United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Water Engineering Research
Laboratory
Cincinnati OH 45268
Research and Development
EPA-600/S2-84-184 Mar. 1985
Project Summary
Estimation of Small System
Water Treatment Costs
Robert C. Gumerman, Bruce E. Burris, and Sigurd P. Hansen
Construction and operation and main-
tenance costs are presented for 45
centralized water treatment unit pro-
cesses and 5 point-of-use water treat-
ment techniques. The cost data apply to
flows of up to 3,785 mVd(1 mgdj.The
unit processes were selected based on
their ability (1) to remove contaminants
included in the National Interim Primary
Drinking Water Regulations or (2) to
treat and dispose of sludges and brines
produced by these treatment processes.
This Project Summary was developed
by EPA's Water Engineering Research
Laboratory, Cincinnati, OH, to announce
key findings of the research project that
is fully documented in a separate report
of the same title (see Project Report
ordering information at back).
Introduction
The main purpose of this project was to
develop and present cost data for con-
structing, operating, and maintaining
centralized and point-of-use treatment
techniques for small water treatment
systems. The data presented apply to
flows up to 3,785 mVday (1 mgd).
Another objective was to verify cost
data generated in the laboratory with
those collected in the field. To accomplish
this goal, utilities using a wide variety of
the treatment techniques were visited.
Approach to Cost Development
Cost data presented in this report are
based on December 1983 costs. They
were developed to allow maximum flexi-
bility in their use. Construction costs are
plotted versus the design parameter that
best accommodates designer preference,
raw water quality variations, and regula-
tory agency loading rates. Though some
construction costs are plotted versus flow,
most are plotted versus another design
parameter such as pounds or cubic feet
per day for chemical feed systems, square
feet of surface area for filters, and
contractor volume for ion exchange and
adsorption processes. This approach gives
the cost data much greater flexibility than
if costs for all processes were plotted
versus flow.
Construction costs were developed and
are presented in eight categories: Excava-
tion and sitework, manufactured equip-
ment, concrete, steel, labor (installation),
pipe and valves, electrical instrumenta-
tion, and housing. To convert the con-
struction cost into capital cost for an
entire plant, the data must be aggregated
for the individual processes included in
the plant, and adjustments must be added
for the following:
• Sitework, interface piping, roads, and
standby power
• General contractor's overhead and
profit
• Engineering
• Land
• Legal, fiscal, and administrative costs
• Interest during construction
The capital cost for a treatment system is
the sum of the costs for these items
(where applicable).
Operation and maintenance require-
ments were developed for energy, main-
tenance material, and labor. The energy
category includes process electrical
energy, building electrical energy, and
diesel fuel. Electrical energy require-
ments are presented in kWh/year, and
diesel fuel requirements are presented in
gal/year. Annual energy costs are de-
termined using unit costs of $0.07/kWh
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of electricity and $0.29/L($1.10/gal) of
diesel fuel.
Maintenance material costs include
those for periodic replacement of com-
ponent parts needed to keep the process
operable and functioning. Examples of
maintenance materials are valves, mo-
tors, instrumentation, and other similar
process items. The maintenance mate-
rials do not include the cost of chemicals
required for process operation.
Labor requirements include both opera-
tion and maintenance labor, and they are
presented in terms of hours per year. The
process operating parameter should be
used to determine the labor requirement.
The labor requirements were converted
to an annual cost using an hourly labor
rate of $11.00/hr, which includes salary
and fringe benefits.
Computer Program
A computer program and users manual
is included in the report. The WATER
program is a FORTRAN program that can
retrieve and update cost data for the 45
unit processes. Examples of the input
files are included along with output sheets
for three hypothetical plants. The user
need not be an experienced programmer
to use the WATER program, but a familiar-
ity with programming is recommended.
Cost Updating
Two approaches are presented for
updating construction costs: One is to use
a single index such as the Engineering
News Record (ENR) Construction Cost
Index, and the second (and more accurate)
approach is to use a separate index for
each of the eight construction cost com-
ponents. An approach is presented using
five different Bureau of Labor Statistic
indices and two ENR indices. The latter
approach is difficult to perform manually,
but it is well suited to a computer program.
