Water And Sewer Master Planning

While the decade from 1972 – 1982 saw almost every community in the US initiate new water and sewer infrastructure planning and construction programs it was recognized that once those systems were installed it would be at least a twenty year wait before one of three things would happen and there would again be another boom in infrastructure planning, design and construction. As it is often said, “no one ever buys two treatment plants” so for a community to seek planning and design services either first the existing plant and system capacity had to be reached and additional capacity needed, or second the existing systems became worn out and in need of replacement or upgrade to a more efficient technology or third the regulatory agencies would impose more stringent water quality requirements which would require the installation of advanced treatment systems.

Over the course of the past thirty five years WWM and its principal Mr. Rigby have seen the consequences of the early planning and design processes, have watched systems grow and have observed the impacts of time, the advancements in technology and the impacts of the imposition of stringent regulatory requirements. Throughout the period when the infrastructure systems matured the local politics and the philosophies of special interest groups clearly had greater impacts on the sustainability of the master water and sewer programs than any technical issue or regulatory requirement. Simply, the local politics determined the land uses which in turn dictated the population density and the rate at which demand for water and sewer service could occur. Complicating the matters is the fact most local governing bodies have elections at least every two years and most elected officials see the offering or withholding of water and sewer service as their most effective means of controlling growth in their community.