This comprehensive infrastructure delivery model is breaking down barriers to the wastewater solutions our customers need
Wastewater treatment is an essential service of public utilities and water systems, and a vital aspect of many industries. Providing adequate service plays a role in preserving ecosystems, enhancing water sustainability through reuse, and in the case of industry, preserving the support of surrounding communities.
While today’s wastewater treatment technologies have improved dramatically as far as efficiency is concerned, the upfront cost and technical demands of operating and maintaining plants, and complying with regulations have all increased, creating a need for innovative financing and comprehensive long-term support.
Wastewater-as-a-Service (WaaS®) has stepped in to address the need and is revolutionizing how industry and utilities manage wastewater. Some advantages of WaaS® infrastructure delivery are:
- Operation and Maintenance: Operational and maintenance responsibilities are handled by the service provider.
- Monitoring and Compliance: The provider maintains compliance with environmental regulations and standards.
- Sustainability: There is more process water quality control and improved effluent for environmental release. With water recycling, withdrawal of freshwater resources is reduced due to the reuse of effluent.
- Financial Advantages: Little or no upfront investment, and budgeting is predictable
- Operational Efficiency: Experienced service providers use advanced technologies for maximum efficiency.
- Flexibility and Scalability: WaaS® agreements are adaptable to changing needs and scales.
WaaS® provides financing and delivers wastewater treatment assets, keeping comprehensive operations, maintenance, and compliance services with the plant for the long haul. In detail, how does WaaS® work?
Lower Costs and Optimized Capital
Wastewater-as-a-Service finances wastewater treatment assets with innovative structures that optimize capital investment or eliminate it entirely. Such contracts include the popular build-own-operate (BOO) and build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) delivery models. Under these contracts, the customer typically pays a manageable upfront cost or no cost at all and pays for water services as needed over the long term. WaaS® can also provide wastewater assets to municipalities and government organizations through public-private partnerships (P3s).
Water companies are generally more able to manage risk in infrastructure delivery than customers, so the burden of securing financing falls to the water company and is sometimes handled in-house. The water company also assumes all responsibility for plant operations, maintenance, and compliance, so ideally the only task left for industry or water agencies is to pay predictable, budgeted bills for treatment services. Essentially, WaaS® is like having a dedicated water utility.
WaaS® allows decision-makers to concentrate on their core operations without being sidetracked by the technical demands of plant O&M and compliance in an unpredictable regulatory landscape.
Today’s WaaS® contracts are typically performance-based and have lengthy terms, so wastewater treatment services remain in the hands of specialists over decades at agreed prices, volumes, and quality. Customers generally have a decade or more before they must revisit wastewater treatment and either take possession of the asset under the BOOT structure, extend the agreement, or renew or let BOO contracts expire.
Wastewater-as-a-Service Aligns Interests
BOO, BOOT, and public-private partnerships have a significant advantage in that they typically align the interests of wastewater treatment infrastructure companies and their customers better than traditional structures.
Water companies that provide WaaS® are incentivized to perform well because their business models rely on ongoing revenue and because they hope the customer will want to extend contracts when terms expire. If quality and volume targets are not met, it affects the payments they will receive, and if the customer is unsatisfied and chooses not to renew agreements, revenue streams will be lost.
Because the water company will be operating and maintaining infrastructure over long contract terms, it makes sense for them to design and build high-quality infrastructure that will not cause maintenance headaches down the line. In this way, WaaS® stands above traditional agreements that allow the provider to simply walk away.
Challenges and Considerations
While WaaS® is a significant mode of infrastructure delivery, not all BOO, BOOT, and P3 agreements are created equal, and not all providers are the same. Considerations for choosing a worthwhile WaaS® provider include a track record that inspires confidence, the availability of up-to-date technology, and attentive customer service:
- How good is the company’s plant availability (uptime-to-downtime ratio)?
- Do its customers tend to renew WaaS® agreements when contract terms expire?
- Does the company use technology that is capable of meeting or exceeding the regulatory standards in the region?
Seven Seas Water Group is a pioneer in WaaS®, as well as Water-as-a-Service® and it is a large part of the company’s business model. We maintain an industry-leading 97% plant availability when competitors typically average 80-85%. Our technologies include conventional activated sludge and modern membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology, which is capable of meeting virtually any existing quality standard. We also offer a full complement of pretreatment, polishing, and disinfection technologies.
Perhaps the best reason to make Seven Seas your first call is our list of satisfied customers, who for decades have continued to renew their WaaS® agreements with us. Contact Seven Seas to explore how WaaS® can slash CAPEX, OPEX, and worries, now and in the future.