Reverse osmosis at the award-winning Scottsdale Water Campus, Scottsdale, AZ.
Click here to enlarge imageProjects for the district include participating in the expansion of the San Luis Rey Treatment Plant in Oceanside, construction of a new lift station, and replacing sewer lines to correct infiltration and inflow (I&I) problems. The district is also replacing major water lines based on leak detection and age of the infrastructure.
"The major construction drivers are economical growth in our area of East-Central Alabama," said Dan H. Hilyer, General Manager of the Opelika Water Works Board. "The additional growth is adding to our daily demands which drive our new infrastructure improvements. We are also doing a lot of rehabilitation construction to replace aging infrastructure. Our major challenge is funding; big surprise!"
The district, with 10,000 drinking water customers, expects to spend $17 million over the next five years, including $8.6 million on expansion of its R.A. Betts Water Treatment plant to 16 mgd from the current 8 mgd. The project includes the addition of two flocculators, two sedimentation basins, four mixed media filters, a new state of the art in-plant SCADA system, a new maintenance facility, new sludge drying beds, a new waste water holding pond, continuous sludge removal equipment in all basins, and a new 36 inch raw water main.
"Our entire infrastructure is very old and we must upgrade in order to comply with requirements of an administrative order attached to the latest permit renewal of our wastewater treatment plant," said Elmon Lee Garner, City Manager of the City of Chattahoochee, FL.
Chattahoochee expects to spend $2 million over the next five years on wastewater projects alone, with the lion's share going to work on the treatment plant. Other projects include installation of fluoride application equipment at the drinking water plant, general repairs to holding tanks and sewer collection system rehabilitation.
According to survey respondents, regulations that will be driving construction over the next few years include the proposed Arsenic Rule, with its new standard of 10 ppb recently announced by EPA. Other regulations driving projects include the Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule and the Disinfectants/Disinfection Byproducts Rule (D/DBPR). Cities are also planning for the next stage of regulation, Stage 2 of the D/DBPR and the Long-Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule.
"Small remote communities are experiencing substantial cost increases brought on by the EPA regulatory process," said Ray E. Leverich, a System Consultant, working with the Brazos Mutual Domestic WCA in New Mexico.
Serving only 180 homes and cabins, the district is like many tiny utilities struggling with the issue of viability. The authority is working to provide water to all its customers as funds become available and to replace aging systems.
"Now regulation changes are raising a substantial issue for not only our system, but others in the same vicinity," Leverich said. "We have started on an educational phase in our meetings and membership letters. Explaining the burdening cost of compliance, better service and quality water is one way the users seem to understand the escalating cost."
Even though regulation is a concern, aging infrastructure is the key driver for construction throughout the municipal water/wastewater industry. In a report earlier this year, the Water Infrastructure Network called for a five-year, $57 billion federal investment in drinking water, sewer and stormwater infrastructure to replace aging pipes, upgrade treatment systems, and continue to protect public health and the environment. The report urged Congress to create a long-term, sustainable, and reliable source of federal funding for clean and safe water.
The funding increase is needed to help close a $23 billion per year gap between infrastructure needs and current spending, according to the WIN report, Water Infrastructure Now. Local governments and their ratepayers currently cover 90 percent of the costs to build, operate and maintain public water and sewer systems. But, as older systems deteriorate and water quality rules tighten, local budgets cannot keep pace, the report said.
According to a study by the Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. drinking water systems need to spend an estimated $150.9 billion over the next 20 years to maintain drinking water infrastructure. EPA's 1999 Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey, released earlier this year, covered the nation's approximately 55,000 community water systems and 21,400 not-for-profit noncommunity water systems. A similar survey for the wastewater side of the market is due out early next year.
The amount of money being spent by utilities varies dramatically, but many are stretched thin by the demand for large-scale expenditures financed by a relatively small population base.
The Augusta County Service Authority in Virginia serves just 12,600 drinking water customers and 6,200 wastewater customers, but expects to spend more than $16 million over the next five years for improvements to its system. This year alone the district expects to spend $7.7 million for expansion of its Stuarts Draft Wastewater Treatment Plant
"It hurts, but it is something that we need to do," said Bruce Grant, Director of Finance.
A significant portion of the cost will pay for a Biological Nutrient Removal system that will lower the quantity of nutrients discharged into the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The Service Authority is receiving $1.4 million in grant funding to help finance the advanced pollution control system.
Projects at the Augusta Springs water treatment facilities includes the addition of a new water source and a filtration system. The financing for this project received a grant for $382,500 and a 30-year loan of $127,500 at 0% interest.
"The Service Authority's capital improvement program is designed to meet the requirements of regulatory changes, replacement of older lines, expansion for growth, and to provide water and sewer service to areas covered under the County Comprehensive Plan," Grant said. WW/
