Economic and Environmental Implications of Phosphorus Control at North Bosque River Wastewater Treatment Plants Keith Keplinger, Alex Tanter, and James Houser TR0312 July 2003 Economic and Environmental Implications of Phosphorus Controls Acknowledgments The authors wish to thank a number of individuals for making this research possible. Data on wastewater treatment plant parameters and sewer use and rates for the City of Stephenville were made available by Danny Johnson and Mark Kaiser, City of Stephenville, and Johnie Davis, OMI, Inc. Information on sewer use and rates for other communities located along the North Bosque River was supplied by various municipal personnel from those communities. Larry Beran, TIAER, initiated the project while Ron Jones, TIAER, was instrumental in securing a working relationship with the City of Stephenville. Edward Osei, TIAER, assisted with calculus solutions, while Larry Hauck, TIAER, provided overall direction and review of this report. The research upon which this report is based was financed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Policy Development, cooperating agreement number CR 826807-01-1. For more information about this document or any other TIAER document, e-mail
[email protected]. Authors Keith Keplinger, research economist, TIAER,
[email protected] Alex Tanter, research associate, TIAER,
[email protected] James Houser, research scientist, TIAER,
[email protected] EI7.01.02 ii Economic and Environmental Implications of Phosphorus Controls Abstract Phosphorus (P) control at wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in the United States has been practiced since at least the 1970s, when effluent limits were placed on WWTPs in the Great Lakes region and in Vermont in order to reverse eutrophication of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain, respectively.