Costly Wastewater Treatment Plants Fail To Perform As Expected
Abstract
Over $25 billion in Federal funds and several billion more in State and local moneys have been spent to construct new wastewater treatment plants or to significantly modify existing plants. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that through the year 2000 an additional $35.6 billion In Federal funds alone will be needed to construct additional treatment plants. GAO found that many of the plants, in operation for several years, have seldom or never met the performance standards they were designed to achieve. Failure of treatment plants to meet performance expectations may not only have an adverse impact on the Nations ability to meet its clean water goals, but may also represent the potential waste of tens of millions of dollars in Federal, State, and local moneys. Administrator, EPA, test various alternatives to improve the construction grants funding program and to identify: treatment plants experiencing serious operational problems; the extent of repairs required for these plants; who will pay for the repairs.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 14, 1980
- Accession Number
- AD1121600
Entities
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office