Friday, August 3,
2001
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Williams plant will use 6.5 million gallons of water daily By JOHN
THOMPSON
On an average day in Fayette County, more than nine million gallons of water is pumped to residences and businesses to satisfy the busy county's water needs. But just across the line in Fulton County, Williams Company is proposing to build a power plant that could use two-thirds of that amount of water on a daily basis. Early estimates, according to Brian Rubenstein at Duffey Communications, are that Williams will use nearly 6.5 million gallons of water a day to keep the power plant running. Rubenstein said the company has commissioned modeling studies to get a more accurate number for water use. With many counties still reeling from drought restrictions, many residents are wondering where the company is going to find that much water to operate the plant. Rubenstein said the company is planning to use treated wastewater from Fulton County's Camp Creek treatment facility for the majority of its water needs. Rubenstein said the county will need probably 200,000 gallons a day from other water sources, but the rest will be wastewater. The treated wastewater will be pumped into the plant to help cool the massive turbine engines. Much of the water that is lost in evaporation will be funneled back into the system, so the company will only have to discharge a small amount back into Fulton County's water system. "Any water that is discharged, though, will still have to meet [state Environmental Protection Division] requirements to be placed back into streams," he said. Rubenstein said the company will release more information on the water use after all its modeling and studies are completed.
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