You may have a point Ed. 12 million + for a new plant may sound like a lot until one looks at the millions that are being proposed to cobble together and repair the current system. The estimate below is just one of many found for this discussion. 

The cost of a water treatment plant depends on its capacity. Generally, it costs $12 million for each million gallons per day (MGD) of average flow. Alternatively, you can base estimates on flows during peak hours at a rate of around $5 million per MGD.