ABSTRACT

IntegratingNonRevenueWaterManagement
WithCustomerWaterConservationPrograms

MaryAnnDickinson
PresidentandCEO
AllianceforWaterEfficiency
POBox804127
Chicago,IL60680
7733605100

PaulFanner
Principal
VeritecConsultingInc.
1495BonhillRoad,Unit#12
Mississauga,ON,L5T1M2Canada

Topic:ManagementBenefitsfromReducingWaterLosses

Keywords:Costs,Bestpractices,Evaluation,benchmarking

Abstract: Considerable progress has been made in modelling customerside demand

management programs. Detailed models also exist to evaluate the costs and benefits of
nonrevenuewaterreductions.Buttodatetherehasbeennointegrationofthetwotopics;
therehasbeennoclearorcomprehensiveguidanceforutilitymanagerstoassesswhereto
place utility investments, particularly between customerside demand management
programsandutilitysidephysicallossreductionprograms.

Thispaperandplatformpresentationwilldescribeaspreadsheetbasedmodeldevelopedin
2009 by the Alliance for Water Efficiency specifically for use in water utility integrated
resource planning and customerside demand management analysis. It was primarily
designed to project water savings from conservation programs and to calculate
conservationprogramcosts,benefits,andratepayerimpacts.Inadditiontoprovidingwater
managerswithastandardizedmethodologyforwatersavingsandbenefitcostaccounting,
themodelincludesalibraryofpredefined,fullyparameterizedconservationactivitiesfrom
whichuserscanconstructconservationprogramplanningscenarios.Userscanalsodefine
their own conservation activities to use with the model or customize the model's pre
definedactivitiestobettersuittheirlocalcircumstances.

Water Loss Management as a program activity is included on a benchmark basis as

describedbelow.


Introduction

The Alliance for Water Efficiency is a nongovernmental organization serving the United
States and Canada, the two countries in the world with the highest per capita water
consumptionandthusindesperateneedofsoundwaterefficiencyprograms.Foundedin
2007, the Alliance is dedicated to promoting water efficient products and practices,
fostering water efficiency research, and assisting water utilities and communities in the
implementation of water efficiency programs. A detailed web site of water efficiency
information (including information on nonrevenue management) has been built and is
openly accessible at www.allianceforwaterefficiency.org. To date over 290 individual
organizationshavejoinedtheorganizationandareparticipatinginAllianceactivities.

Shortlyafteritsfounding,theAlliancedeterminedthattherewasaneedforasystematic,
transparent, comprehensive, yet userfriendly model to evaluate water conservation and
efficiencyoptions.Althoughnumerousexcellentmodelsalreadyexist,mostareproprietary.
Othersarefreebutdifficulttouse.Nearlyalltheexistingmodelshavehiddensourcecode,
so that the user cannot easily amend the calculations and parameters to customize the
model for their own purposes. Finally, most models do not have incorporated into the
modelalgorithmsthelatestinformationonproductsavingsandproductcodes.

The project got underway in early 2008 with seed funding provided by the Home Depot
Foundation.Ayearwasspentbuildingthedetailedbackgroundcalculationsofthemodel
andconstructingtheuserinterface.FourwaterutilitiesintheUnitedStatesprovidedbeta
testing and the opportunity to verify the savings calculations against their own savings
experiences. Three additional utilities in the country of Jordan tested the model and
customizeditfortheirpurposes.Changesweremadebasedontheearlyfeedbackreceived,
andthemodelisnowalreadyinVersion1.2.

ReleasedinJuly,2009withadetailedUserGuide,themodeliscalledaWaterConservation
TrackingToolbecauseofitsusefulnessinalsotrackingthesavingsofprogramschosenand
undertaken. The Tool is available free of charge to members of the Alliance for Water
Efficiency.Autilitycanobtainitanduseitfreelywithanannualmembershipofmerelyone
cent US per customer service connection. Small utilities of less than 50,000 customer
connections are thus able to get the Tool for $500 or less. Consultants are also able to
freelyusetheToolfortheirclients,providedthattheconsultantisamemberandtheutility
systemisalsoamember.

