Quickfacts
- Property: Jackson Plaza, Cookeville, TN
- Tenants: 34 total (4 larger tenants on independent water meters)
- Underground Leak Identified wasting ~ 400 gallons per hour
- Estimated cost savings of $320,000 over 10 year period
Summary Water Usage Analysis discovered that actual water consumption at the retail property , after accounting for sub-metered usage, exceeded projected usage from our T.A.B.S. (Trend Analysis Billing System) data by ~ 300,000 gallons per month. After the leak was verified by the city and repaired the property savings were approximately $3000 monthly.
Details
AW Services Group was contacted by Jackson Plaza of Cookeville, TN to initiate hybrid/estimated utility billing services for their retail center of 34 tenants. Jackson Plaza was a hybrid billing account as 4 of the bigger box retailers were on individual water meters with the remaining 30 unmetered. Our T.A.B.S.(TM) Trend Analysis Billing System, containing more than 25 years of retail commercial water usage was used to provide a baseline.
Our initial Water Usage Analysis identified an unexplained water discrepancy of ~ 300,000 gallons a month.
Here is the analysis:
- Master metered usage during the evaluated month was 537,000 gallons
- Submetered usage of 4 larger retail tenants accounted for 44,400 gallons
- T.A.B.S. estimated usage for remaining 30 tenants was 180,000 gallons (+/-)
- Total tenant water usage should have been ~ 225,000 gallon monthly
Details of the discrepancy were provided to Jackson Plaza along with a set of next-steps including checking if irrigation was a possible factor, out parcels might be tied to the master meter or possible underground leaks or other leaks within spaces.
The property owner requested a full historical analysis and provided 2 full years of municipal water billing history leading to the following updated findings:
-
- Property average usage was 475K gallons (usage ranged between 400-600K per month)
- Usage did not spike during irrigation monthx
- 1 tenant change occurred during this period (minimal water user)
- DISCREPANCY OF APPROXIMATELY 300K GALLONS PER MONTH REMAINED
AW Services Group requested a picture of the master meter to verify the city’s billing process, including the actual meter readings and the correct units of measurement/multiplier. And the owner contacted the city regarding the high-water usage. A technician was dispatched to meet with onsite personnel. The city was able to pull the hourly details from last 30 days of readings which indicated the master meter was using approximately 400 gallons per hour between the hours of 12am-6am while all businesses were closed.
The city reviewed the billing history for the property from 2009-2020 and master meter usage was consistent with current usage (“leak” dating back to November 2009) identifying that hundreds of thousands of dollars of water leaked over more than a decade.
400 gallon leak per hour x 24 hours = 9,600 gallons per day x 30 days
= 288,000 gallons per month (~ $2,664 in usage charges per month)
= ~ $32,000 per year
Savings over 10 years = $320,000 in usage charges
