By Tabitha Evans Moore
Editor & Publisher

LYNCHBURG, Tenn.— For years, Moore County’s water loss problem has been one of the most stubborn issues facing the Metro Utility Department — a number that hovered stubbornly above 40 percent despite two rounds of meter replacements, outside consultants, and pressure from the state. On Tuesday night, the MUD Board reported a number worth noting: water loss for June 2026 came in at 29.82 percent. That’s consistently below the state’s 40 percent referral threshold for the first time in recent memory.

The improvement didn’t happen overnight and it didn’t happen by accident. It is the result of years of deliberate work — new Kamstrup smart meters with acoustic leak detection technology that can hear water escaping underground before it ever surfaces, crews spending hours driving county roads to track down hidden leaks, and a board that kept writing the checks even when the community continued to give them side eye and the problem seemed intractable.

June’s water loss report shows MUD produced 23.67 million gallons and purchased an additional 2.18 million gallons for a total of 25.85 million gallons entering the system. Of that, 18.14 million gallons were sold to customers. That leaves 7.71 million gallons unaccounted for — a loss rate of 29.82 percent. To put that in perspective, MUD’s water loss was running at 52 percent as recently as 2020 and 2021, and was still at 42.6 percent as of April 2026.

Nationally, water utilities average around 16 percent loss — a benchmark that reflects systems with newer infrastructure and larger customer bases to spread maintenance costs across. Small systems like MUD, serving approximately 2,785 connections across a rural county with aging pipelines, routinely struggle with higher rates. Many of Moore County’s lines are around 40 years old. Aging infrastructure and water leaks go hand in hand no matter the size of the town.

A PROBLEM DECADES IN THE MAKING

Moore County’s water system has deep roots. According to the MUD website, the first water supplied to Lynchburg residents came from Lem Motlow, proprietor of Jack Daniel Distillery, through a small steel pipe from the cave spring on distillery property. The Lynchburg Water Department wasn’t formally established until 1963, serving a population of 361 at 100 gallons per minute.

The system has expanded steadily since — to 200 GPM in 1972, supplemented by a raw water agreement with Tims Ford Lake in 1978, doubled to 400 GPM in 1996, and doubled again to 800 GPM in 2008. In 1987, Metropolitan Lynchburg Moore County was voted into law, and Lynchburg Water and Sewer became the Metro Utility Department.

But as the system grew, so did its vulnerabilities. Water loss above 40 percent has dogged MUD for years, drawing attention from the Tennessee Comptroller’s office, which is required by state law to monitor utility systems for financial sustainability. Under Tennessee Code Annotated § 7-82-702, any system reporting water loss above 40 percent triggers a mandatory referral to the Water and Wastewater Financing Board — a process that can ultimately end in chancery court action if losses aren’t corrected.

TWO METER REPLACEMENTS AND A LOT OF PERSISTENCE

MUD didn’t sit still. The utility replaced its entire meter system once, switching to Zenner digital meters in October 2020 at a cost of $765,000. The losses continued. In early 2024, with state officials applying pressure, the board approved a $60,000 digital audit contract with E Source Water Loss Consulting. Still the losses persisted.

In April 2025, the board took its most aggressive step yet: voting to replace all Zenner meters with Kamstrup smart meters at an estimated cost of $1.4 million — the second wholesale meter replacement in less than five years. The Kamstrup system uses ultrasonic acoustic technology to detect low-level water movement that older meters can’t register and transmits usage data in real time so staff can pinpoint problems faster.

“You don’t always see water in the ditch,” Kevin Winter of Core & Main told the board during the March 2026 meter presentation. “You don’t always see water squirting out the sidewalks. And it can be as significant. And that’s where the acoustic leak detection comes in to help you find those.”

The theory was that finding leaks faster would mean less water lost before repairs could be made. The June numbers suggest that theory is proving out.

WHERE THE WATER WAS GOING

Water loss in a utility system falls into two categories: accounted-for losses and unaccounted-for losses. Accounted-for losses include things like fire department usage, routine line flushing, and in-house plant use — water that left the system for a known reason. Unaccounted-for losses are the ones that keep utility managers up at night: underground leaks in aging pipes, faulty meters that undercount usage, billing errors, or in rare cases unauthorized connections.

For MUD, the culprits have included most of the above. Lines in parts of the county are around 40 years old. Meter issues with the previous Zenner system were well-documented — bent antenna probes, battery failures, and signal problems that prevented remote readings and required crews to drive routes manually. Some meters simply weren’t registering low-flow leaks on the customer side at all.

MUD crews have spent months using the Kamstrup system’s acoustic detection capability to find and repair hidden leaks throughout the county. As recently as May, staff reported finding and repairing leaks accounting for 3.38 million gallons in a single month.

At 29.82 percent, MUD is now below the state’s 40 percent referral threshold — a meaningful milestone after years of scrutiny. But it’s worth noting that 29.82 percent still represents 7.71 million gallons of water that was treated, pumped, and never billed. At the residential rate of $7.39 per 1,000 gallons, that’s roughly $57,000 in lost revenue in a single month — or close to $700,000 per year. No small amount for a small system with narrow budgets.

The work is not finished. Leaks remain active in several parts of the county. The Kamstrup meter installation is still being completed across the system. And the state will continue to watch the annual audit figures, not just individual monthly reports.

But for a system that was losing more than half its water just five years ago, June’s number represents something worth acknowledging: the hard work is paying off. •

About the Lynchburg Times: The Lynchburg Times is Moore County’s locally owned, independent news source and the only local media source own by a Lynchburg native. Our reporting is supported by readers, small business partners, and underwriters who believe community journalism matters. If this story was valuable to you, consider becoming a supporter at lynchburgtimes.com.