16 numbers that show how much Vermonters pay for wastewater—and what happens to it
A round-up of the scale — and cost — of Vermont's wastewater challenges:
1.6 (gallons) — Water in a single toilet flush, as per a federal standard set in 1994.
3 (percent) — Share of phosphorus pollution in Lake Champlain that comes from wastewater treatment plants (the rest comes from urban, rural and suburban runoff).
59 — Wastewater treatment plants that discharge directly or indirectly into the Lake Champlain.
95 (percent) — Approximate portion of a storm-sewer overflow at the Rutland treatment plant that is rainwater.
100 (miles) — Approximate length of storm/sewer pipes beneath Rutland and Burlington.
101 — Stormwater pipes in Burlington that flow, untreated, into Lake Champlain.
2,600 (feet) — Offshore distance at which Burlington’s treated wastewater is released into Lake Champlain).
1,800,000 (dollars) — Lost property tax revenues in St. Albans due to declining water quality in 2015, according to the Lake Champlain Basin Program.
5,200,000 (gallons) — Capacity of Burlington’s main wastewater treatment plant, per day.
8,000,000 (gallons) — Capacity of St. Albans Wastewater Treatment Plant, per day.
17,000,000 (dollars) — Projected losses to tourism, property values and jobs around Lake Champlain for every meter in depth of murky water in July and August, according to the Gund Institute at UVM.
22, 500,000 (gallons) — Capacity of Rutland Wastewater Treatment Plant, per day.
30,000,000 (dollars) — Amount Burlington voters approved for wastewater and stormwater upgrades in a November 2018 ballot item.
120,000,000 (dollars) — Approximate annual cost, sustained for decades, needed to improve water quality in Lake Champlain, according to Vermont regulators)
300,000,000 (dollars) — Approximate value generated annually by Vermont tourists in and along Lake Champlain (2015 Lake Champlain Basin study).
271,000,000,000 (dollars) — Needed over the next 25 years to maintain and upgrade the nation’s water and wastewater treatment plants, according to an Aug. 7 news release from Vermont’s congressional delegation.
Contact Joel Banner Baird at 802-660-1843 or email@example.com. Follow him on Twitter @VTgoingUp