Economic Assessment of Centralized and Decentralized Sewerage Network Systems: A Case Study of Ludhiana, India
Publication: Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 149, Issue 3
Abstract
Most of the Indian cities that follow a centralized model of sewerage systems are facing several challenges in its effective implementation and operation. Decentralized systems are identified as a viable alternative to centralized sewerage systems in various studies, mainly because of their water recycling prospects and building resilience. However, there is a lack of studies that compare centralized and decentralized sewerage networks considering real-life data. To bridge this gap, the present study considers Ludhiana, India, for conducting a detailed economic comparison based on the network’s capital costs for both systems. The decentralized systems show almost similar capital costs as the centralized system in this study. Hence, both systems can be adopted based on capital cost. However, the study shows that decentralized systems offer more water recycling opportunities, making them preferable to centralized systems. The study also emphasizes that the choice of sewerage systems should be context-specific to fetch maximum economic and environmental benefits.
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Acknowledgments
The authors thank the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation for providing data, maps, and documents related to the existing sewer network. The authors received partial funding for this work from the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, through the project “Fast Forward to SDG6: Acceptable and Affordable Water in Secondary Indian Cities (4WARD)” Project Number DST/TM/EWO/WTI/2K19/UWS-03(C4). The authors also thank the editor and the two anonymous reviewers whose comments have substantially helped improve the quality of the manuscript.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 149 • Issue 3 • September 2023
Copyright
© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 8, 2022
Accepted: Jan 23, 2023
Published online: Apr 18, 2023
Published in print: Sep 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Sep 18, 2023
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Asset management
- Benefit cost ratios
- Business management
- Case studies
- Comparative studies
- Developing countries
- Economic factors
- Ecosystems
- Engineering fundamentals
- Environmental engineering
- Financial management
- Infrastructure
- Lifeline systems
- Methodology (by type)
- Practice and Profession
- Research methods (by type)
- Sewers
- Water reclamation
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