Research and Development Office

Quantifying the Cost of Water Treatment

Project ID: 1757
Principal Investigator: Steve Dundorf
Research Topic: Desalination and Water Treatment
Funded Fiscal Years: 2017
Keywords: None

Research Question

1) What water treatment components should be included in a cost model from both a capital and O&M perspective?
2) Is standardization of water treatment across the WT industry a reasonable goal? If so, who should provide input and is that a separate project from developing a cost model?
3) How can the water treatment cost estimating model be developed to be applicable to as many Reclamation programs and activities as possible? What level of accuracy is needed to be applicable?
4) What are the major gaps between current cost models and the new cost model and what will be needed to fill those gaps?
5) What will the development of a new cost model cost and how long with it take?

Need and Benefit

Need
Design: Preliminary Level design projects have a need for a cost model to rapidly and cost effectively develop cost estimates. This model may also be applicable to Appraisal Level design projects if that level of accuracy can be achieved.
Research: Assist with quantifying benefits of research investments on reducing the cost of water treatment. Can be used for
post-analysis of research results on novel technologies. This need is for researchers within Reclamation, researchers working on Reclamation funded research, and the broader research community.
Benefit
Design: Will save time and money on design projects because it will improve how we calculate Preliminary Level (and possibly Appraisal Level) cost estimates.
Research: Can be used by the research office to show how research investments are contributing to lowering the cost of desalination and other treatment technologies.
Planning: Can be used by area offices in planning activities where water treatment may be considered for augmenting water supplies.

Contributing Partners

Contact the Principal Investigator for information about partners.

Research Products

Bureau of Reclamation Review

The following documents were reviewed by experts in fields relating to this project's study and findings. The results were determined to be achieved using valid means.

Quantifying the Cost of Water Treatment (final, PDF, 396KB)
By Steve Dundorf, Katie Guerra, Andrew Tiffenbach
Research Product completed on September 30, 2017

Quantifying the Cost of Water Treatment (final, PDF, 396KB)
By Steve Dundorf, Katie Guerra, Andrew Tiffenbach
Research Product completed on September 30, 2017

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