4. Costs and Management

Start up costs

Investment costs of a water treatment plant are based on:

• Plant capacity
• Type of plant (type of technology)
• Equipment cost (local and imported)
• Design criteria and cost
• Land prices
• Material cost (local and imported)
• Labour cost
• Geographic location
• Transport
• Climatic conditions
• Level of competence and profit margins of building firms

A cost model produced by CINARA in the 1980s concluded that the start up costs for MSF were more economical than for conventional systems with a capacity of up to 6,000 cubic metres per day (70 litres per second).

Operation, maintenance and administration costs

Factors with an important effect on operation, maintenance and administration costs in a water treatment system include:

• Labour costs
• Costs of consumables (local and imported)
• Maintenance requirements
• Energy costs
• Water quality regulations
• Number of users

Practical experience with full-scale MSF plants under gravity flow conditions in the Valle region in Colombia suggest that labour costs make up approximately 85% of the running costs of this technology. The other 15% covers items such as electricity, wash water, and gardening. Cost figures may vary considerably depending on local conditions. It is expected that the development of formal small enterprises for small water and sanitation systems will reduce the time needed to administer systems, including time spent on conflict resolution.