United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Research and Development
EPA Project Summary
Risk Reduction
Engineering Laboratory
Cincinnati OH 45268
EPA/600/SR-92/009 April 1992
Standardized Costs for Water
Supply Distribution Systems
Robert C. Gumerman, Bruce E. Burris, Debra E. Burris, and
Richard G. Eilers
Under the Safe Drinking Water Act
(Public Law 93-523), the U.S. Environ-
mental Protection Agency is respon-
sible for collecting and making available
information pertaining to the demon-
stration, construction, and application
of acceptable water supply practice.
Research, development, and demonstra-
tion activities are essential to the up-
grading of existing water supply
systems, planning and design of new
systems, and prediction of system per-
formance and cost. A primary feature off
the Safe Drinking Water Act is that eco-
nomics must be considered before Fed-
eral regulations are promulgated. The!
cost impact of regulations on large wa-
ter utilities should be minor, but there!
may be potentially serious cost effects
on small water utilities due to the high
unit costs generally associated with
small systems/The cost of distributing
water to the final user after it has been;
treated is of growing concern as well as!
its quality. There are a significant num-j
ber of distribution systems in the United!
States that are aging and/or deteriorat-
ing, which results in a potential threat'
to the future quality of drinking water. It
would be quite useful to have a mecha-
nism for examining the economics of
various alternative solutions for han-
dling problems affecting water quality!
within the distribution system. A cost;
data base and associated computer pro-!
grams have been developed to aid the!
design engineer in this type of analysis.!
This Project Summary was devel-
oped by EPA's Risk Reduction Engti
neering 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
In support of the Safe Drinking Water
Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) provides cost estimating in-
formation to the water utility field relative to
construction and operation/maintenance of
all aspects of drinking water acquisition,
treatment, and distribution. The evaluation
of cost is important to the EPA decision-
making process when formulating new
regulations and to water utilities as they
implement these regulations. In prior re-
search work, EPA has placed a great deal
of emphasis on treatment techniques and
treatment costs because those areas were
of immediate concern to utilities in meeting
the Interim Primary Drinking Water Regu-
lations. A recent research effort focused
on another area of importance: the costs
of constructing, expanding, maintaining,
and rehabilitating water supply distribution
systems with associated pumping and stor-
age facilities. Expenses related to distribu-
tion system problems often account for a
large percentage of total water utility ex-
penses.
This project was aimed at providing a
cost data base to assist utilities in making
decisions relating to replacement or reha-
bilitation of existing distribution systems.
An associated computer program was also
developed for accessing the data base in
order to provide quick and easy cost esti-
Printed on Recycled Paper
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mates as well as displaying the computer
output in a format that provides for an easy
analysis of the results. The principal objec-
tives of the project were to develop cost
information for expansion and/or rehabili-
tation of existing facilities, to evaluate the
potential impact of inadequate distribution
facilities on treated water quality, and to
provide a computer program to allow users
to easily estimate costs for construction,
operation, and rehabilitation of water distri-
bution systems.
Sources of Cost Information
Various large utilities have extensive
backgrounds in rehabilitation, repair, and
replacement of existing facilities. A num-
ber of these utilities supplied this type of
cost data from their files. The cost data
base also includes information gathered
from the literature. Frequent articles are
published in the trade journals discussing
the costs associated with new construction
and rehabilitation of existing utilities. Other
publications deal w'rth construction bids re-
ceived. Useful information was collected
from the files of engineering firms, equip-
ment manufacturers, state agencies, and
construction contractors. Past EPA re-
search project data also contributed to the
effort. Hypothetical cost estimates based
on engineering designs were used exten-
sively. In order to verify the accuracy of the
final cost data base, several examples were
evaluated comparing actual costs to esti-
mated. A procedure has been included so
that cost estimates can be updated to re-
flect the influence of inflation. All cost data
is presented in both tabular and graphical
form in the final project report, and a user's
guide for the computer program is also
part of the report. Each construction cost
curve is supplemented with design draw-
ings and details. Operation/maintenance
costs relate to the requirements of indi-
vidual pieces of equipment. The cost data
base that has resulted from this research
project is accurate enough for preliminary
planning purposes and flexible enough for
cost-effectiveness studies.
