2025 Urban Water Management Plan

Section 4 2025 Urban Water Management Plan Water Use Characterization City of Pleasanton Public Draft | May 2026 4-5 EKI Environment & Water, Inc. 4.4 Distribution System Water Loss Water loss is the sum of apparent and real losses. Apparent loss is associated with metering inaccuracies, billing and administrative errors, authorized unmetered uses (e.g., system flushing and firefighting), and unauthorized uses. Real loss is associated with physical loss of water through line breaks, leaks and seeps, and overflows of storage tanks. Since 2016, urban retail water suppliers have been required under CWC §10608.34 and CCR §638.1 et seq to quantify distribution system water losses using the American Water Works Association (AWWA) Free Water Audit Software (i.e., “water loss audit reports”). Table 4-2 summarizes water loss audit reports submitted to DWR for the City’s water system since 2020. The water loss audit reports are available through DWR’s Water Use Efficiency Data Portal.5 Table 4-2 Water Loss Audit Reporting Water Code Section 10631(d)(3)(A) (DWR Table 4-5) PWS ID # (reported in DWR Table 2-1) Reporting Period Submitted to DWR Water Loss Audit Program (yes/no) CA0110008 2020 Yes 2021 Yes 2022 Yes 2023 Yes 2024 Yes In 2022, the SWRCB adopted water loss performance standards for urban retail water suppliers, aiming for a significant long-term reduction in real losses. Effective starting in 2023, the SWRCB established individual volumetric standards for each urban retail water supplier, calculated to reflect the life-cycle cost-effective level of water loss based on specific system characteristics. While annual reporting is ongoing, suppliers will be required to start meeting individual volumetric loss standards over a three-year period, with full compliance required by January 1, 2028. These standards constitute the water loss component of the MCCWL regulatory framework (SWRCB, 2022). CWC §10631 (3)(c) requires that this UWMP demonstrate whether Pleasanton has met the distribution loss standards enacted by the SWRCB pursuant to CWC §10608.34. Table 4-3 demonstrates that Pleasanton has met the 2028 Water Loss Standard for Apparent Water Loss but does not currently meet the Real Water Loss Standard. The City is in the process of requesting an adjustment to its Real Water Loss Standard from the SWRCB. 5 DWR’s Water Use Efficiency Data Portal: https://wuedata.water.ca.gov/awwa_plans  CWC §10631(3) (A) The distribution system water loss shall be quantified for each of the five years preceding the plan update, in accordance with rules adopted pursuant to Section 10608.34. (B) The distribution system water loss quantification shall be reported in accordance with a worksheet approved or developed by the department through a public process. The water loss quantification worksheet shall be based on the water system balance methodology developed by the American Water Works Association. (C) In the plan due July 1, 2021, and in each update thereafter, data shall be included to show whether the urban retail water supplier met the distribution loss standards enacted by the board pursuant to Section 10608.34.