California American Water (Cal Am), a subsidiary of American Water, the nation’s largest private water purveyor, owns and operates over 24 private water systems with Divisions headquartered in Sacramento, Monterey, and Southern California.  Cal Am retained MC Engineering to prepare a detailed analysis of the Company’s non-revenue water (NRW) in order to identify the various components that included apparent loss (meter accuracy related loss) and real losses (leakage) in each system.  The initial effort resulting in a 450 page report that included analysis of existing meters and recommended testing requirements, historical leakage in each system, and recommended practices for conducting acoustic leak detection according to the specific economics and cost of water for each system.

The project also included developing a state-of-the art leak reporting software that field will use to categorize and archive historical leakage and repair data.  Collectively, the initial foundation is forming the basis of a future water loss management system (WLMS) that will take into consideration all of the critical inputs to accurately track and monitor the impact on NRW from infrastructure investments and repairs, meter replacements, and related operational data from the leakage software.