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Water Losses

Part of the amount of water distributed through the water supply network is not recorded by the water meters of the consumers due to inaccuracies, false indications of water meters and other related causes, or even due to water losses. These losses are mainly due to leaks that cannot be detected in time or damages to the network caused by third parties.

The percentage of non-revenue water has increased sharply after the lifting of water supply restrictive measures in early 2010, because during the period of water restrictions , the network remained empty for long periods of time (36 hours per 48 hours) and the water pressure was lower than usual, so that no leaks would appear on the surface, indicating the existence of any faults in the network.

At the same time, under the prevailing circumstances, during the period of water cuts, inevitably the continuous monitoring and the detection of non- registered leaks was interrupted, as well as any endeavours by the Technical Services for further deduction of the unaccounted for water, which is one of the main objectives of the Board.

After the restoration of continuous water-supply, the Technical Services have begun persistent and laborious efforts aiming to the drastic deduction of the percentage of unaccounted for water, through the usage of the latest electroacoustic equipment detecting hidden leaks and the replacement of stopped and old water meters, in order for the recording of consumption to be done with a higher accuracy. The whole endeavour had excellent results, since the percentage of unaccounted for water was kept down to a percentage of 15-20% until 2019.

In 2020, with the taking over of the water supply of Aradippou by the WBL, the percentage of unaccounted for water increased to 29% and 32,5% in 2021.

This increase is due to the the many existing problems within the Aradippou water supply network which lead to a high percentage of unaccounted for water of the overall of 55-60%. Similar is the percentage of unaccounted for water within the Livadia water supply network, which was taken over by the WBL in 2022 and accounts to approximately 50%.

WBL expects that with the implementation of a sound network management policy, the high percentage of non-revenue water within the Aradippou and Livadia networks will be reduced to acceptable levels.

In 2021, the percentage of unaccounted for water in the region of Larnaca reached approximately 21%. The increase is due to both a small increase in the percentage of unbilled water in the old areas of Larnaca, which were supplied by WBL before the inclusion of the Municipality of Aradippou, but mainly due to the fact that some areas of the Municipality of Aradippou, which present a significantly increased percentage of unbilled water, are now supplied with water from the network of the Municipality of Larnaca. Furthermore, there continues to be a difference between the readings at the entrance and the exit of the reservoirs, due to inaccuracies of the water meters installed by the Water Development Department at the entrance of the reservoirs, an issue that is expected to be settled after the replacement of the meters by the WDD within the framework of the project for the construction of the new water reservoir.

In order to deal with the multiple problems of the network in the Aradippou area, a strategic planning and an action plan have been drawn up by the Technical Service of WBL, through which the best practices of managing water supply networks are effectively adopted in short, medium and long- term levels.

In the first phase, during 2020-2021, the major problem of insufficient water supply of specific areas of Aradippou was resolved through their supply from the network of the Larnaca region. Furthermore, the remaining network of the Aradippou area was divided into water tight zones (DMAs) supplied with water from a single point.

Other important actions that have been launched or are in the process of implementation include checking of valves and installing new ones where necessary, installing new pipes or replacing old ones, replacing all household water meters with smart water meters, whose monitoring will be done in real time, installing a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System in the zones of Aradippou and the supply and use of noise correlation loggers. In the near future, our strategic plans include for the installation of trunk mains and for the construction of a new water reservoir.