CAPITAL COST AND OPERATING AND MAINTENANCE COST COMPARISON:
Report to Congress
by the Comptroller General
of the United States
Activated Sludge
Sewage Treatment Plants
vs.
RBC Sewage Treatment Plants
In May 1975, the Comptroller General presented to the U.S. Congress a report dealing with a program to reduce the costs of wastewater treatment plants that are funded by the government.
The report included a value analysis which compared the costs of
an activated sludge process with an rotating biological contactor (RBC) process
for a flow of 4.5 million GPD.
The conclusions were that the RBC
option would result in capital savings of 44.2%
plus annual operation,
maintenance and replacement savings of $43,600 per annum.
The report said:
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"The rotating biological contactor process utilizes oxygen from the air without the need for mechanical aeration mixing as required in the activated sludge process. If rotating biological contactors are utilized, a significant number of process components required in the activated sludge process can be eliminated. These include the aeration tanks, blowers, blower building, and large quantities of piping. In addition, power consumption would be reduced and overall operating costs considerably lowered."
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