North Texas Municipal Water District NAICS Coding And Benchmarking Of Industrial, Commercial, And Institutional Accounts

North Texas Municipal Water District is a large wholesale water provider that provides drinking water to more than a million people in North Texas. To better understand customer water use, Plummer examined how various sectors of business and industry use water in the different member cities. The tasks were to (1) establish a baseline of historical and current water use; (2) categorize water use data as industrial, commercial, institutional (ICI), or multifamily; (3) analyze the data for outliers and for areas where conservation efforts might be concentrated, and (4) develop conservation programs based on the results of that analysis.

Establish a Baseline of Historical and Current Water Use 

A year and a half of water consumption data was used to establish a baseline for water use by industry. From this baseline, NTMWD can monitor ICI water use more closely. As accounts veer from their industry’s baseline, concerns with changing water use can be more effectively managed.

Categorizing Customer Accounts 

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) was used to categorize NTMWD’s member cities' customers. The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) also use NAICS. NAICS is a process of assigning businesses 2 to 6-digit codes that refer to a specific sector or sub-sector of an industry. These codes can be used to provide more specific information about a water utility’s commercial customer base. This allows water consumption standards to be established, meaning outliers can be more easily identified. ‍

Analyze Data for Outliers and for Areas in Need of Immediate Conservation Efforts

Once the customers were categorized using NAICS codes, the water use data was analyzed to identify areas in which water conservation efforts could be focused. Not only are those areas that need additional conservation efforts identified, but future conservation programs can be developed and established on a rolling basis as water use trends change. As water demand and population increase, knowing exactly where to focus conservation efforts is key.