Former three-term Albuquerque mayor Marty Chavez has some sage advice for other mayors: “Providing water may not get you elected, but not providing water will get you fired.” It seems New York City’s Mayor Bloomberg could use his advice. In a recent interview with Planet Forward, Chavez told us that New York City is losing 30% of its water to unknown leakages.

Water leakage is not a problem unique to New York City. “Non-revenue water” (for the non-wonk: water that is treated but never reaches a consumer) accounts for 10-30% of water that enters the water systems in developed countries. In under-developed countries it can get up to 40%. And it ain’t cheap: according to a