# Water/Wastewater Infrastructure Cost Estimating



## rudy (Aug 12, 2009)

As you may know by now, I'm trying to learn about water and wastewater. One of the topics I came across was "Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Cost Estimating." Can anyone tell me what it is?

From my literary searches (not that many of them), all I can tell is that it's the cost of supplying water and collecting wastewater. Also, are there any free software models for it? Or is it just a matter of collecting individual costs and putting a cost estimation together?


----------



## CrazyHorse81 (Aug 13, 2009)

Rudy,

Water and wastewater infrastructure cost estimating is not the cost of supplying water and collecting wastewater, due to the key word infrastructure. Infrastructure leads me to believe that it is the construction cost to put the "infrastructure" into operation or beneficial use. This includes materials, labor, overhead, and profit in most cases. Sometimes depending on the project details, engineering, design, permits, inspections, and as-builts may be required as a part. Depending on how defined a scope of work is will determine the accuracy of your cost estimate and will warrant a +/- percentage as a range from your base cost.

The cost of supplying and collecting wastewater (treatment when applicable) tells me that is the cost to operate and maintain the infrastructure constructed.

I am not aware of any freeware for cost estimating. I think that it works best if you spend time building your own program and use historical costs (for project of similar size and scope) or call vendors as a start to put an estimate together. A good source that I use is the AACE International cost estimating guide. I just browsed their website and it may be good to check it out.


----------



## Chucktown PE (Aug 13, 2009)

Rudy,

It's basically what you would pay a contractor to build a wastewater treatment plant, water treatment plant, pipeline, sewer, water tower, pump station, etc. There are many pieces that make up water/wastewater infrastructure.

However, I also do a lot of conceptual cost estimates when doing alternatives analysis to find out which option is cheapest in terms of present worth. To do that we have to determine both capital (what you pay a contractor an engineer) and O&amp;M cost. Most Utilities are smart enough to know that just because an option is cheaper on the front end doesn't mean that it will be cheapest overall.

As far as how you learn to do this, it's collecting information from previous projects, vendor quotes, supplier quotes, etc. It is definitely not an exact science but there are databases of information that you can pull from, however none of them are free.


----------



## Dleg (Aug 13, 2009)

^What they said. Estimating is usually something you do not attempt until you have been working for a while in that field, because the costs tend to vary with location. I.e., local vendor prices, local geology (= cost of excavation), etc. etc. There are sources of rough information you can sue to get a start on the estimate, but if the estimate really matters (bidding, for example), you would want someone experienced reviewing the estimate in detail.


----------



## rudy (Aug 13, 2009)

Hi CrazyHorse,

Thank you for the insight. I hadn't considered that it would include the permits and inspections. The AACE website has quite a bit of standards. I'll do more of a detailed search for water/wastewater within its site.

Thanks again, rudy.


----------



## rudy (Aug 14, 2009)

Hi Chucktown,

Thank you for sharing this information. I didn't realize all of the pieces that make it up. It seems that the project scope needs to be clear to understand what pieces are required.

Thank you,

rudy.


----------



## rudy (Aug 14, 2009)

Hi Dleg,

Thank you for the extra info. I guess alot of it depends on experience.

Thanks again,

rudy.


----------



## lins002 (Jan 20, 2010)

It was the smell of rain that I missed the most and the sound of a lawnmower and the waft of cut grass. It was being out in the open and standing bare foot! Blue skies part and parcel of it all; the thunder that would blast over and leave—the coming of a tropical sundown, an evening of barbecues, of warm pools, beer splattering on concrete. The bed awaiting, a vest, a body glistening from perspiration and a sleep of pillows constantly changing sides, a mosquito in the ear. Sleepless nights that were all you knew. And then, one day I left it behind. I moved to a city, to grim faced pallid movements, and there I became with them a ghost on the sidewalks. Dimly, ambling along with my face down, watching my steps and hurrying towards my quotidian activities.

