Power Station Using Reclaimed Water from Public Waste Water Treatment Plant

Summary

In the region where Guayama is located water resources have been a concerns since the mid-20th century. The surface water system suffers from inefficient infrastructure and poor water quality and the groundwater has been contaminated by industrial discharges and overdrawn by agriculture and industry, resulting in saltwater encroachment in to the coastal aquifer. As a result of these water limitations one of the site screening criteria for AES power station (built 2002) was the proximity to a reclaimed water source.

The Guayama wastewater treatment plant (WWPT) performs secondary treatment of approximately 19 ML a day of municipal sewage and prior to the AES Guayama exchange, the effluent was discharged to the Carribean sea. Now AES uses 15 ML a day for cooling water, which is emitted in the form of vapour from the cooling towers.

Industry

Industry Sector	Specific Industry
energy utility sector	power generation station
water utility sector	water supply and treatment company

Region

Guayama, Puerto Rico

Applied Technologies

None.

Triple Bottom Line Aspects (direct at operational level)

Economic	not known
Environment	avoided extraction and release of 15 ML of water a day
Social	greater availability of water for region

Additional Comments

None.

References

• Chertow, MR & Lombardi, DR (2005) "Quantifying Economic and Environmental Benefits of Co-Located Firms", Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 39, No. 17, pp. 6535-6541

Last Update

January 2007