Percentage of real water losses over the volume of water supplied
Scope
Water
Action line
Water management and distribution
Type of indicator (global, European, national)
National
Correlation with other sets of indicators
Description
This indicator quantifies the percentage of water which is lost as a consequence of the real water losses (physical losses).
Calculation method
$$\frac{\textit{Volume of real water losses}}{\textit{Volume of water provided to the public supply network}} \cdot 100$$
Unit of measure
Percentage
Source
Periodicity
Biennal
Disaggregated data(Gender, age, region in Spain, other)
Come from National Statistics Plan (YES/NO)
Yes
Statistical operation
Surveys on Water Supply and Sewerage (ISO code: 30077)
Responsible institution
Link to Eurostat metadata
Date of the last metadata update
05/06/2025
Observations
The volume of water provided to the public supply network refers to the water that enters the distribution system from drinking water treatment plants or service reservoirs. The largest percentage of this water ultimately reaches users and corresponds to the volumes measured by their meters (both communal and individual). However, a significant portion is lost due to two main reasons. On one hand, real water losses are physical losses in the distribution network up to the user's metering point and include water leaks, pipe breaks, and failures in the distribution system and connections. On the other hand, apparent water losses refer to non-physical water losses and are broken down into: meter inaccuracies (under-registration), unmeasured authorized consumption (estimates or flow assessments), and unauthorized consumption (fraud).