The Hidden Costs of Maintaining Old Equipment
Matt Layden
Illinois State Water Survey,
Institute of Natural Resource and Sustainability,
Champaign, IL USA
The true cost of maintaining equipment in a monitoring network can be difficult to quantify. Many costs are hidden. The Aerochem collector and Belfort raingage have served the NADP network well throughout its 30-year history, but have become increasingly expensive to maintain due to their age. Costs associated with equipment repairs were estimated using information from the NADP’s Supplies and Parts (SAP) database, shipping records, and by estimating the labor required to repair and ship components. These costs can be quantified at the CAL and the NED. Other costs are more difficult to quantify as they are realized at the individual sites. These costs include: operator labor to troubleshoot and diagnose a problem, travel to and from the site, and shipping from the site. Results from this study are presented in this poster with recommendations for ways to save the NADP and individual sites money.