Where does Libby's water go?

More than half of the 400 million gallons of water processed by Libby’s water treatment plant goes unmetered and unbilled each year.

Average water loss in municipal water systems nationwide was 16 percent, of which 75 percent is considered recoverable loss, according to a study completed last year by the Environmental Protection Agency, with support from the International Water Association and the American Water Works Association,

The study defines loss as essentially any water processed through the system that is not billed to consumers, including: “unauthorized consumption (theft), administrative errors, data-handling errors and metering inaccuracies or failure.”

Between January and November of this year, Libby’s water treatment plant processed 430,169,000 gallons of water. Of that amount only 44 percent, 191,764,875 gallons, was billed to consumers. That leaves more than 238 million gallons of water, in this year alone, for which no accounting is made.

Libby Mayor Doug Roll, though, said those numbers don’t reflect the changes made in the city’s water billing protocols. Before the city’s water billing changes that went into effect with the December billing cycle, the city didn’t track the 3,000 gallons for each residential and 8,000 gallons for each commercial account that were included in the city’s base water rate.

Roll said the city’s most recent water bills, since the rate changes, reflect 25,692,898 gallons of usage in November, versus 32,249,000 gallons treated at the water plant. Based upon those numbers, the city’s water loss for the month of November was down to 20.4 percent.

He said the problem with water loss is an issue “the city has been on top of for quite some time.”

City Administrator Jim Hammons said some of the loss is due to unmetered city use of water. “There is irrigation in the park and cemetery, as well as along the boulevard, that isn’t metered or billed,” Hammons said.

Greg Kair, Communications Director for the American Water Works Association, said smaller communities like Libby have a more difficult task in front of them when dealing with failing infrastructure. “They have a smaller, more spread out base to spread the expense across,” he said. “Larger, more densely populated areas have more people per mile of pipe, making repair and replacement less expensive per person.”

Even based upon the 20.4 percent figure, Libby has room for improvement. “Utilities should strive to be under 10 percent loss,” Kair said. “One thing we do is encourage utilities to adapt a standardize method of examining non-revenue water. In order to be efficient, cities need to understand where the water is going.”

Kair said faulty meters and untracked municipal use contribute to water loss, but pipe leakage is the main culprit. That assessment was supported by actions taken by the City of Troy to address water loss.

Water loss in Troy, prior to 2013, exceeded 80 percent in some months. The city engaged an inspector who listened to the water lines with a stethoscope to find leaks, which the city’s maintenance personnel then fixed. Monthly water loss in Troy now averages less than 25 percent.

While encouraged by the changes realized in December, Roll said the city government of Libby will continue to keep a close eye on water loss. “When we get a few months of billing without the free water we’ll be able to get a better average number,” Roll said.

“The big issue we have here is manpower. We have a capital improvement plan that gives us some direction, but we’ve been tied down with infrastructure issues and repairs. Hopefully next year we’ll be able to put some resources on to the improvements.”