Operating Costs

Operational costs include costs for operations personnel, materials, fuel, chemicals and energy consumption, etc. For some short lived or dynamic assets, recurrent expenditure for the operations of assets represents the major proportion of the total life cycle costs of these assets. Although operating costs are fairly easy to estimate, either from past experience or from manufacturer’s cost database, it is important to recognize that in some cases system optimization can help to reduce the overall operating expenditure, eg. pumping during off-peak hours or optimizing the logistics of operations. The operation costs can be greatly affected by other factors such as age and condition of the assets, external environment, or maintenance related issues that affect the efficiency of the system. Significant savings can also be made through efficiencies in operations.