
• New Data Sources
– Line flushing reports
• Reported Leaks
– Record precise times of leak
event discovery and repair
• Source Meter Reads
– Read first day each month
– Read waste meters too
– Add production and waste meters to billing database
• Identify waste meters from production meters
• Define waste meter relationship to production meter
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