What is Georgia Water Stewardship Act?
The Georgia Water Stewardship Act is a 2010 Georgia law that promotes water conservation and requires public water systems serving 3,300 people or more to complete annual water loss audits using the AWWA M36 method, with validation, and to submit them to the state. It aims to make water loss measured and comparable across utilities.
What it is
The Act came after severe drought in the Southeast and set a statewide approach to water efficiency. One of its central requirements is an annual water loss audit for larger public water systems.
Audits follow the AWWA M36 water balance, dividing system input into authorized consumption, apparent losses and real losses. Validation checks the quality of the inputs.
The Georgia Environmental Protection Division administers the requirement and provides guidance and training for utilities.
Who it applies to
Public water systems in Georgia serving 3,300 people or more. Check the Georgia Environmental Protection Division for current deadlines, validation and reporting requirements.
Smaller systems are not bound by the audit requirement in the same way, but many use the M36 balance anyway because it shows where water and revenue are lost and gives a consistent basis for planning leak detection and meter replacement.
How it is measured
The audit uses the same balance and data grading as the M36 method.
- System input volume from source and purchase meters
- Billed and unbilled authorized consumption
- Apparent and real loss estimates
- Validation records for the submitted audit
How Aqueduct helps
Aqueduct keeps the same measured balance per district all year, so the annual audit draws on records already in place.
- aQ WaterGuard balance from source to each district
- Night flow baselines that flag districts where losses rise
- Leak findings routed as tickets into your CMMS with evidence attached
- aQ Assurance exports for the utility's audit team