Understanding the Economic Implications of the Collection Phase of a Conventional Indian Sewerage System: A Life-Cycle Analysis

Copious literature pertaining to the environmental impacts of sewerage systems across the globe exist but a comprehensive cost analysis is lacking in Indian context. The present study aims at determining the life-cycle cost (LCC) of various primary unit components and their relative contribution to the collection phase of conventional Indian sewer system. The system boundaries for the LCC analysis consists of the pipelines, pumping stations, manholes, and transportation facilities in a typical collection phase, by making use of existing activity data and necessary cost data from secondary literature. The analysis has been carried out for a period of 30 years for such projects. The total cost for all the units have taken into consideration the overall capital cost as well as the operation and maintenance cost. It is found that the operation and maintenance (O&M) phase of the system contributes to approximately 83% of the overall cost of US37 million used in the total collection phase. It is noted that the improvement in efficiency of the pumps by 10% results in about 6% reduction in total costs.