AWWA ACE68601

Water utilities are in the early stages of a 40 year period (referred to as the Dawn of the Replacement Era) of steadily rising capital costs. The implications of these rising capital needs and some disturbing recent cost trends (rising raw materials costs, supply-demand conditions, shortages of skilled construction workers) could result in annual rate increases in excess of 3 times the rate of inflation. This paper describes an Awwa Research Foundation study called "Improving Water Utility Capital Efficiency" whose product will be an interactive CD that will walk a utility through the process of becoming Capital Efficient. The accompanying powerpoint presentation includes screen shots of some of the spreadsheets in the model. Includes figures.