Water losses occur in all water distribution systems worldwide and high levels are indicative of poor governance and poor physical condition of the system. Water losses vary from 3% of system input volume in the developed countries to 70% in the developing countries. This high contrast suggests that probably the existing tools and methodologies are not appropriate or cannot be directly applied for water loss reduction in the developing countries.

This study highlights the challenges and prospects of managing water losses in developing countries and provides a toolbox of appropriate tools and methodologies to help water utilities in the developing countries assess inefficiencies in their water distribution systems and take corrective action. Included is a step-by-step approach for water accountability, performance improvement through benchmarking techniques, economic optimization techniques for minimizing revenue losses due to metering inaccuracies, pressure management planning for proactive leakage control, and strategic planning for water loss reduction based on multi-criteria decision analysis. The developed tools and methodologies have been tested and validated in practice on real case studies in Uganda.

It is envisaged that this thesis will be of considerable value to utility managers, researchers, and other agencies involved in managing water distribution losses in developing countries.