Non-revenue water is a global problem: Around 30% of drinking water is lost on its way to the consumer. But this decades-old problem can now be solved: By applying proven, easy-to-use digital solutions, utilities can now make the best use of data they already have from sensors and from hydraulic models to learn more about how much water they are losing and why. It also helps them to focus their resources on those areas where a reduction in non-revenue water will have the largest impact in terms of reducing leakage detection time and costs for in-field crews, minimizing penalties and collateral damage through early leak detection, increasing revenue by preventing commercial losses, and optimizing investment plans for pipe and meter replacement.
A compelling business case
As a result, smart water loss detection will improve the bottom line of utilities within a short time. For example, Servicios de Txingudi, the public utility responsible for the water supply in the northern Spanish municipalities of Irun and Hondarribia, is leveraging the SIWA Leak Finder app to address water loss. Thanks to AI, the system is capable of recognizing seasonal patterns influenced by tourism and weather conditions. Since going live, SIWA Leak Finder has detected more than 10,000 events, including leaks, pressure issues, chlorine anomalies, sensor failures, data transmission problems, and theft—and has helped operators detect and repair leaks quickly while minimizing false alarms.
At EMAYA, the municipal public utility company that manages the water cycle for Palma de Mallorca, Spain, SIWA Meter Data Analytics has accompanied a smart metering implementation project with the aim of equipping 100% of Palma with smart meters. In less than three years, SIWA Meter Data Analytics has helped cut metering error by 23% (from 3.9% to 3%). What’s more, the solution optimizes meter replacement: Meters replaced in line with the criteria showed eight times more revenue than did age-based replacements, which was the previous replacement criterion.
Finally, smart meter data management has helped Northumbrian Water Group to increase awareness in consumer-side leakage detection from 9% to 18%. Using the software-as-a-service solution SIWA Meter Data Management from Siemens, the utility is able to identify leaks as small as 1 liter per hour. With the improved insights into water consumption, Northumbrian Water Group is now able to proactively advise its more than 4.5 million customers in Northumberland, Essex, and Suffolk County in the UK, preventing water loss, preventing property damage, and reducing stress on natural resources.
Upgrading water networks with smart solutions empowers water utility operators to increase revenues, reduce expenses, and protect water resources.
Enabling a better understanding of water networks
The challenges faced by those three utilities are typical of many water operators worldwide: significant water losses, often caused by leaks that are hard or even impossible to detect with conventional methods; data inconsistencies; inefficient manual operations; a shortage of staff both in the office and in the field; and increasingly strict regulations and penalties. At the core of these issues is a lack of understanding of how AI can support water consumption knowledge and network behavior. Adopting smart metering, hydraulic modeling, and AI-driven solutions can help utilities differentiate anomalies from normal consumption patterns: Smart metering enables timely data collection of water consumption. These data serve as input for both hydraulic models and AI systems, moving beyond billing to include leak detection, theft identification, and improvement of minimum night flows analysis. Using data from smart meters, connecting them to a hydraulic model via a network twin, and adding AI on top helps increase accuracy by simulating what-if scenarios, optimizing sensor placement, and prelocating leaks or operational anomalies. AI will enable utilities to classify anomalies, optimize operational performance, and improve data quality by detecting outliers and nonplausible data and by filling gaps, enabling more reliable decision making.
Generating immediate returns
The business benefits of a smart, data-driven approach to reducing non-revenue water are obvious: Utilities can reduce the amount of surplus treated water, which will lower operating costs and carbon footprint; can maintain pipes and meters more efficiently; and can better manage and protect resources. Utilizing advanced AI algorithms, solutions such as SIWA Leak Finder can identify leaks as small as 0.2 liters per second. This precision enables utilities to detect and address leaks promptly, minimizing water loss, collateral damage, and penalties. Analyzing smart and conventional water meters with advanced data analytics not only helps to detect leaks but also can optimize meter replacement programs; many utilities have realized a return on investment in less than 12 months by replacing poorly performing meters. Finally, smart meter data management empowers water utilities and consumers with transparent and trustworthy information about meter performance and customer-side leakage, reducing costly billing errors and strengthening consumer communication and trust.
The Frost & Sullivan 2025 Company of the Year Award recognized Siemens for its customer-focused innovation in the area of digital water transformation.
Leaping ahead with proven technologies
So why are adoption rates still low compared to other industries such as oil and gas, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals, to name just a few? One reason may be that utilities are concerned about the extent to which these technologies can be used with success, at reasonable cost, and ensuring high security standards. In fact, the water sector as a whole often lags in the adoption of digital technology. But the sector now has a unique opportunity to leap ahead: Advances in AI, software, and communications technologies are bringing solutions to the market that can identify opportunities to reduce non-revenue water at ever-decreasing costs. With an extensive portfolio of applications for leak detection, meter data management, asset management, cybersecurity, and process optimization, Siemens promotes the easy introduction and adoption of digital technologies for smart water distribution. Based on mature systems and solutions, Siemens helps bring data-driven decision making within reach of every utility. This achievement was recently recognized with the prestigious Frost & Sullivan 2025 Europe, Middle East, and Africa Company of the Year Award in the smart water meter data management industry. The combination of smart metering, hydraulic modeling, and AI creates a powerful ecosystem that enables water utilities to detect leaks with unprecedented accuracy, analyze consumption patterns in real time, and optimize meter management for maximum efficiency.
