Planning Using Life Cycle Costs in Pennsylvania
Authors:
- Scott Armbrust - Hazen and Sawyer
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Analysis of project alternatives' impact on customer rate. *LOT = Limit of Technology
In 1964, Upper Gwynedd Township and Towamencin Township created a joint operating authority known as Upper Gwynedd Towamencin Municipal Authority (UGTMA). The authority has been in business for almost 50 years, and owns and operates the 7.3 million gallons per day (mgd) Kriebel Road Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) located in Towamencin Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
The UGTMA owns the Kriebel Road WWTP and related facilities through a lease back agreement with the Townships by means of a 50-year charter that will expire in 2014. The Townships have requested an evaluation of the condition of the existing facilities and how potential future regulations on nutrient removal could impact the system to help them determine how to proceed with renewing the existing charter for the UGTMA.
We toured the system, reviewed the plant data and developed several treatment options. These options were analyzed using BioWin model and the options were also evaluated for user rate impacts – NOT JUST in the implementation year but over the life cycle of the projects. In doing so, we identified an intermediate project that was the most cost-effective, as illustrated in the table above.
There are two facts from the customer rate impacts that need to be stressed:
1. The implementation of a modified CIP and an interim improvements project that will allow the facilities to meet the existing Chesapeake Bay nutrient requirements will increase the customer rates by only $4 per month as compared to the implementation of the CIP by itself, potentially postponing additional nutrient improvement projects.
2. If the Facilities are required to go the limits of technology for nutrient removal, there is approximately a $20 per month savings to each customer if the system incorporates a modified CIP and interim project approach as compared to the full construction and implementation of a limit of technology project in the future.
Read more about our approach to life cycle cost analysis.
