“Lost” water can be a big drain on the budget of a municipal authority. It is water that the authority pays for but does not sell or put to productive use. Lost water normally occurs through breaks in mains or evaporation from water sources. Lost water is ultimately paid for by the ratepayers, as it is incorporated into the operating budget of the authority.
Many large systems struggle to keep their lost water to 30%, while 20% is considered to be a good result. At the Lower Saucon Authority we target 10% every quarter when we measure our lost water.
For the 4th quarter of 2024, the Lower Saucon Authority kept its system-wide lost water to 7.78%. We “produced” 28.26 million gallons for the quarter, and sold 26.06 million gallons. This left a total of approximately 2.20 million gallons lost, for a total of 7.78%. This is an amazing number that we are very happy to achieve! This marks the third quarter in a row that we were able to keep our “lost” water under 10%.
For the entire year of 2024, our lost water percentage is 7.85%. We “produced” 114,981,180 gallons for the year, and sold 104,564,000 gallons. This left a gross total of 10,417,180 gallons that were unaccounted for. We used 1,391,700 gallons during our spring system-wide flushing, leaving a net total of 9,025,480 gallons lost for a total of 7.85%.
We are incredibly proud of the job that our crew does to save money for our customers. As a municipal authority, we do not collect or receive taxes – we are completely funded by our rate payers. By limiting the amount of our lost water, we limit the additional expenses that our customers must bear.
Credit should be give to LSA Operations Supervisor Bill Reccek, who actively hunts potential water breaks on a daily basis. Once he locates them, our crew of William Reccek and Erik White did a fantastic job repairing those breaks. This crew does a great job taking care of our system (last year and every year), and we are exceptionally proud of them!
