The national distribution network, whose extension is over 210,000 km, is overall very fragmented and generally poorly preserved. Its global water losses vary between 20 and 65%; as you can see from the graph below, Calabria is around 55%.

The losses of a water system can be differentiated between:
- administrative or apparent losses (30%)
- physical or real losses (70%)
Factors that influence losses can be grouped into four categories:
- availability of resources (financial, personnel, water);
- infrastructure conditions (materials, replacement policy, pressure);
- institutional attitude (structure, legislation, policy);
- loss control policy developed through the following activities:
- estimation;
- identification and reduction.
