Impacts of Electric Power and Coal Industries on Water Resources
Water plays a vital role in most forms of electricity generation. A large percentage of the nation's electricity is generated by steam electric power plants. The steam electric process requires large volumes of water to cool and condense steam. Historically, many plants have withdrawn hundreds of millions of gallons of water a day for cooling and then discharged the heated water back to the same or a nearby water body from which the water was withdrawn. This process of once-through cooling presents potential environmental impacts through both the water intake side (impingement or entrainment of aquatic organisms by intake screens and structures) and the discharge side (thermal discharge impacts on aquatic life). In recent decades, as the available fresh waters become more limited, most new power plants have used cooling towers (closed-cycle cooling). Closed-cycle cooling withdraws considerably less surface water for use as tower makeup. Whatever is withdrawn is fully consumed and not returned to the water body. Closed-cycle cooling systems consume more internal power and generate less net power output than comparably sized plants using once-through cooling systems. EVS has evaluated many issues and technologies associated with water intakes and discharges from power plants. Argonne's Environmental Science Division (EVS) has worked closely with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over the past decade to provide the EPA with accurate information for its efforts in developing new national cooling water intake regulations. EVS's efforts have been directed toward improving the scientific basis for the regulations. The coal industry is a generator rather than a user of water. Through the coal mining process, groundwater and stormwater can enter the mine excavation area. Often this water becomes contaminated by contact with overburden soil and rocks and can create water quality problems if allowed to enter surface water bodies without adequate treatment. EVS has evaluated the use of accumulated water in abandoned mine pools as a potential source of cooling water at power plants.
Links to selected key EVS publications on electric power and coal industry water issues are listed below. In addition to preparing technical reports on these topics, EVS continues to provide extensive outreach through conference presentations and publications.
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