IV-393 

 HEATED WASTE DISCHARGES 



Waste heat is another type of pollutant that is discharged to the 

 water environment as an expediency. Heat energy can be equally 

 as dangerous to aquatic environment as the other more obvious 

 forms of pollution. The primary source of heat energy is from 

 industrial cooling water effluents. Table IV. 5.9 is a summary of 

 the cooling water use by industry for the United States. Power 

 plants are the major users of cooling water in the estuarine zone 

 as shown in Table IV. 2. 7. 



Power generation capacity has approximately doubled each decade 

 during this century. The impact of this growth on the estuarine 

 areas is evidenced by the fact that in 1950 22 percent of the 

 power plants were in the coastal zone; it is anticipated that over 

 30 percent of the plants will be located there in the late 1970's. 



The existing cooling water use and waste heat discharges are 

 summarized in Table IV. 2. 7. The contrasts among the various 

 regions are related to differences in factors such as the degree 

 of urbanization and industrialization and the availability of 

 hydroelectric power. 



