Q&A
Potential cost and logistics of building a filtration plant for Catskill/Delaware water supply
2:05:04
·
3 min
Council Member Gennaro asks about the estimated cost and logistics of building a full filtration plant for the Catskill/Delaware water supply. Commissioner Aggarwala provides a detailed response, highlighting the enormous scale and cost of such a project.
- A potential filtration plant would need to handle peak hour demand, requiring roughly a 2 billion gallon per day capacity
- Cost estimates range from $20 billion to potentially $40 billion, making it possibly the most expensive factory in the United States
- A site near the Kensico Reservoir and UV plant has been identified for potential construction
- DEP is exploring alternative approaches, including managing peak demand and potentially locating smaller plants upstream
- The enormous cost and complexity of building a filtration plant underscores the importance of maintaining the Filtration Avoidance Determination (FAD)
Council Member Gennaro concludes by emphasizing the imperative of maintaining the FAD in perpetuity, given the astronomical costs and logistical challenges of building a filtration plant.
James F. Gennaro
2:05:04
Is there any estimate whatsoever as to how about I just ask the scary question?
2:05:11
It's just is there any estimate of how much fully loaded, you know, Kat Dell filter with all the with all the options and the power steering wheel and the Landau roof and everything you can imagine.
2:05:34
In a filtration plan, you know, how much that would cost, and how long would it take it to build, and do we and do we even have a site for it?
Rohit T Aggarwala
2:05:43
Well, so under the under the fence
James F. Gennaro
2:05:46
to be scary, so you should give a scary answer.
Rohit T Aggarwala
2:05:48
Yeah.
2:05:48
Well, it is pretty scary.
2:05:49
No question.
2:05:51
We do have a site for it.
2:05:52
Although one of the things we are doing as part of this work is exploring whether there are different approaches to a filtration system.
2:06:01
Kind of the the the kind of most straightforward way would be to build a filtration plant.
2:06:11
That would be sized to not the daily maximum draw of the city, but actually the peak hour.
2:06:18
So it would require roughly a 2,000,000,000 gallon per day equivalent.
2:06:23
If you take the Portland example and you scale it up, the Portland plant is a 135,000,000 gallons a day, and is a $2,000,000,000 plant.
2:06:33
We're looking at something between 20, maybe 40,000,000,000 could easily be the most expensive factory anywhere in the United States.
2:06:46
The site, as I said, was was is at the bottom of Kansko near the UV plant.
2:06:53
We could build it there.
2:06:55
However, again, as as I said, we are also thinking about different constructs do we even in a world in which we needed filtration, do we really need that 2,000,000,000 gallon capacity, or are there ways to manage the peak couple of hours in the morning so that we don't have to build that church for Easter Sunday, as they say?
2:07:13
Are there ways that we could think about locating plants further upstream, especially West of Hudson, which would be much more effective in terms of of construction costs and land prices?
2:07:25
All of those are things that are that we are thinking about as part of this going forward.
2:07:29
But, yeah, it's an expensive and scary idea.
James F. Gennaro
2:07:32
And the purpose of that question is to scare everybody into the imperative that we keep the fad going in perpetuity.
2:07:43
And for those in the audience who don't know what a Landau roof is on a car, I just I you know, you have to look it up, you know, but there was a thing once upon a time I make notes on words that had never been used in the committee before, and this is the first time the words Landau Roof have been used in this committee.
2:08:06
And so that is in the record now.
2:08:09
And so but not to close off on a silly note.
2:08:13
This is a very, you know, serious endeavor that I indicated you have my full cooperation, and by also have my full confidence that we'll be able to do this.
2:08:27
And that is the, you know, collective us.
2:08:30
It's it's it's it's you folks.
2:08:32
It's it's it's the council.
2:08:34
It's the environmental community.
2:08:37
And if you need anybody to push DC around, let me know.
2:08:40
Okay?
2:08:41
And so with that said, I I thank this panel for its excellent testimony.
