# How much of a Texas water loss figure is actually measured?

https://municorn.us/water-loss/how-much-of-a-loss-figure-is-measured/

> **Cite as:** Municorn.us, "How much of a Texas water loss figure is actually measured", Municorn water loss index, https://municorn.us/water-loss/how-much-of-a-loss-figure-is-measured/ (source filings retrieved 2026-08-11).
> **Licence:** CC BY 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ — reuse and redistribution are permitted with attribution to Municorn.us and a link to this URL.
> **Caveat that must travel with these figures:** "Water loss" is at least three different quantities depending on the jurisdiction, and nothing here supports a comparison between states.

Often, not much of it. Across 9,744 filed Texas utility-years, the median filing is
14.4% regulator default rather than measurement, and
1,329 filings are more than half.

## The short answer

A water loss audit reports apparent loss — water that reached a customer and was never billed — as three
components: customer meter inaccuracy, unauthorized consumption, and data handling error. TWDB supplies a default
value for the last two when a utility does not measure them, and records which in its export.

- Unauthorized consumption is a default on **95%** of filings
- Data handling error is a default on **30%**
- The median filing is **14.4%** default
- **1,329** filings are more than half default

## The regulator's own quality score does not separate them

TWDB scores each audit for data validity on a 0–100 scale, the AWWA M36 instrument. Filings using at least one
default average **68.4** across 9,315 filings; filings using none
average **70.0** across 429 — 1.6 points higher.

Sorting by the validity score is therefore not sorting by how much of the figure was measured. The defaulted share
is a separate fact in the same export, and it is the one that answers the question.

## What this does not say

A default is not an error and it is not a finding about the utility. TWDB publishes these values so an audit can be
completed without them being measured, and using one is the documented, intended path. Nothing here says a utility
failed to measure something it was required to measure. Nothing here is a pass or a failure of a water balance
check: no filing in this corpus is `closed` or `failed`. The defaulted share tells you how much of a published
number is known, which is a different question from how much water is lost.

## The filings leaning hardest on a default

Most recent filed year, where more than half of reported apparent loss is a default. 459 systems
qualify; the 50 highest are listed.

