"Based upon my experience with this study (it should be stated that I am a graduate student, located at Cornell in Ithaca NY) I would not recommend that the construction of the settlement systems be out sourced. While some of the quoted prices are somewhat close to the cost of having the communities build the systems themselves, but by removing this process from the construction, we are taking money away that the community would obtain by being paid for the work done during construction. Also, after consulting with AguaClara engineer John Erickson, it was stated that the AguaClara designed systems although time consuming to build, are well made and have the potential to last a very long time.
If the decision is made that the systems will be outsourced, some things should be taken into consideration. The performance of the Brentwood system is lower but comparable to the AguaClara systems and the distance that the systems will have to travel as far as AguaClara will be concerned will be the smallest. If assistance or replacement parts are required in the future for the system purchased they could be obtained from Mexico or from the production facility with is located not far from Ithaca, NY in Pennsylvania. While they are double the price of the AguaClara system, the Meurer performance is by far the highest of the systems studied. It should be noted that $50,000 worth of aluminum would be very susceptible to theft."
-Scott Freyburger