Hydrolox Screens: Best Technology Available for 316(b)

UPDATE JULY 2018: In a recent ruling (Cooling Water Intake Structure Coal. v. EPA), the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld Section 316(b) and its implementation. Moving forward, any NPDES permit issued by a state must contain a timeline for compliance, or valid reasoning for delays in implementation. Clearing this last major hurdle removes much of the uncertainty surrounding 316(b) and ensures that many plants can once again move forward in determining a plan for compliance.

Section 316(b) of The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Clean Water Act requires that the location, design, construction, and capacity of cooling water intake structures reflect the best technology available (BTA) for minimizing adverse environmental impacts - impingement and entrainment.  Under the terms of the rule, Hydrolox traveling water screens qualify as a BTA for minimizing impingement mortality ("modified traveling screens").  Specifically, the EPA noted that Hydrolox screen designs have "shown promise in reducing impingement mortality".

Hydrolox Series 6000 Vertical Traveling Water Screen with Ristroph-Style Fish Collection Buckets  

Equipped with Ristroph-style fish collection buckets, a low-pressure wash, and a fish handling and return system, Hydrolox traveling water screens are a powerful solution for enabling compliance with Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act:

Section 316(b) applies to roughly 1,065 electric power plants, chemical manufacturers and petroleum refiners in the United States that withdraw at least two million gallons of cooling water per day and use at least 25 percent of that water for cooling purposes.  The final Section 316(b) ruling was published to the Federal Register on August 15, 2014 and became effective on October 14, 2014.  For more information about the EPA's Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act, visit the the EPA's website.

Learn more...

Power Engineering's article "316(b): One Year Later"

Electric Power Research Institute's (EPRI) report, "Hydrolox Traveling Water Screen Fish Impingement and Survival Case Study: Plant Barry Generating Station", evaluates the survival of fish exposed to a Hydrolox traveling water screen specifically designed to protect juvenile and adult fish at Alabama Power Company's Plant Barry Generating Station.

Hydrolox and 316(b) in Power Engineering's article "A New and Improved 316(b)"