Engineering Economy 7th Edition by Leland Blank ,Anthony Tarquin

Exercise 13

Arsenic enters drinking water supplies from natural deposits in the earth or from agricultural and industrial practices. Since it has been linked to cancer of the bladder, kidney, and other internal organs, the EPA has lowered the arsenic standard for drinking water from 0.050 parts per million to 0.010 parts per million (10 parts per billion). The annual cost to public water utilities to meet the new standard is estimated to be $200 per household. If it is estimated that there are 90 million households in the United States and that the lower standard can save 50 lives per year valued at $4,000,000 per life, what is the benefit/cost ratio of the regulation