| System | County | Year | Defaulted share | Apparent loss (MG) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Northwest Harris County MUD 10](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/northwest-harris-county-mud-10/) | HARRIS | FY2021 | 492.2% | 0.3 |
| [Harris County MUD 211](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/harris-county-mud-211/) | HARRIS | FY2021 | 492.1% | 0.03 |
| [Lake Forest Utility District](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/lake-forest-utility-district/) | HARRIS | FY2021 | 166.4% | 0.62 |
| [San Marcos](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/san-marcos/) | HAYS | FY2024 | 135.1% | 10.6 |
| [Northwest Harris County MUD 29](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/northwest-harris-county-mud-29/) | HARRIS | FY2021 | 125.0% | 0.52 |
| [Malcomson Road Utility District](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/malcomson-road-utility-district/) | HARRIS | FY2021 | 125.0% | 1.27 |
| [Houston](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/houston/) | HARRIS | FY2024 | 100.0% | 404.4 |
| [Fort Worth](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/fort-worth/) | TARRANT | FY2024 | 100.0% | 232 |
| [Waco](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/waco/) | MCLENNAN | FY2021 | 100.0% | 42.6 |
| [Seguin](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/seguin/) | GUADALUPE | FY2024 | 100.0% | 13.9 |
| [Burleson](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/burleson/) | JOHNSON | FY2024 | 100.0% | 9.12 |
| [Hurst](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/hurst/) | TARRANT | FY2024 | 100.0% | 8.68 |
| [Little Elm](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/little-elm/) | DENTON | FY2024 | 100.0% | 8.24 |
| [Benbrook](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/benbrook/) | TARRANT | FY2023 | 100.0% | 6.18 |
| [Harris Montgomery Counties MUD 386](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/harris-montgomery-counties-mud-386/) | HARRIS | FY2024 | 100.0% | 5.22 |
| [Kerrville](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/kerrville/) | KERR | FY2024 | 100.0% | 5.22 |
| [Graham](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/graham/) | YOUNG | FY2024 | 100.0% | 5.19 |
| [Boerne](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/boerne/) | KENDALL | FY2024 | 100.0% | 4.74 |
| [Melissa](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/melissa/) | COLLIN | FY2023 | 100.0% | 4.24 |
| [Granbury](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/granbury/) | HOOD | FY2024 | 100.0% | 3.93 |
| [Gatesville](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/gatesville/) | CORYELL | FY2024 | 100.0% | 3.74 |
| [Cibolo](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/cibolo/) | GUADALUPE | FY2024 | 100.0% | 3.69 |
| [Alice](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/alice/) | JIM WELLS | FY2024 | 100.0% | 3.65 |
| [Terrell](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/terrell/) | KAUFMAN | FY2023 | 100.0% | 3.55 |
| [Lake Cities Municipal](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/lake-cities-municipal/) | DENTON | FY2024 | 100.0% | 3.23 |
| [Ector County Utility District](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/ector-county-utility-district/) | ECTOR | FY2024 | 100.0% | 2.74 |
| [Windermere Community](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/windermere-community/) | TRAVIS | FY2022 | 100.0% | 2.72 |
| [Cash SUD](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/cash-sud/) | HUNT | FY2021 | 100.0% | 2.63 |
| [Hillsboro](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/hillsboro/) | HILL | FY2024 | 100.0% | 2.58 |
| [Fort Bend County MUD 30](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/fort-bend-county-mud-30/) | FORT BEND | FY2024 | 100.0% | 2.56 |
| [Perryton Municipal](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/perryton-municipal/) | OCHILTREE | FY2023 | 100.0% | 2.43 |
| [Live Oak](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/live-oak-bexar-county/) | BEXAR | FY2024 | 100.0% | 2.42 |
| [Cimarron MUD](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/cimarron-mud/) | HARRIS | FY2024 | 100.0% | 2.29 |
| [Manor](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/manor/) | TRAVIS | FY2022 | 100.0% | 2.24 |
| [Cnp Utility District](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/cnp-utility-district/) | HARRIS | FY2024 | 100.0% | 2.14 |
| [West Cedar Creek MUD](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/west-cedar-creek-mud/) | HENDERSON | FY2024 | 100.0% | 2.02 |
| [Harris County MUD 120](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/harris-county-mud-120/) | HARRIS | FY2024 | 100.0% | 1.9 |
| [Fort Bend County MUD 23](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/fort-bend-county-mud-23/) | FORT BEND | FY2024 | 100.0% | 1.85 |
| [Maxwell SUD](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/maxwell-sud/) | CALDWELL | FY2024 | 100.0% | 1.81 |
| [Montgomery County MUD 119 Spring Trails](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/montgomery-county-mud-119-spring-trails/) | MONTGOMERY | FY2021 | 100.0% | 1.8 |
| [Bridge City](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/bridge-city/) | ORANGE | FY2024 | 100.0% | 1.78 |
| [Harris County MUD 153](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/harris-county-mud-153/) | HARRIS | FY2021 | 100.0% | 1.71 |
| [Travis County MUD # 4](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/travis-county-mud-4/) | TRAVIS | FY2019 | 100.0% | 1.71 |
| [Raymondville](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/raymondville/) | WILLACY | FY2024 | 100.0% | 1.68 |
| [Cleveland](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/cleveland/) | LIBERTY | FY2024 | 100.0% | 1.51 |
| [Richland Hills](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/richland-hills/) | TARRANT | FY2024 | 100.0% | 1.49 |
| [Josephine](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/josephine/) | COLLIN | FY2024 | 100.0% | 1.46 |
| [Creedmoor Maha Water Supply Corp](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/creedmoor-maha-water-supply-corp/) | TRAVIS | FY2024 | 100.0% | 1.46 |
| [Harris County Improvement District 18](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/harris-county-improvement-district-18/) | HARRIS | FY2021 | 100.0% | 1.32 |
| [Fort Bend County MUD 50](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/fort-bend-county-mud-50/) | FORT BEND | FY2023 | 100.0% | 1.3 |

_An excerpt, ranked. The other 409 are on [the Texas index](https://municorn.us/water-loss/tx/) and each has its own page._

## Where the numbers come from

Every figure above is computed from the Texas Water Development Board's published water loss audit export at build
time, not transcribed. Per-population distributions are published as a file at https://municorn.us/water-loss/distributions/. Each
system's own page names the archived workbook, its SHA-256, the retrieval date and the cell each value was read from.

_Municorn.us · https://municorn.us/water-loss/how-much-of-a-loss-figure-is-measured/ · CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ · source filings retrieved 2026-08-11_
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