From its experience operating other plants and facilities, a private company brings knowledge about the most efficient and effective way to manage and operate a wastewater treatment facility. With this knowledge, a private company can recommend improvements in the treatment process and suggest more efficient operations, such as new methods for treating wastewater or more effective techniques for laboratory analyses.
In addition, a private company brings knowledge of the most up-to-date technologies to the system's staff. This often results in cost savings to cities with privately operated plants. For example, when the city of Somersworth, N.H., decided to contract with a private company for its wastewater treatment plant operations, it identified several significant issues that needed to be addressed. The status of the safety program, along with a much-needed headworks upgrade, were growing concerns of both plant staff and city management. During contract negotiations, the private company agreed to manage these issues. The private company's creative solutions, experience running municipal facilities and its resources resulted in the city's saving hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Somerworth's main safety concern involved the use of chlorine gas as a disinfectant. Before the 25-year-old plant was privately operated, chlorine was stored in 2000-pound cylinders, and the related safety equipment long had been outdated. The private company looked into using bulk chlorine for disinfection and discovered that its use would require an EPA Risk Management Plan (RMP), which asks facilities to identify the measures needed for risk mitigation in the event of a chemical leak.
The private company determined that appropriate risk mitigation would require modifying the building for gas containment or purchasing equipment for scrubbing capabilities. A rough estimate for scrubbing equipment exceeded $100,000. Accompanied by the structural changes, this would have been a very expensive safety upgrade. Further RMP requirements proved too time-consuming and costly. Therefore, as a service to the client, the private company sought alternative measures to improve safety conditions at the facility.
Pursuing other disinfection methods appeared to be the most cost-effective way to correct safety conditions at the plant. Ultraviolet disinfection (UV) and sodium hypochlorite (hypo) are the most common disinfection alternatives found in the wastewater industry today. UV has proven very effective, but has a high capital cost. A hypo system has a low initial investment requirement, but can be costly to operate. After analyzing both options, the private company selected the hypo system alternative, which has saved the city almost $200,000 in capital costs. Polypropylene piping was selected for the hypo, while the company chose PVC for the diluted solution. Some electrical savings - realized by downsizing the injector and piping, and using a smaller water pump - offset the increased chemical costs, which resulted in no additional operating cost to the city.
The second concern the city had with the wastewater facility involved the plant's headworks, the area where wastewater enters the treatment plant. Before private operations began, a headworks project plan had been developed, and funds from the state of New Hampshire Grant Program has been appropriated to cover some of the project costs.
The headworks plan would have cost the city $110,000. The private company re-evaluated the headworks project plan and recommended a change and a broadening of the scope. Although the original plan called for installation of a single mechanical screen, the private company revised the plan to put in two in-line grinders. This provided the operation with redundancy, eliminated an offensive waste source and removed the potential for cold winters to cause damage. The private company's staff was able to install the equipment at no additional cost to the city. This resulted in capital costs being reduced by half, saving the city $55,000.
Beyond the safety and technical improvements, the private company made at the wastewater plant, it has managed to save the city almost $100,000 per year on its operating budget by charging Somersworth $100,000 less than the city budgeted three years ago.
Cost savings such as these become a critical factor for cities trying to decide whether or not to privatize. Typically, a private firm can save its clients from 15 percent to 25 percent in plant operations and maintenance costs. A city then can use the savings to reduce rates, rehabilitate aging facilities, invest in other parts of the system or help finance important programs.