to wastewater and reuse projects. Another key part of the spend will be related to Ocean Outfall Legislation that requires the elimination of treated sewage disposal through ocean outfalls by 2025. Compliance will cost the county US$3.3 billion between 2015 and 2025.
Additionally, in June 2013, Florida passed legislation HB-85 that expands the range of valid public-private partnership (P3) models in the state. The law allows companies to submit unsolicited proposals to local governments and agencies. Later that year in November 2013, Miami-Dade requested expressions of interest (EOI) for P3 structures for its planned water and wastewater capital improvement projects and received responses from 32 companies with a mix of proposed contract structures including DBFOM, DBOM, and DBO. At the start of 2015, Miami-Dade awarded management contracts,
with a combined capacity of 1.4 million m3/d, for its OOL compliance program and upgrades of existing wastewater treatment plants to
CDM Smith and MWH, respectively.
Competition in Florida’s water market will be fierce and the diversity of players vying for a stake in Miami-Dade is a bellwether for what can be expected in the rest of the country. A segmentation of global and domestic firms — EPCs, IOUs, renewable developers, and infrastructure investors — indicates a wide range of companies with US water sector ambitions. While other state regulations and opportunities shake-out, Florida represents a critical opportunity for new and established companies to penetrate the U.S. market.
Reese Tisdale is president of Bluefield Research, an independent insight and advisory firm providing research and analysis of water strategies and market trends to companies addressing global water markets. This article draws from Bluefield’s global water market analysis that is available to clients through the Advanced Water Treatment & Desalination and Private Water Insight Services.