Preventing Water Loss of 25% on Abfa's Agenda

 Close to 700 million cubic meters of water are wasted in the country annually, of which the loss of 250 mcm is inevitable, a senior official at the National Water and Wastewater Engineering Company (Abfa) said.
"Abfa's non-revenue wastage rate is 25.5%, of which 13.4% are real losses [through leaks, also referred to as physical losses] and 12.1% are apparent losses [through theft or metering inaccuracies]," Ali Seyyedzadeh was also quoted as saying by ILNA.
 Non-revenue water refers to water that has been produced and lost in different ways before it reaches the customer.
"The rate of wastage in developed states stands at 15%, as there is no such thing as "zero wastage" even in the most developed grids in the world," Seyyedzadeh said, adding that as per the Sixth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (2017-22), the rate should decrease 0.5% per year to hit 23% in 2022. According to the official, the goal of reducing water wastage cannot be accomplished unless 7,000 kilometers of water grid are rehabilitated.