Development of Screening-Level Tools to Streamline Wastewater Treatment Technology Cost Analyses

Many U.S. Environmental Protection Agency programs need to assess wastewater treatment technology costs and performance to guide policy decisions both at national and community levels. Reliable and comprehensive cost information is critical to understanding affordable treatment options that can protect human health and the environment. This information can also help communities plan for needed infrastructure improvements. Screening-level tools can help make the cost analysis process more efficient and understandable.

ERG has developed multiple screening-level tools to estimate capital and operating costs for industrial and municipal wastewater treatment systems and infrastructure. We use these tools to streamline the rigorous cost analyses required to develop or modify industrial discharge regulations, while providing EPA with defensible estimates to inform economic analyses and decisions. We also develop simplified tools communities can use to understand the costs of different treatment systems, components, and supporting infrastructure (e.g., conveyance/distribution lines, pump and lift stations, storage) to help with their strategic planning and to support their initial applications for federal infrastructure funding. These tools provide communities, which may not have resources to develop these estimates in-house, with a simple way of understanding the financial impacts of critical water infrastructure improvements.