Turning loss into resilience: The Danish way of reducing leakages

In times of geopolitical uncertainty, reducing water loss is key to strengthening resilience and ensuring a stable water supply. Denmark currently operates with an average NRW level of just 7.5 percent, among the lowest globally. The result reflects three decades of regulation, and integration of innovations in pressure management, district metering and digital monitoring. Together, these efforts offer valuable expertise and inspiration for partnerships across Europe.

Across Europe, utilities and governments face similar challenges: ageing infrastructure, climate-driven extremes and rising demands. In several European cities, 25-50 percent of treated water is lost before reaching customers. These losses not only waste valuable resources but also weaken the system’s ability to cope with disruptions.

In this context, resilience has become a keyword. And while it can take many forms, one of the most effective ways to build water resilience is by keeping Non-Revenue Water (NRW) low. Fewer losses mean greater supply stability, lower operational costs and better use of energy, all essential to ensuring water keeps flowing.

Europe is taking important steps towards a more coordinated approach to NRW reduction. For the first time, EU member states have submitted data on drinking water leakage levels to the European Commission under the EU Drinking Water Directive. This marks a milestone towards a common regulatory framework.

For decades, Denmark has built a pool of experience in reducing water losses. Outlined below are examples of technical and governance drivers behind Denmark’s low NRW levels, illustrating that such reductions are achievable at a national scale.

A data driven approach to reducing losses

Digitalisation has been a decisive enabler in reducing NRW.

Danish utilities typically work within District Metered Areas (DMAs) and Pressure Management Areas (PMAs), integrating pressure control with continuous flow and consumption monitoring. KPIs such as ILI and ELL are used to prioritise interventions based on Life Cycle Assessment, not the percentage of NRW alone.

More than 80 percent of Danish customers’ meters are remotely read. Integrated AMI/AMR, GIS and SCADA systems, combined with hydraulic modeling, allow operators to move from reactive leak repair to predictive asset management. Acoustic leak detection, noise loggers and smart valves shorten detection time, reduce burst frequency and improve customer service levels.

This approach is already proving its value beyond Denmark. In the drought-prone municipality of Vacarisses near Barcelona, the local utility reduced meter reading time from 21 days to just 5 hours, and saved more than €70,000 annually, by adopting Danish-developed smart meters with integrated leak detection.

Discover the case: How digital meters save water, money and time

Technology supported by governance

Technology alone is not enough; Political commitment and public awareness are also needed.

For decades, Danish authorities have introduced clear regulatory targets, including strong economic incentives for utilities to achieve an NRW level below 10 percent. At the same time, widespread installation of household water meters and transparent pricing have given consumers the tools – and motivation – to monitor their own consumption. Today, Danes consume 97 litres of water per person per day on average, supported by a pricing structure that reflects the true cost of water supply and treatment.

Along with this, benchmarking across the sector supports transparency and continuous improvement, allowing utilities to compare performance indicators, share best practices, and identify areas for improvement.

Read the perspective: The importance of public targets and political awareness

An opportunity for Europe

Reducing water losses represents a major opportunity for Europe to strengthen resilience.

One example is Italy where NRW levels in many cities exceed 40 percent according to The Italian National Institute of Statistics. This number is driven by real losses, pressure transients and ageing networks. At this magnitude, NRW constrains pressure stability, cost recovery and long-term rehabilitation planning. Experience from Denmark shows that systematic pressure management, DMA segmentation and improved data quality can unlock rapid reductions without immediately replacing entire networks.

A recent project in Naples shows how optimisation of pressure control can deliver rapid results, reducing injected water volume by 30.5 percent and cutting pipe failures by 50 percent, alongside significant energy savings.

Discover the case: Optimising water pressure in Naples

Tap into Danish water expertise

Discover how water utilities and European cities can improve efficiency and meet future demand for water.

The new publication, “Reducing urban water losses” presents Denmark’s holistic approach to tackling urban water losses and is packed with practical insights, policy tools, and best practices from sector experts and solution providers.

Discover the publication at stateofgreen.com