Waste Water Management in Super Thermal Power Stations of NTPC

Abstract

Water is the priceless endowment of nature which sustain life for billions of species on mother earth. We must make all efforts to preserve the precious gift of earth for sustainable existence in future. Main sources of natural fresh water supply are rivers, lakes, springs, ground water, rain water wells which are depleting rapidly with the increased pace of industrialization and due to the increasing pressure of burgeoning population on earth. While various water conservation Technologies in industries and particularly in Power Plants have been or are being employed to strive towards attainment of least amount of consumption of fresh water from earth surface, these measures alone are not enough, leaving the scope for something radical and novel practice or business model in entire water management chain for humans and industries including Power industries. Treated and recycled sewage water employing appropriate advanced processes for treatment of various types of waste water e.g. domestic sewage as well as industrial effluents, are also being growingly used now-a-days for various domestic & industrial applications, thereby reducing the pressure on fresh water. The present paper is intended for reading and practicing by modern power plant engineers towards attaining the goal of utmost water economy in Power Plants by adopting the sustainable practice of using recycled and treated municipal/urban sewage water which is otherwise disposed-off as waste water (treated or untreated) eventually finding its way to the river and natural water bodies on earth surface—thus contaminating continuously the pristine sources of water on one hand and indirectly helping the unabated escape of precious water to atmosphere through Cooling Tower and adsorption in solid ash after burning of coal in furnace. The water vapours will probably in course of time escape from earth surface rendering this wonderful compound a rare and scarce thing on earth.