Cost scenarios for small drinking water treatment technologies

The objective of this paper is to present statistical models of costs based on new data obtained from manufacturers of a menu of treatment technologies suitable for small water systems. This analysis would be of interest to water management engineers and planners. We classify these technologies into six classes, depending on the contaminants removed. Our statistical results show that average costs (including capital, operating and maintenance) of production of these technologies depend on the flow rate as well as the number of contaminants removed. The larger the flow rate the lower the cost per volume treated and the more contaminants are removed, the higher the cost, for any given flow rate. One of our major finding is that for surface waters except those with high color and turbidity, UV-based treatment technologies can be cost effective. However, for any particular system, water engineers would take site-specific features into account to determine what technology is most appropriate.