Non-Revenue Water Reduction Programs in Colombia: Methodology Analysis using a System Dynamics Approach

Abstract

All across the world there are concerns about water availability that invite utilities to perform better as water stewards. One of the ways to get a better performance, both operational and financial, is to reduce water losses. In fact, the utilities should not just compare water produced to water sold, but they should be aware of the importance of implementing water loss reduction programs as clean water is becoming a scarce resource and conservation is needed. This is why water industries are now recognizing the need to minimize water loss. The objective of this work is to provide methodological elements to analyse commercial water losses in Colombian Water Utilities based on a system dynamics approach. A model will be developed to study the impacts coming from different policies which are created to reduce water losses (measured by an index called Non Revenue Water1) in the residential sector. In the context of this research, the System Dynamics model can ease the understanding of interactions and causal relations underlying the water loss problem among the clients, the company and the surrounding environment. In addition, the model will be used to analyse different policies to investigate the effectiveness of water loss reduction programs in colombian utilities. Keywords: Non Revenue Water, System Dynamics, Fraud, Water Loss