ToolDescription

TheWaterConservationTrackingToolisanExcelbasedspreadsheetmodelforevaluating
thewatersavings,costs,andbenefitsofurbanwaterconservationprograms.Inadditionto
providingusersastandardizedmethodologyforwatersavingsandbenefitcostaccounting,
the tool includes a library of predefined, fully parameterized conservation activities from
which users can construct conservation programs. Water managers can use the tool in a
varietyofwaystoaidtheirwaterresourceplanningandoperations.Forexample:
2

Thetoolcanbeusedtoquicklycomparealternativeconservationmeasuresinterms
of their water savings potential, impact on system costs, and potential benefits to
utilitycustomers.
The tool can be used to develop longrange conservation plans. It can be used to
constructconservationportfolioscontainingupto50separateconservationprogram
activities.
The tool can be used as an accounting system for tracking the implementation,
watertimesavings,costs,andbenefitsofactualconservationactivitiesovertime.

ItwastheAlliancesintentiontoprovideatoolthatutilitiescouldadapttoawidevarietyof
usersituations,regardlessofgeographiclocation,watersystemsize,orextentofprevious
conservation program experience. To meet this objective, the tool provides a generic
framework for characterizing water system demands and costs, and for specifying the
attributes of water conservation activities. This generic framework utilizes several key
assumptionsandsimplifications,allofwhicharefullyexplainedinadetailedUserGuide.

Figure1:UserNavigationSheet

FeaturesoftheTrackingTool

The following is a listing of some of the key features of the Water Conservation Tracking
Tool:

MultipleAnalysisPerspectivesThetoolevaluatesconservationprogramcostsandbenefits
from three perspectives: (1) the utilitys; (2) the program participants; and (3) societys.
Each perspective provides insight into a key aspect of conservation program planning and
evaluation.

Figure2:UtilityCostsandBenefits

FlexibleModelingofWaterSavingsWatersavingsforanactivitycanbemodeledashaving
afixedlifeoraspersistingindefinitely.Aconservationactivityssavingsprofilecanincludea
decayprocessoritcanbemodeledasconstant.Savingsfromconservationactivitiesthat
interactwithexistingplumbing/energycodesthatexistintheUSandCanada,suchastoilet,
showerhead, and clothes washer replacement and/or rebate programs, can be
disaggregatedintoprogramrelatedandcoderelatedsavingscomponents.

ConservationActivityLibraryThetoolincludesalibraryofpredefined,fullyparameterized
conservationactivitiesthatuserscanimportintothemodel.Attheiroption,userscanuse
theseactivitiesastheyareorcustomizethemtobettermatchtheirserviceareaconditions
andprogramcharacteristics.

Figure3:ConservationActivityMenu

WaterSavingsDisaggregationThetooldisaggregateswatersavingsthreedifferentways:
(1) by water user classification; (2) between system peak and offpeak periods; and (3)
betweenprogramrelatedandcoderelatedwatersavings.Thetoolhasbuiltincapabilityto
estimateserviceareawatersavingsduetonationaltoilet,showerhead,clotheswasher,and
dishwasherwaterefficiencycoderequirements.

DemandForecastingThetoolcanmodifyabaselinewaterdemandforecasttoaccountfor
bothprogramrelatedandcoderelatedwatersavingsovertime.Thetoolcanalsogenerate
asimplebaselinedemandforecastiftheuserdoesnothaveone.

Figure4:WaterSavingsSummary

Avoided Cost Analysis Users have the option to use their own forecasts of system
avoidable costs or they can use the tools avoided cost calculator to estimate avoidable
systemoperatingandcapitalcostsduetoconservationwatersavings.

Minimal Data Requirements Every effort has been made to minimize the tools data
requirementsothatusersarenotoverburdenedwithdatacollectionandinputtasks.This
wasakeypriorityfortheAllianceinbuildingthemodel.

DataEntryAssistanceThetoolincludescustomdataentryformsanddialogstohelpusers
defineoreditconservationactivities,importconservationactivitiesfromthetoolslibrary,
and save and retrieve scenarios. Data input cells are color coded to make them easy to
spot. A brief message explaining why the tool needs the requested information appears
wheneveradataentrycellisactivated.

Charting & Reporting Capability The tool includes dynamic charts and tables that
automatically adjust to user settings and conservation program specifications. Charts are
embeddedwithinworksheets,butalsocanbedisplayedintheirownwindowswithaclickof
abutton(thisfeatureisnotavailableifusingExcel2007).Chartsandreportscanbeeasily
copiedintootherdocumentsforreportgeneration.

Scenario Management Users can easily save scenarios and retrieve them for later use.
Thismakesiteasytoseehowdifferentprogrammixesorassumptionsaboutwatersavings
orprogramcostsimpacttheoverallresults.

