Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 7
Applications of Life-Cycle Cost Analysis
in Water and Wastewater Projects:
Lessons from European Experience
Georg Schiller and Stefan Dirlich
1 Introduction
Investment decisions in water management are based on long-term considerations,
as water systems are long-lasting network structures that determine the kind of
water supply and wastewater treatment for a given location and time frame.
Associated with the long service life of water infrastructures is the relative
importance of operational and maintenance costs in comparison with the cost of the
initial start-up investment. The concept of life-cycle costing (LCC) is as an ade-
quate concept to consider these speci
c characteristics in water and wastewater
management. The question is whether this works in practice. In this chapter, the
water and wastewater sector in Germany, particularly, and Europe is analysed with
respect to the practical implementation of the LCC approach in water and waste-
water management. Current and future challenges for the water management sector
in Germany and Europe are presented as well as the basic concept of LCC. An
overview of applications of LCC in different
fields of water management is given,
which also considers similar approaches being applied in the sector, but not under
the umbrella of LCC. Finally, conclusions are drawn based on the analysed aspects.
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