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TECHNICAL PAPERS

Cost and Pollutant Removal of Storm-Water Treatment Practices

Article History

Submitted: 07  June  2005
Accepted: 01 June 2006
Published: 01 May 2007

Publication Data

ISSN (print): 0733-9496
ISSN (online): 1943-5452
Publisher: American Society of Civil Engineers
CODEN: JWRMD5
Peter T. Weiss, M.ASCE1; John S. Gulliver, F.ASCE2; and Andrew J. Erickson, S.M.ASCE3

1Associate Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Valparaiso Univ., Valparaiso, IN 46383 (corresponding author). E-mail: Peter.Weiss@Valpo.edu

2Joseph T. and Rose S. Ling Professor and Head, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55414. E-mail: gulli003@umn.edu

3Graduate Student, St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Univ. of Minnesota, 3rd Ave. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414. E-mail: eric0706@tc.umn.edu

Six storm-water best management practices (BMPs) for treating urban rainwater runoff were evaluated for cost and effectiveness in removing suspended sediments and total phosphorus. Construction and annual operating and maintenance (O and M) cost data were collected and analyzed for dry extended detention basins, wet basins, sand filters, constructed wetlands, bioretention filters, and infiltration trenches using literature that reported on existing storm-water BMP sites across the United States. After statistical analysis on historical values of inflation and bond yields, the annual O and M costs were converted to a present worth based on a 20-year life and added to the construction cost. The total present cost of each storm-water BMP with the 67% confidence interval was reported as a function of the water quality design volume, again with a 67% confidence interval. Finally, the mass of total suspended solids and total phosphorus removed over the 20-year life was estimated as a function of the water quality volume. For the six storm-water BMPs investigated, results show that, ignoring land costs, constructed wetlands have been the least expensive to construct and maintain if appropriate land is available. However, since wetlands typically require more land area to be effective, land acquisition costs may result in wetlands being significantly more expensive than other storm-water BMPs that require less area. The results can be used by planners and designers to estimate both the total cost of installing a storm-water BMP and the corresponding total suspended solids and total phosphorus removal.




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