Level 1 Water Audit Validation

Water losses are a growing concern for water utilities, especially in areas experiencing drought or infrastructure management challenges or where water audits are required by a state agency. The first step in reducing water losses is to understand them, and completing a water audit is the industry best practice for doing so. This project seeks to define and guide water utilities and regulatory entities in understanding what makes an accurate and reliable water audit, following AWWA methodology for water audits. This project is structured to provide North American water utilities and regulatory entities with clear guidance and a standardized methodology for validation of water audit data.

This project published three deliverables: an executive summary to the guidance manual (November 2016), a guidance manual (December 2016), and a research report (January 2017).

In 2018, large portions of the 4639A Guidance Manual were used in the Water Audit Validator Certificate Course Training Manual. This course was sponsored by the California-Nevada Section of the American Water Works Association. The course was administered by Water Systems Optimization, Inc. and Cavanaugh & Associates.

This research related specifically to version 5 of the AWWA Free Water Audit Software. Utiltiies using version 6 of the software should refer to project 5057.