Outline of Cost Information
The following is an outline of the spe-
cific cost information that is presented in
graphical and tabular form and can be
used by the design engineer to estimate
the costs associated with water distribu-
tion systems:
I. Pipelines
A. New pipelines, installed (pipe diam-
eter vs. cost/ft)
1. Base cost for mechanical only
(purchase and lay pipe)
2. Type of Material
a. Ductile iron pipe
b. Steel pipe
c. Asbestos cement pipe
— d. Concrete cylinder pipe
e. Thermoplastic pipe
3. Class of pipe
B. New pipelines, additive items
1. Valves, fittings, hydrants (pipe
diameter vs. cost/ft)
a. Frequency'
i. Low
ii. Average
iii. High
2. Trenching and excavation (pipe
diameter vs. cost/ft)
a. Depth range
i. 3 to 6 ft
ii. 6 to 8 ft
iii, 8 to 10 ft
b. Type of soil.
i. Sandy
ii. Clay
iii. Rocky
3. Dewatering (pipe diameter vs.
cost/ft)
a. Conditions
i. Moderate
ii. Severe
4. Sheet piling (pipe diameter vs.
cost/ft)
5. Boring or tunneling (pipe diam-
eter vs. cost/ft)
6. Bedding (pipe diameter vs. cost/
ft)
a. Classes of bedding
i. Class A - arch encase-
ment
ii. Class B - first class
bedding
iii. Class C - ordinary
bedding
7. Backfill (pipe diameter vs. cost/
ft)
a. Compaction percentage
i. 85%
ii. 95%
b. Type of material
i. Native soil
ii. Imported material
8. Utility interferences (pipe diam-
eter vs. cost/ft)
a. Frequency
i. Minimal
ii. Moderate
iii. Severe
9. Pavement replacement (pipetii-
ameter vs. cost/ft)
a. Type of material
i. Concrete
ii. Asphalt
10. Traffic control (pipe diameter
vs. cost/ft)
a. Conditions
i. Moderate
ii. Heavy
11. Project length
a. Multiplier for project size
i. Small
ii. Average
iii. Large
12. Household connection
a. Cost for water mete/ and
. connecting pipeline
i. Inner city
ii. Suburban
iii. Rural
C. Existing pipelines, rehabilitation
1. Cleaning (cost/ft cleaned)
2. Install new cement mortar lin-
ing (pipe diameter vs. cost/ft)
3. Install plastic liner (pipe diam-
eter vs. cost/ft)
D. Existing pipeline, preventative main-
tenance
1. Valves (annualcost.per valve)
2. Fire hydrants (annual cost per
hydrant)
3. Corrosion inhibitors
a., Component (chemical feed
rate vs. cost component)
i. Construction of facili-
ties
ii. Labor
iii. Power
iv. Materials
v. Chemical costs
b. Chemicals
i. Polyphosphates
ii. Sodium hydroxide.
4. Flushing (cost/ft flushed)
Pump stations ,
A. New pump stations, construction
1. Vertical turbine pumps (peak
flow vs. construction cost)
a. Base cost for mechanical
only (install pumps, piping)
b. Pumping head
i. Low
ii. Medium
iii. High
2. Horizontal centrifugal pumps
(peak flow vs. construction cost)
a. Base cost for mechanical
only (install pumps, piping)
b. Pumping head
i. Low
ii. Medium
iii. High
B. New pump stations, additive items
1. Wet well (volume vs. construc-
tion cost)
2. - Structure (area vs. construction
cost)
a. Type
i. Average
ii. Complex
3. Sitework (area vs. construction
cost)
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a. Type
!. Average
ii. Extensive
4. Electrical/Instrumentation (peak •
flow vs. construction cost)
a. Type
i. Average
ii. Complex
5. Standby Power (horsepower vs.
construction cost)
C. Package pump stations, construc-
tion (peak flow vs. construction cost)
1. Base cost for mechanical only
(install pumps, piping)
2. Pumping head
a. Low
b. Medium
c. High
D. Expansion of existing pump stations,
construction
1. Vertical turbine pumps (peak
flow vs. construction cost)
a. Base cost for mechanical
only (install pumps, piping)
b. Pumping head
i. Low
ii. Medium
iii. High
2. Horizontal centrifugal pumps
(peak flow vs. construction cost)
a. Base cost for mechanical
only (install pumps, piping)
