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RESTORING THE WILLAMETTE RIVER: COSTS AND IMPACTS OF WATER QUALITY CONTROL
Citation:
Huff, E., P. Klingeman, H. Stoevener, AND H. Horton. RESTORING THE WILLAMETTE RIVER: COSTS AND IMPACTS OF WATER QUALITY CONTROL. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/5-76/005 (NTIS PB259907), 1976.
Description:
The means by which the water quality of the Willamette River has been upgraded over the past four decades are documented. Two strategies --point-source wastewater treatment and flow augmentation from a network of federal reservoirs--have been responsible for this improvement in water quality. The series of tactics employed in gradually reducing point-source waste discharges are documented. Coincident water quality benefits which have resulted from flow augmentation for other purposes are also discussed. The economic and energetic costs of constructing, operating, and maintaining the facilities which have significantly contributed to the improvement of water quality in the Willamette River and its tributaries over the last half century are examined. Data are presented regarding the construction and operation of municipal collection and treatment systems, industrial water pollution abatement facilities, and reservoirs. Input-output economics and a methodology for converting dollar costs to direct and total energy requirements are used to deal with construction and operational costs. Operation and maintenance expenditures are also dealt with on the basis of direct at-site requirements. Energy needs for operating water quality control facilities are about one-tenth of one percent of total basin energy utilization.