New Jersey Currents|Online, Summer 2009 - Update

By Jenny Vickers, Communications Coordinator

Protecting water quality and quantity is one of the most important issues of our time. Currently, 1 billion people in the world (18 percent of the population) lack access to safe drinking water. By 2025, it is estimated that about two thirds of the world's population-about 5.5 billion people-will live in areas facing moderate to severe water stress.

In New Jersey, unless we act now, we are on a path to run out of clean drinking water in 20-40 years (according to Joseph Maraziti, a former chairman of the New Jersey State Planning Commission). This is due in part to overdevelopment and sprawl, rapid loss of open space, an over-abundance of toxic waste sites, aging infrastructure, salt water intrusion, and contaminated groundwater supplies.

While climate change policy has predominantly focused on energy and reducing carbon emissions, we believe that we also must consider the impact on water. Energy and water are our two most precious commodities and they are intricately connected-one cannot be discussed without the other. Without water, people die. And without water, we cannot produce energy. Without energy, we cannot grow food, run computers, or power homes, schools or offices. And as the world's population grows in number and affluence, the demands for both water and energy are increasing faster than ever.

Thermal power plants-those that consume coal, oil, natural gas or uranium-are major water hogs, consuming more water than agricultural use in the U.S.. This type of power generation accounts for almost half of the water used in the U.S. while domestic uses, like drinking and sanitation, account for less than 1%.

Although a considerable portion of the water used at thermal power plants is eventually returned to the source (some evaporates), when it is emitted it is at a different temperature and has a different biological content than the source, which is a threat to the ecosystem. Whether this effluent should be processed is contentious; the Supreme Court is hearing a consolidation of these cases about the Environmental Protection Agency's requirements that power plants retrofit their systems to minimize impact on local water supplies and aquatic life.

Because the energy industry is so dependent on massive amounts of water for power generation, securing large amounts of water today and into the future will continue to be a difficult issue. Climate change is only exacerbating the problem. According to a new June 2009 U.S. Global Change Research Program report, "climate change has already altered, and will continue to alter, the water cycle, affecting where, when, and how much water is available for all uses."

This issue is already having an impact in parts of the U.S. In 2008, various rivers in Georgia dropped so low that the drought-stricken state was within a few weeks of shutting down its own nuclear plants. In January 2008, Lake Norman near Charlotte, NC, dropped to 93.7 feet, less than a foot above the minimum allowed level for Duke Energy's McGuire Nuclear Station. These incidences should be a red flag to us here in New Jersey as nuclear power dominates our electricity market, typically supplying more than one-half of State generation.

Currently, the Oyster Creek Nuclear Power Plant in Lacey Township (the oldest operating plant in the country) is operating without cooling towers, technology required by all modern nuclear facilities. Every day the plant sucks 1.4 billion gallons of water out of Barnegat Bay, a national estuary and critical watershed. The superheated water is then discharged back into the bay, releasing harmful chemicals and destroying the ecosystem.

What Can We Do?

So what are the solutions to solving the water-energy crisis? For one, we cannot continue to build more power plants without realizing that they impinge on our freshwater supplies.

As we seek climate change solutions as laid out by the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES), we must consider how both energy and water limit the other, thereby seeking solutions (including innovative technologies) that address both. For example, carbon cap-and-trade systems have serious effects on water supplies, while renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, geothermal, tidal, and wave, have much less of an impact on water and air quality.

Water-intensive industries can use technology that will help reduce their consumption of water. For example, the agriculture industry can switch to drip irrigation which requires much less water. Power plants can significantly reduce water use by switching from water cooling to air cooling or at least hybrid air-water cooling.

Local municipalities can also play a role. By reusing municipal and industrial waste water (also known as gray water), communities can save supplies and reduce the energy consumed to transport them. Municipalities can even use reclaimed water for agriculture and for industry, including cooling off power plants.

New Jersey residents can also help reduce consumption through various sustainable practices that are affordable and easy to do. Working together, we can protect our water and energy sources, while also helping protect our wallets during these tough economic times.

Energy & Water Protection & Conservation Tips

Reduce Energy and Water Consumption

• Turn off those lights when leaving the house! You can also change out incandescent light bulbs with energy-saving compact fluorescent lamps (CFL's). CFL's, while more expensive up front, have a longer rated life and can save over $30 in electricity costs over the bulb's life compared to an incandescent bulb. Get more info.
• Install a solar water heater, which is affordable, reliable, and pays for itself. Learn more.
• Reuse gray water to maintain landscapes and reduce your water bills. You can purchase a gray water reuse system or do it for free by placing a bucket in the shower to capture water for the garden or to flush the toilet. You can also place a rain barrel outside to capture rain and use it in the yard. Find more info on gray water systems.

Support Sustainable Energy

• Residents can get their electricity through clean, renewable sources of energy. Make the switch through the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities CleanPower Choice Program™.

Go Back To The Tap

• Do not use bottled water, which is energy intensive, bad for the environment, and is no safer than tap water.
  
  The energy required to make and ship plastic water bottles is phenomenal. In the U.S. alone in 2006, demand for bottled water required more than 1.5 barrels of oil annually and created more than 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide. In 2006, the equivalent of 2 billion half-liter bottles of water were shipped to U.S. ports, creating thousands of tons of global warming pollution and other air pollution.
  
  While the bottles come from far away, most of them end up close to home-in a landfill. Only about 13 percent of the bottles we use get recycled. In 2005, 2 million tons of plastic water bottles ended up clogging landfills, instead of getting recycled.
• If you have concerns about your drinking water, use filters. Have your water tested (or view your water quality report) and buy filters according to what contaminants you are concerned about in your water. Find filters certified by the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF).