Abstract
The European Union is committed to enforce limitations to water pollution through specific directives (UWWTD 91/271/EEC). The delay of some EU member states in transposing these directives has had an impact on the quality of the wastewater treatment system. Therefore, it is necessary to intervene with adjustment procedures and construction of new plants. The aim of the study is to carry out an economic feasibility assessment for the construction costs of an urban wastewater treatment plant of medium-low capacity (<50,000 Population Equivalent or pe) according to a simplified process diagram, and help in the planning of new investments. We propose a methodology based on cost functions according to two different procedures: synthetic estimate of the costs for civil works and a multiple linear regression for the cost of the electromechanical equipment. These functions show a correlation between the construction costs and the population equivalent and enable us to understand it. The results show greater economic benefit in increasing wastewater treatment plants sizes serving a population equivalent of 5000 pe to 10,000 pe, while further increases are less beneficial.
Highlights
Wastewater is defined as any water whose quality has been adversely affected by anthropogenic influence after being used in domestic, industrial or agricultural activities
The present study provides a tool to estimate in advance the construction costs of a conventional urban wastewater treatment plants having medium-low capacity (
We first collected the data taken from the 28 tenders awarded between 2001 and 2011 for the revamping and new construction of wastewater treatment plants in the Sicily Region
Summary
Wastewater is defined as any water whose quality has been adversely affected by anthropogenic influence after being used in domestic, industrial or agricultural activities. It is not suitable to be released in the environment (land, sea, rivers and lakes) without causing imbalances in the ecosystem. The Council Directive concerning urban wastewater treatment, 91/271/EEC [1], requires that urban wastewater discharges should be regulated according to the quality objectives of the receiving water bodies. Wastewater from urban sewage systems must be treated appropriately (chemically, physically and biologically), depending on the type of wastewater and of the receiving water body. Wastewater treatment plants are the key infrastructure to reduce pollution of surface and groundwater bodies and to safeguard the health of the population [2].
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