The big towers many people associate with nuclear plants are for cooling water used to make steam. Other kinds of plants have these towers, too. Inside, water sprays out in a fine mist, where it is cooled by air. Most water is then recycled into the plant. The puffs you see coming out of a cooling tower are just water vapor.

Electricity generation requires large amounts of water to produce steam, remove heat, or power hydroelectric turbines. (Hydropower makes up about 5 percent of Southern Company generation.) Some of the water naturally evaporates—what you see rising out of the large cooling towers at steam power plants is water vapor. Some of the water at power plants is cooled and reused. Most is returned back to its source.

Environmental concerns regarding water principally relate to the quantity of water withdrawn and consumed from rivers and lakes, the quality of the water returned to the source, and any effects on aquatic life. Southern Company plants withdraw, on average, more than 6 billion gallons of water per day; about 94 percent of that water is returned to the river or lake. Performance »

Intakes

In anticipation of new EPA standards for cooling water intake structures, Southern Company is researching and evaluating technologies—including light and sound devices, barrier nets, fish return systems, and fine mesh screens—to reduce the impact of power plant intakes on aquatic life. Solutions will vary from site to site to coincide with water body types, differences in fish and other biological factors, as well as the design and capacity of the intake structures. Through this research, Southern Company will be positioned to comply with new requirements—once EPA finalizes them—ensuring cost-effective and appropriate technology to minimize intake impacts.

Water testing is a regular activity in the lakes at our hydroelectric plants.

Discharges

The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System controls water quality by regulating point source discharges into U.S. waterways. Southern Company power plants have water discharge permits for pH, suspended solids, oil and grease, chlorine, temperature, iron, and other parameters. Typical permitted discharges include cooling water, ash ponds, coal pile runoff ponds, metal cleaning waste ponds, sump overflows, and oil/water separators. These points are monitored or sampled periodically in accordance with permit requirements.