OpenSourceUserscanexaminethetoolsinternallogic.Userscancustomizeorextend
thecapabilitiesofthetooltomeettheirspecificplanningneeds.Visualbasiccodeusedby
thetoolisextensivelycommentedwithinthemodelandintheUserGuidetomakeiteasy
tofollow.

Figure5:ConservationPlanningProcess

Source:A&NTechnicalServices,Inc.;AWWARFProject2935:WaterEfficiencyProgramsforIntegratedWaterManagement

NonRevenueWaterCalculations

Figure 5 shows the steps of the planning process for water conservation that the model
automates.NonRevenueWaterManagementiscurrentlyintegratedintothisdemandside
model by benchmarking physical water loss savings and costs against similar savings and
costs of conservation programs. The goal is an integration of both approaches, so that
utility managers can assign financial resources to appropriate program strategies in both
areas.

Figure 6 shows how the model depicts savings from demand side conservation programs
against a 20% reduction in physical losses and a 40% reduction in physical losses,
assumptions developed based on review of available literature and compilation of field
experience. By comparing the savings profiles shown in Figure 6, a utility manager can
assess the total savings projected to a utility from the various demand side conservation
activities versus water loss management and where utility financial resources are best
appliedinwhattimeperiod.

The costs for water loss management are assessed based on an analysis done by Julian
Thornton and Reinhard Sturm and presented at WaterLoss 2007 in Bucharest. In their
paper,thecostsofwaterlossreductionfromsevendifferentUSutilitiesweredocumented,
withamaximumcostof$658peracrefootofwatersavedandaminimumof$318peracre
foot of water saved. These two bounds were incorporated into the model as benchmark
6

costvaluesforwaterconservationprograms,asshowninFigure6.Inthissimplemanner,a
utilitymanagercancorrectlyassesswhereaninvestmentisbestplaced.

Physical Loss Reduction Comparison

1,200

1,000

AF

800

600

400

200

66

64

20

62

20

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20

12

20

20

20

20

08
10

Year
Program Water Savings

20% Loss Reduction

40% Loss Reduction

Figure6:PhysicalLossReductionComparisonwithConservationPrograms

Conservation Activities Sorted by Utility Unit Cost

Residential Irrigation Controller, SF

Water Loss Control - Low *

Residential HE Toilets, SF

Water Loss Control - High*

CII HE Toilet

Residential Surveys, SF

$-

$100

$200

$300

$400

$500

$600

$700

$800

$900

Unit Cost ($/AF)

Figure7:ConservationActivitiesBenchmarkedagainstWaterLossControl
7

However,thisapproachisonlyafirstrudimentaryfirststepinacombinedanalysisofwater
conservationandwaterlossmanagementprograms.Currentlyunderwayisamoredetailed
androbustmodelingofspecificwaterlossmanagementstrategiesthatwillbeincorporated
intothemodel,basedonactualutilitywaterlossandnetworkcharacteristics.Thus,these
specificwaterlossmanagementactivitieswillbebettercomparedandanalyzedalongside
the same level of detail for customer water conservation programs. Rather than just
appearingasbenchmarkvalues,nonrevenuewatermanagementwillbeascriptedactivity
initsownright.

Theprogressofthismoredetailedmodelingwillbepresentedattheconference.

UsesoftheToolandPlansfortheFuture

The Water Conservation Tracking Tool can be used to plan detailed costeffective
conservationprograms,byrankingthoseprogrammeasuresthatyieldthemostbenefitfor
the least cost. Because it uses the same data as planners use for integrated resources
planning, the conservation activities modeled with the tool can be included as water
resourceportfoliooptionsinawaterutilityslongrangesystemplan.

Future versions of the Tool will add more customerside conservation activities into the
modes Resource Library. As new technologies are piloted and savings results and costs
documented,theywillbeincluded.Nonrevenuewatermanagementisacomplexactivity
thatmustbeincludedinthistypeofmodeledfinancialanalysissothattheutilitymanager
cancomparethetruecostsandbenefitsofeconomicwaterlosscontrolagainstthesame
parameters for demandside management programs. Additional functions such as
calculating greenhouse gas emission reductions from conservation savings and water loss
managementwillalsobeaddedforthoseutilitiesthathavecompletedataontheirwater
supplysembeddedenergy.