| Newly-released water audit software incorporates mass-scale user feedback
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Newly-released water audit software incorporates mass-scale user feedback

Leaking water pipeTo help utilities effectively manage water loss and recover revenue, the American Water Works Association (AWWA) is offering a new version of its Free Water Audit Software (FWAS).

Released on World Water Loss Day in December 2020, the update incorporates improvements based on input from users, the FWAS Software Development Group and other stakeholders.

Steered by AWWA’s Water Loss Software Subcommittee, the Version 6.0 software is the latest upgrade for an industry standard tool used to conduct annual water audits. The original software was first released nearly 15 years ago and is used throughout North America and in other countries. The 5.0 version released in 2014 has more than 13,000 downloads across the globe.

Will Jernigan“The FWAS Development Group received and processed more than 1,000 comments over the last few years,” said Will Jernigan (pictured right), chair of the Water Loss Software Subcommittee, in a memo accompanying the software release. “From this extensive feedback and acknowledging the ever-growing expansion of potential users for the tool, nine key design objectives for the FWAS v6.0 were established.”

These objectives included accommodating a wide range of water system set-ups and user knowledge; ensuring the tool provided sufficient technical detail and simplicity of use; and maximizing the benefits of best practices through objective data grading questions and identification of limiting criteria.

The committee also developed an orientation video to support the Version 6.0 software.

“Performing an annual water audit with the FWAS is widely recognized as best practice for all water utilities, large to small,” Jernigan said. “Accountability precedes efficiency, and the KPIs (key performance indicators) from the annual water audit are vital to inform programmatic activities for water loss control and revenue recovery.” 

Noting that the annual water audit and focus on water efficiency have “gone mainstream since the last FWAS was released in 2014,” he added that “this has meant invaluable input from all manner of users around North America, which has made FWAS version 6.0 a very powerful tool for the industry.”

Dan StrubDan Strub (pictured right), chair of AWWA’s Water Loss Control Committee, said the FWAS has “evolved over its six versions to be comprehensive and flexible” and “sets a new standard for excellence in water loss control.”

“Identifying and tracking water loss is important for all utilities, regardless of size or type of system,” he said. “It is crucial for keeping costs and customers’ bills under control and for preserving this increasingly limited vital resource. Reducing water loss may be the cheapest, least disruptive means that utilities have for securing additional water supplies for their customers.”

A water professional with experience using the new Version 6 software is Reynold Wong, civil engineering associate with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and chair of AWWA’s California-Nevada Section’s Water Audit Validator Certification Committee.

"The new user-friendly interface made it straightforward for us to identify actions that we could implement to improve our data quality,” he said. “The addition of the performance indicator dashboard is a great tool. We plan to utilize it to set targets and gauge system improvements as we implement water loss control strategies."

An AWWA webinar about the FWAS v6.0 is scheduled for June 2. Other AWWA resources about water loss control include M36 Water Audits and Loss Control Programs, 4th edition; and a WSO Water Loss Control DVD.

 

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