Humanity’s demand for water keeps growing. Global pressure on freshwater is projected to increase by more than 40 percent by 2030, which will lead to an even greater supply gap for countries already facing water stress.

To meet future demand for drinking water, it is therefore necessary to prioritise efficient NRW management to control water losses. While global averages remain high, few countries like Denmark have demonstrated that NRW can be reduced to a level of 6-8 percent using the right combination of political regulation, technical innovation and utility management.

NRW is the difference between the amount of water supplied into a distribution system and the amount of water that is billed. There are three main categories of NRW: Apparent losses are caused by inaccurate metering, data handling errors, theft and unknown connections.

Real losses cover leakages from all parts of the system and overflows at storage tanks. Real losses are caused by poor operations and inadequate maintenance, combined with deteriorating underground assets. Lastly, unbilled authorised consumption is water used for flushing and firefighting, as well as water provided for free to certain customer groups.

The International Water Association’s Water Balance schema provides a more comprehensive description of each component of NRW.

Reducing losses promote revenue and protects resources

Huge volumes of drinking water are never invoiced due to leakages, deteriorating infrastructure, inaccurate billing systems, deficient customer registration, inaccurate metering, reservoir overflow and illegal connections. In the long run, neglecting to reduce NRW poses a threat to the development of the entire water supply system.

High levels of NRW will have a serious impact on the financial viability of water utilities and entire communities due to revenue losses and unnecessarily high operating costs. NRW thus directly affects the ability of water utilities to fund necessary service expansions, conduct proper maintenance and invest in new technology. In general, reducing NRW by half within two to four years is an achievable target for most water utilities with water losses above 20 percent. This entails an assumption that both a strategic focus and required funding are present.

A reduction at that level will generate a considerable increase in annual income from billing, as well as reduced costs for water production. In addition to simply running a good business, reducing NRW is also a fundamental public service responsibility and a vital component in reaching the UN Sustainable Development Goal on Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG 6).

As water resources face growing pressure from climate change, urbanisation and rising demand, ensuring a stable and reliable water supply is more critical than ever. Reducing NRW helps safeguard the security of supply by minimising losses, increasing system resilience and supporting long-term resource planning. Securing water supply is not just a technical goal, but a foundation for sustainable development and public well-being.

A wide range of value-added benefits

Reducing NRW unlocks a range of additional benefits for utilities and their customers. Beyond easing water stress, improving financial viability and strengthening security of supply, an effective NRW programme brings several key advantages:

• A more stable water supply, as improved performance will provide pressure balancing 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• Reduced energy consumption for abstraction, treatment and distribution, while still meeting the same demand for water, as pressure is adapted to demand and lower volumes of water will need to be treated and distributed.
• Improved water quality due to optimised water distribution, as chlorine content in the distributed water will be better controlled and the risk of pollution related to cloudbursts and periods with low pressure or vacuum will be reduced.
• A firm basis for setting up a long-term rehabilitation and investment plan for the network.
• Strong support for data-driven decision-making due to new management systems.