Water and Electricity

Water and Electricity

Did you know that when you turn on a light it uses water?  I never thought that conserving energy also conserves water, but it does! Water actually plays a huge role in electricity production.  

There are two main types of power plants in the United States: thermoelectric and hydroelectric.  Thermoelectric power plants heat water to produce steam for generating electricity.  Hydroelectric power plants use flowing water to turn turbines that generate electricity.   There are two components to water use in power plants. Water withdrawal removes water from a local water source; the withdrawn water may or may not get returned to its source. Water consumption is the use of water that is not returned to its source, usually due to evaporation loss.

Some cool things that use water for energy production include:

•      Drill/mine natural gas, coal, and oil
•      Refine oil, uranium, and natural gas
•      Remove pollutants from exhaust
•      Generate steam that turns turbines
•      Transport
•      Cooling
•      Emissions Control

Did you know?

•       In 2005, thermoelectric power plants withdrew 143,000 million gallons every day to produce electricity!  This amounts to 41% of all the water withdrawn for our use.
•       Between 3,000-6,000 gallons of water are used to power a 60-watt light bulb for 12 hours a day over a year               

Below is a list of fuel sources and the amount of liters of water required

Fuel Source	Efficiency (liters of water per 1000 kilowatt hours)*
Natural Gas	38
Tar sands	190-340
Oil Shale	260-640
Coal	530-2100
Hydrogen	1,850-3,100
Petroleum	15,500-31,200
Fuel ethanol	32,400-375,900
Biodiesel	190,900-969,000

*Information from the Virginia Resources Research Center

For more information go here or to find out the typical process of turning coal into electricity go here!

~Jackie Sherry
Water Conservation Graduate Assistant