Evaporation of Water
In some locations, particularly southern and western, evaporative loss of water from
a cooling pond can be a serious problem. Such water must be replenished and if
construction of a cooling pond is proposed for arid or semi-arid regions, sources of
substitute water must be available.
Infiltration
This term refers to entry and movement of water through soils. If present, infiltration
may affect the design and location of a cooling pond for two reasons: (1) if
recharging of the local water table takes place, that water table may rise in elevation
and affect surrounding land uses and (2) groundwater contamination may occur.
Fogging
A disadvantage of cooling ponds is the potential for fog formation. If a fog forms and
obscures local visibility, this can be a problem, particularly if a highway or an airport
runway is nearby.
Recreation
As previously mentioned, if the water being cooled in the pond is of sufficiently
good quality, boating, fishing, and perhaps even swimming recreational opportunities may be an auxiliary benefit of pond construction.
Economics
If sufficient land is available at a reasonable cost, and the local topography is
amenable to construction needs, a cooling pond may be a good solution to a cooling
problem as the pond will cost less than a tower to construct.
3 Cooling Tower
To treat large volumes of warm water from an industrial process such as a coal or
nuclear power plant, a cooling pond is not practical because of the enormous size of
the pond needed. Indeed, the term lake would be more appropriate to describe such a
body of water. As a result a cooling tower is the practical solution to the cooling
needs of most large industrial plants. Such towers are often massive in size and
5 Cooling and Reuse of Thermal Discharges
211
In some locations, particularly southern and western, evaporative loss of water from
a cooling pond can be a serious problem. Such water must be replenished and if
construction of a cooling pond is proposed for arid or semi-arid regions, sources of
substitute water must be available.
Infiltration
This term refers to entry and movement of water through soils. If present, infiltration
may affect the design and location of a cooling pond for two reasons: (1) if
recharging of the local water table takes place, that water table may rise in elevation
and affect surrounding land uses and (2) groundwater contamination may occur.
Fogging
A disadvantage of cooling ponds is the potential for fog formation. If a fog forms and
obscures local visibility, this can be a problem, particularly if a highway or an airport
runway is nearby.
Recreation
As previously mentioned, if the water being cooled in the pond is of sufficiently
good quality, boating, fishing, and perhaps even swimming recreational opportunities may be an auxiliary benefit of pond construction.
Economics
If sufficient land is available at a reasonable cost, and the local topography is
amenable to construction needs, a cooling pond may be a good solution to a cooling
problem as the pond will cost less than a tower to construct.
3 Cooling Tower
To treat large volumes of warm water from an industrial process such as a coal or
nuclear power plant, a cooling pond is not practical because of the enormous size of
the pond needed. Indeed, the term lake would be more appropriate to describe such a
body of water. As a result a cooling tower is the practical solution to the cooling
needs of most large industrial plants. Such towers are often massive in size and
5 Cooling and Reuse of Thermal Discharges
211