b. Pumping head
i. Low
ii. Medium
iii. High
E. Expansion of existing pump station,
additive items
1. Wet well (additional volume vs.
construction cost)
2. Structure (additional area vs.
construction cost)
a. Type
i. Average
ii. Complex
3. Sitework (additional area vs.
construction cost)
4. Electrical/Instrumentation (peak
flow vs. construction cost)
a. Type
i. Average
ii. Complex
F. Existing pump stations, operation
and maintenance
1. Labor (peak flow vs. manhours/
yr) I
2. Power (average flow vs. kild-
watt-hours/yr) ;
a. Pumping head •;
i. Low j
ii. Medium
iii. High i
3. Natural Gas (average flow vs.
therms/yr) j
a. Pumping head !
i. Low |
ii. Medium i
iii. High |
4. Material (average flow vSi an-
nual cost) •
Storage Reservoirs
A. New tanks, construction i
1. Steel >
a. Elevated (volume vs. con-
struction cost) j
b. Ground level (volume vs;.
construction cost) !
c. Below ground (volume vsi.
construction cost)
B. New tanks, additive items :j
1. Cathodic protection (volume vsi.
construction cost) |
2. Architectural treatment (volume
vs. construction cost) !
a. Type
i. Moderate
ii. Extensive
3. Sitework :
a. Ground level (area vs. cori-
struction cost) I
i. Average
ii. Extensive ;
b. Below ground (area vs.
construction cost) '
i. Average
ii. Extensive
C. Existing tanks, preventative mainte-
nance
1. Protective coating addition cr
renewal
a. Labor (surface area vs.
manhours/yr)
b. Materials (surface area vs.
annual cost)
2. Cathodic protection addition cr
renewal
a. Labor (volume vs.
manhours/yr)
b. Power (volume vs. kilowatt-
hours/yr)
c. Materials (volume vs. an-
nual cost)
3. Lining addition or renewal
a. Labor (interior area vs.
manhours/yr)
b. Materials (interior area vs.
annual cost)
Summary of Results
Many drinking water distribution sys-
tems in the United States, both large and
small, are on the verge of disintegrating
because of age and/or other physical fac-
tors that influence the useful life of the
system. When it comes time to pay for the
replacement or rehabilitation of these older
systems, the effects of inflation on cost will
be considerable and possibly prohibitive.
This has not been a major problem in the
past since most systems have held up well
enough for a long time. Now a frequent
decision that utilities must face is to deter-
mine if it is more economical to replace or
repair a problem area within the distribu-
tion network. If the problem area is not
corrected, water quality will deteriorate; if
corrected, the cost of water supply will
increase. Proposed and future federal regu-
lations may require increased performance
demands in addition to merely maintaining
the present level of water service and qual-
ity provided by the utilities. Bringing all of
the necessary cost information together, in
order to establish a systematic method of
cost estimating, represents a significant
step toward a standardized approach of
economically evaluating those alternatives
available to water utilities for correcting
problems within their distribution systems.
The availability of a computer program for
easy access to the cost data base pro-
vides the user with a large amount of cost
information for decision making.with a mini-
mal amount of engineering effort and ex-
pense.
The full report was submitted in fulfill-
ment of Contract No. 68-03-3266 between
HDR Engineering, Inc. and the U.S. Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency.
it U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1992 - 448-080/^0216
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Robert C. Gumerman, Bruce E. Bums, and Debra E. Bums are with HDR Engineering,
Inc., Irvine, CA 92715.; the EPA author Richard G. Eilers (also the EPA Project
Officer, see below) is with the Risk Reduction Engineering Laboratory, Cincinnati, OH
45268.
The complete report consists of paper copy and diskette, entitled "Standardized Costs
for Water Supply Distribution Systems."
Paper Copy (Order No. PB92-141290/AS; Cost: $17.00, subject to change)
Diskette (OrderNo. PB92-501436/AS; Cost: $90.00, subject to change)
(Cost of diskette includes paper copy.)
The above items will be available only from:
National Technical Information Service
5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, VA 22161
Telephone: 703-487-4650
The EPA Project Officer can be contacted at:
Risk Reduction Engineering Laboratory
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Cincinnati, OH 45268
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Center for Environmental Research
Information
Cincinnati, OH 45268
BULK RATE
POSTAGE & FEES PAID
EPA PERMIT NO. G-35
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use $300
EPA/600/SR-92/009
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