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By rdnewsNOW Staff

13.3 PER CENT LOSS

Lacombe water audit finds loss rates down for third year running

Aug 28, 2024 | 4:42 PM

The City of Lacombe has completed its water loss audit for 2023 and found it was its third year in a row reducing overall water loss.

The audit is intended to provide information on the nature of water losses, allowing the City to plan actions and develop a strategic approach to reduce those to the national average of 13.3 per cent.

In 2023, the City’s water loss was 13.9 per cent, down from 16.2 per cent in 2022 and 16.7 per cent in 2021. Lacombe residents consumed, on average, 150 litres per person per day, which is 45 litres less per day than the average Albertan.

“Council is pleased to see the ongoing positive results of the City’s water audit,” Mayor Grant Creasey said. “We know that residents want a reliable water system. We have now seen three years of positive reductions in water loss, which ultimately means a more efficient and cost effective service for our residents.”

Officials say contributions to water loss reductions last year included:

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• The re-calibration of the City’s pump house meters;
• maintenance of pressure-sustaining valves;
• lowering the average system pressure setpoint;
• less significant water pipe breaks, including repairing two leaks going directly into the wastewater main; and
• installing a seasonal water meter at the City’s RV sanitary-dump site.

Many of these factors are the product of the City implementing a prioritized Water Loss Reduction Action Plan. Officials say the most important part of the plan is ensuring the meters measuring water going in and out of the City’s pump houses are accurate as even relatively small errors can significantly impact results.

The City says the audit complies with the American Water Works Association guidelines and it continues to work on improvements identified in the 2022 Water Loss Control Gap Assessment.

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