CAN COST BE CUT?Joint Discussion

THE ways waterworks to provide industry first-class must service seek ways to provide first-class service at the least possible expense. Elected representatives, the press, and the general public have reached the unanimous opinion that pollution must be stopped ; they may soon focus their attention on the treatment (or lack of it) of public water supply. The pollution control field was not equipped with new processes to handle the onslaught of activity, and most of the funds are presently being spent in construction of plants employing conventional methods. The basic process in these methods has been used for 20-30 yr. There is some hope that the recent developments, such as chemical-physical and pure oxygen processes, will lead to more economical treatment. However, it is unlikely that these recent developments will be applied on a large scale for at least five years; perhaps too late for the $10 billion federal program. Will the water supply industry be in any better shape than the water pollution field to meet a similar challenge? The purpose of this paper is to concentrate on reducing the costs of the works that will have to be provided. Quality standards should increase and costs should not be reduced by lowering the quality of the product and service. There are many areas of planning and design, however, which deserve examination to determine whether cost