ABSTRACT
Both economic and technical objectives are important factors when implementing membrane technology for wastewater treatment. The main factors which affect the product unit cost include the quantity and quality of the produced stream, the process design and operating conditions, energy, the wastewater disposal, the plant site, and finally a variety of economic aspects. This chapter provides a detailed review of all aspects of the cost information for Reverse Osmosis (RO) water and wastewater treatment and discusses the state of the art on RO economics for water desalination, with a particular emphasis on wastewater treatment. The prediction of construction costs for wastewater treatment facilities, which is essential for the economic assessment of various control regimes, is one of these uncertain factors. Several cases of water and wastewater treatment plants were tested with data available in the literature and showed several benefits of the Water Price Index developed.
