Nonrevenue water management in South Asia: issues and challenges : lessons from an international workshop on sharing of good practices in nonrevenue water management : Nagari : seventeenth meeting of the Urban Think Tank, february 3-5 2009, New Delhi, Ind

Nonrevenue water (NRW) refers to water that has been produced but is ‘lost’ before it reaches the customer. It refers to the amount of water produced that does not earn any revenues for the service provider. The ‘lost’ water in the system could be a result of real losses (through leaks, sometimes also referred to as physical losses) or apparent losses (through theft, free water or metering inaccuracies). High levels of NRW seriously affect financial viability of water providers
through lost revenues, increased operational costs and, eventually, increased capital costs, all of which impact the quality of the services provided. In South Asia, levels of NRW are estimated at more than 40 percent, but the accuracy of this estimate is in question, given the absence of both bulk and customer meters. A recent study undertaken by the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) on cost recovery tariff practices of 23 Indian cities reflects the huge revenue
potential of NRW management— between 20 and 50 percent of current operating incomes. The WSP study demonstrated that dealing with the different components of reducing NRW levels has fairly immediate effects on cost recovery,
financial strength, and creditworthiness, even before any possible tariff increases may be required. [authors abstract]