AWWA JAW10121

Florida's environmental standards on fluid waste discharge from power plants, combined with restrictions on consumptive use of groundwater, require the Gainesville Regional Utilities to treat and reuse cooling water for the Deerhaven power generating station northwest of Gainesville, Florida. This paper describes the development of a method for treating and recirculating all cooling water so that zero waste discharge is achieved. Prior to the zero pollutant discharge requirement, makeup water for the cooling cycle at Deerhaven was raw water from wells tapping the Floridan Aquifer. Water used for the cooling loop was cycled approximately five times. Cooling water treatment studies at Deerhaven were conducted testing side-stream and front-end treatments. It was determined that front-end treatment, treating all of the makeup water, was the most effective method. Actual results for an expanded facility during the first year of operation indicate that cooling water can be recycled 50 times compared with the five cycles that were possible with the smaller plant prior to installation of the new treatment process. Includes tables, figures.