The Impacts of Climate Change on Water Intake Systems

The Impacts of Climate Change on Water Intake Systems

“Any large industrial water user that draws from a natural source, whether it be the ocean, a lake, or a river, has to be able to manage the environmental risk,” Hogan said. “How do we perceive any change in terms of environmental risk? And we see that when you focus on ten, twenty years down the road, things change over the long term. If you designed an intake only to manage one piece of debris or one specific species, that might not be the same species that are challenging you in years to come.” Hogan noted the increase of water blockage events is a growing trend, which poses risks to any industry utilizing water intake systems for large-scale uses. Due to climate change or other practices, environmental changes can introduce harmful elements in water intake facilities, such as invasive algae. “Years ago, when the Zebra Mussels invaded the great lakes, they caused a lot of problems, but one of the things they did because they’re Mussels, they cleaned the water up,” Wall said. “All of the sudden, the lakes were clear and beautiful, and then the sun shone down the water, and the algae grew because the water was now clear. The algae bloomed and inundated the power plant.” And this example is one of growing concern as rising water temperatures become a breeding ground for similar events.

The Gator Rake Bar Screen - The Industry Choice to Handle Extreme Weather and Heavy Loads

With the unpredictability and increasing frequency of extreme weather events, the raw water industry is looking for a better solution than what was previously provided to clear waterways. The grim reality is these events put a strain on and exceed the design capacity of the treatment facilities. This means in urban environments, stormwater pollution, flooding, and sewer overflows will occur. For rural environments, it creates source runoff, which damages water quality and harms wildlife. Atlas SSI’s designed the GATOR RAKE as a solution that’s more automated and can handle heavy loads. Brown explained, “We engineered our equipment to carry a much heavier load and start under a heavier burden than what was typically found in the industry.” “We really felt there was a void in the marketplace for this heavy-duty design and feel like it will fulfill the need that’s requested by our customers,” Woodworth added. What makes GATOR RAKE stand out from the rest? There are quite a few differentiators: * Heavy-duty equipment to handle severe weather and large debris * High horsepower motors * Easily replaceable parts * Remote machine operation * Customizable automation capabilities, like a conveyer to dispose of the debris * Inspection and maintenance schedule to increase longevity Regarding why they coined the word ‘gator’ for the rake, Woodworth said of alligators, “It’s very tough, adaptive and resilient. We like to think our rake will act in the same way and handle anything thrown at it.” Whether a new construction build or existing sites, Atlas-SSI custom manufactures its GATOR RAKE to fit the customer’s needs.

Picking a Fish-Friendly Water Screen that Will Last with Dan Giza and Ford Wall

Facilities looking to comply with the EPA’s Clean Water Act, especially those who need to comply with Section 316(b), may be in for a bit of a journey. Since each facility is different, installation of fish-friendly modified traveling water screens must be followed by an investigation period of two years, which can be extended if things aren’t working well. But it’s not only about passing the test, said Dan Giza, Senior Environmental Scientist at ASA Analysis and Communication. It’s also about making sure things are operating well into the future. “The long-term things to think about, as well, that most facilities will do when they’re buying a new component for their plant, is these screens are a little different than traditional. Traditional screens may have only operated once a shift or a couple times a shift,” Giza [https://marketscale.com/industries/contributors/dan-giza/] said. “The new requirements for fish-friendly screens are that they operate and rotate continuously or near continuously, so you need to be thinking about the components like wear-and-tear, maintenance and things of that nature.” While many are focused simply on getting past the testing phase or understanding the biological aspects of the regulations, Atlas-SSI [https://www.atlas-ssi.com/] Vice President of Sales Ford Wall [https://marketscale.com/industries/contributors/ford-wall/] said you have to take the mechanical aspect into account. “The ruling actually doesn’t address mechanical optimization other than to say if a screen’s not running, it’s not optimized, and you’re not compliant if the screen is not running,” Wall said. “You need to take the mechanical side of this very seriously, because the screens are now running 24/7, seven days a week, and they’ve increased their run time by 75-80% at some plants now.” Fortunately, Atlas-SSI’s modified traveling water screens are built not only to be compliant with the current regulations, but also to last over the long haul.

How Atlas-SSI Helped Con Edison Find an Ideal 316(b) Solution with Gary Thorn and Rodney Brown

Passing a regulation is one thing. Complying with it is another. Con Edison had a big-time project on its hands when New York passed regulations that later were matched by the Aquatic Habitat Protection in Section 316(b) of the federal Clean Water Act. So, the company turned to Atlas-SSI [http://atlas-ssi.com/] for screens that would keep fish – and future fish – safer from harm while the plants continued operating. There was just one problem. They’d have to pull it off with a facility located on the other side of the river from the intake system and do it across an enormous expanse. “Because of 316b and having to flume the fish and larvae back out to the river safely, you needed a lot of additional spray wash water,” said Rodney Brown [https://marketscale.com/industries/contributors/rodney-brown/], Regional Sales Manager for Atlas-SSI [https://www.atlas-ssi.com/]. “So, there had to be bigger pumps, a new piping system and some new relief valves and, of course, a whole new set of controls was required to be able to operate it remotely out there.” The new system required from 10-12 times as much water to pump everything effectively, said Gary Thorn [https://marketscale.com/industries/contributors/gary-thorn/], the Manager of Steam Plant Projects [https://marketscale.com/industries/contributors/gary-thorn/] at Con Edison. He was confident Atlas-SSI could do the job after a site visit – one that went much better than another he experienced when he was putting together the bid list. “They gave us a GPS coordinate of their facility and we ended up in a junkyard. I always tell people I would’ve been better off if I’d stayed in the junkyard than what I eventually saw when I got to their facility,” he said. “Those site visits to see the vendor and see their capabilities were really important for us to get that gut feel that we had somebody we could work with that had the capability to accomplish something we needed to accomplish.” That’s exactly what Atlas-SSI’s screens did, even coping with some difficult scenarios during and immediately after Hurricane Sandy.

The Ins and Outs of Intakes and 316(b) Compliance

The discussion begins with Ford providing a detailed explanation of section 316(b) and its history. He mentions that the ruling originated in the 1970s due to concerns about the environmental impact of large utilities withdrawing significant amounts of water. The law officially became effective in 2014, prompting utilities and suppliers to develop the best technology for their facilities.