The total operation and maintenance
costs can be updated by updating the
three individual components: energy,
labor, and maintenance material. Energy
and labor can be updated by applying the
current unit costs to the kilowatt-hour,
diesel fuel, and labor requirements
obtained from the energy and labor
curves. Maintenance material costs,
which are presented in terms of dollars
per year, can be updated using the
Producer Price Index for Finished Goods.
Treatment Techniques
The 45 centralized treatment tech-
niques included in this report are:
Complete treatment techniques
1. Package complete water treatment
systems
—Conventional package complete
treatment
—Culligan Multi-Tech System
—Neptune Microfloc Trident Sys-
tem
2. Package lime softening
Filtration techniques
3. Package pressure filtration plants
4. Package gravity filtration plants
5. Diatomite filtration
—Package vacuum diatomite filters
—Package pressure diatomite filters
6. Slow sand filters
Membrane treatment techniques
7. Reverse osmosis
8. Electrodialysis
9. Package ultrafiltration
Ion exchange and adsorption techniques
10. Cation exchange softening
11. Anion exchange nitrate removal
12. Activated alumina fluoride removal
13. Granular activated carbon adsorp-
tion
—Package pressure granular acti-
vated carbon contactors
—Package gravity granular activa-
ted carbon contactors
Aeration
14. Diffused air aeration
15. Countercurrent packed tower aera-
tion
16. Spray aeration systems
17. Cascade tray aerators
Chemical feed systems
18. Gas feed chlorination systems
19. Hypochlorite solution chlorination
systems
20. Pellet feed chlorinators
21. Erosion feed chlorinators
22. On-site hypochlorite generation
systems
23. Chlorine dioxide generation and
feed systems
24. Ozone generation, feed, and con-
tacting systems
25. Basic chemical feed systems
26. Dry chemical feed systems
27. Polymer feed systems
28. Powdered activated carbon feed
systems
29. Sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide
feed systems
30. Potassium permanganate feed sys-
tems
31. Ferric chloride feed systems
Sludge and brine handling techniques
32. Sludge dewatering lagoons
33. Sludge disposal to sanitary sewers
34. Sand drying beds
35. Liquid sludge hauling by truck
36. Dewatering sludge hauling by truck
37. Brine evaporation lagoons
Miscellaneous techniques
38. Water wells
39. Package raw water pumping facil-
ities
40. Package high-service pumping facil-
ities
41. Filter media
42. Package flocculator clarifier
43. Contact basins—direct filtration
applications
44. Ultraviolet light disinfection
45. Clearwell storage
The five point-of-use treatment tech-
niques are:
1. Reverse osmosis
2. Activated alumina
3. Granular activated carbon
4. Cation exchange
5. Anion exchange
The full report was submitted in fulfill-
ment of Contract No. 68-03-3093 by
Culp/Wesner/CuIpConsulting Engineers
under the sponsorship of the U.S. Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency.
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R. C. Gumerman, B. E. Burn's, and S. P. Hansen are with Culp/Wesner/Culp
Consulting Engineers, Santa Ana, CA 92707.
Richard G. Eilers is the EPA Project Officer (see below).
The complete report consists of two parts, entitled:
"Estimation of Small System Water Treatment Costs (Text)," (Order No. PB
85-161 644; Cost: $43.00)
"Estimation of Small System Water Treatment Costs (Computer Tape) " (Order
No. PB 85-161 651; Cost: $400.00)
The above items will be available only from: (costs subject to change)
National Technical Information Service
5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, V'A 221'61
Telephone: 703-487-4650
The EPA Project Officer can be contacted at:
Water Engineering Research Laboratory
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Cincinnati, OH 45268
* U.S GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1985-559-016/27007
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Center for Environmental Research
Information
Cincinnati OH 45268
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use $300
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