AWWA ACE92193

Confusion is sometimes expressed over plant capital and operating costs, particularly where two plants of similar production capacity and design incur very different costs. These differences i costs are naturally attributed to site-specific factors. Site-specific factors that can have a dramatic effect on the actual capital and operating costs include: water source (groundwater or surface supply); concentrate disposal sites; local costs such as labor, chemicals, electricity, etc.; unit (train) size. The objective of this paper, then, is to examine how these factors affect the costs of building and operation such a facility. In order to determine how these various items influence the costs of a facility, two reference designs were prepared. one for a reverse osmosis plant and another for an electrodialysis reversal plant.