Why Do Wastewater Projects Cost So Much?
Many of our nation’s wastewater treatment plants were constructed in the 1950s as society realized the negative impact of dumping raw sewage and industrial discharges directly in waterways.Public concern ultimately grew into the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972.Over the years, regulations have been refined and increased through research and environmental lobbying efforts requiring wastewater plants to remove more and more pollution.The level of pollution removal is now dictated through discharge permits either administered by the state or the federal Environmental Protection Agency. While removing more pollution from water is a good thing, higher standards also cause the cost of building, operating and maintaining a treatment plant to increase exponentially. The only current funding mechanism available to wastewater treatment facilities to pay for required improvements and treatment costs are the rates that are charged to the customers.
