Article on the Infrastructure Leakage Index published in Water Supply
Very low ILI values can be misleading. This is one of the key findings of a new English-language article published in the IWA Publishing journal Water Supply by our colleague Daniel Zipperer together with Dr Jörg Kölbl of blue networks.
The article, entitled “Methodological challenges in applying the Infrastructure Leakage Index (ILI) to water utilities in Rhineland-Palatinate (Germany)”, builds on the two-part German article published in gwf Wasser + Abwasser and brings the findings into the international professional discourse.
Based on data from water utilities in Rhineland-Palatinate, the authors show that very low Infrastructure Leakage Index values do not necessarily indicate exceptionally low real losses. They may also be influenced by structural characteristics of the supply systems, methodological assumptions in the calculation of unavoidable annual real losses, and uncertainties in the water balance.
The article therefore contributes to the appropriate use of the ILI in water loss management and benchmarking: the ILI remains an important indicator, but should always be interpreted in the context of data quality, system characteristics, and complementary indicators.