maple story mesos,

Winters I spent indoor in solace. My flat mates—the friends I had—worked day and night. They were accustomed to leaving the soul behind, the need for money was so official. I would spend nights in the strange house, with creaks of a wall I did not know, and sit by the phone that our landlord had locked, and think of conversations of the past, of my mother's voice ringing, of my best friend whom I would lose contact with, and I would write letters, letters I would never send, letters that clutched the truth—that only I knew. I would cry, tears staining the ink, a smudged idea of love. I was temping then, doing mindless data entry, tapping words into a computer, and moving on wondering what worth there was, and how to find it. My flat mates would come home just before midnight—Mark and Craig, my two best friends. I would smile inwardly and outwardly and make them tea, a sandwich, sit with them and live their lives, hear their stories, flourish in company. Sleep would be eschewed, I yearned for comfort, and company eased the etching of loneliness.

wow gold,

I drank a lot, I had a job and I met people, and I continued my ambling in a city that was not mine. Every Friday my work offered free drinks and I catapulted towards the bar, I sipped 8)ferociously at the wine, the beer, I got horrifically drunk and so the person that I was not, but so yearned to be would come out. She, loud, vivacious, articulate would spend the evening conversing with strangers, laughing and sometimes, flirting! I seemed to step out of myself and watch in amazement. After drinks, I would stumble to the Palladium to meet Mark and Craig—they both worked there as ushers. I would arrive as they were finishing work and we would sit in the bar and I would continue, I would drink.

world of warcraft power leveling,

One night we fell drunk into the house. I lit a cigarette; I sat down and my mind triggered off dull thuds of depression. I went to the bathroom and in a mode of translucent mania I took out a razor blade and in numb motions slowly cut at my wrist, tears streaming down my face, I stopped as soon as I started, my aim was wrong-it was in the name of attention, except I would tell nobody, the attention was all to myself. Quietly, I wrapped my stinging arm with toilet paper, walked to my room and put on a jersey so as to cover the threat, the childish self abuse. I lay and quickly wiped my tears as I heard the friendly footsteps of Mark and Craig. They stood and bantered and eventually I followed them downstairs, and listened to Bob Marley, and Redemption song, my favorite song—"Sold I to the merchant ships…"

world of warcraft gold,

And so, I stood on the tube, Dollis Hill to Marylebone and I stared at the scars on my wrist. The scars of stupidity that only I knew of, I was entranced, as though it were not me—it's never me. I swayed to the motion of the train, the city was corrupting me, my soul was slowly bitten, I wanted to yell out my mind, but it all seeped inwards, I was boring myself with my own pleas.

It got better, as it does get better, as you know no better and I sunk into my life, I slowly enjoyed its offerings, I adjusted to the climate, to the people and one day as I walked outside my new flat—not mine of course, but my temporary abode that I rented, as I took out the garbage on a autumn Saturday—in my pyjamas, with the TV and the glow of comfort, I looked at the grey, I sucked it in and I quite enjoyed it—it's romantic quality, it's gloom appealed to me, as it would eventually with my nature. I liked it. I went inside, and shivered—a content chill, I enjoyed the cold and the idea of being able to get warm and I lay on the couch with my toes under a cushion, an inane program keeping me entertained. It all grows on you.

world of warcraft power leveling,

I went home, eventually. I spent five months appreciating the beauty, the climate, the content natures surrounding me. I ate healthy food, I listened to a language I had forgotten about, I roamed on farms that were not mine, went to wine harvests, put on high factors to shield out the sun, spend days lamenting the heat. But, it was not time, I was unable to indulge as the city, London, was still with me, my love and loathing relationship was still continuing, I was still meant to be there, whether unhappy or not. I could not explain it, it's not the city I suppose, it's me-I need to be content. I left, I left what I love so much, no great epiphany, just not at that moment. One day home will come to me, or I will go to home and I await the knowledge in peace.


----------

