The impact of differences in defining leakage indicators on the comparability of data required by the Drinking Water Directive
author:
TOMASZ CICHOŃ, KLARA RAMM
ORCID ID:
0000- 0002-4114-6220, 0000-0003-1707-4228
No:
12/2025 Instal pp.93-97
DOI:
10.36119/15.2025.12.16
Recent changes in European Union legislation impose new obligations on water utilities to gather, analyse, and report
impartial Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). These include data on water leakage, entity condition, energy consumption,
and its sources. Benchmarking has emerged as a valuable tool for collecting standardized and reliable data, facilitating
improvements. Utilities in Poland participate in both national benchmarking, led by the Chamber of Commerce’s “Polish
Waterworks” (IGWP), and international benchmarking through the European Benchmarking Cooperation (EBC). However,
differences in data definitions affect the comparability of indicators and the accuracy of ranking results. A crucial issue is to
select the most appropriate and objective KPI for water loss. The DWD mandates the use of the Infrastructure Leakage
Index (ILI), but this indicator is difficult to calculate and verify, prompting a search for simpler, standardized alternatives,
such as Non-Revenue Water (NRW). The authors compare selected KPIs from the two benchmarking projects, EBC and
IGWP, showing that minor definitional differences may make the comparison non-objective or impossible.
Keywords:
About Authors:
Tomasz Cichoń https://orcid.org/0000- 0002-4114-6220 ‒ Krakow University of Technology, Faculty of Environmental Engineering and Energy,
Poland, tomasz.cichon@pk.edu.pl
Klara Ramm https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1707-4228 ‒ Warsaw University of Technology, Chamber of Commerce “Polish Waterworks”,
Poland, k.ramm@igwp.org.pl
