It’s NOT designed to handle the river water intake reject for many reasons.
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That is not true for the chem plants and refineries I have dealt with water in Freeport and the greater Houston area.
The reject is NOT returned to the river. Their permits will NOT allow it. It may not make sense, as that is where it came from, but the EPA forces these major industries to make the water source cleaner than it currently exists by being forced to remove contaminants if they want to use it.
“Their permits will NOT allow it. It may not make sense, as that is where it came from, but the EPA forces these major industries to make the water source cleaner than it currently exists by being forced to remove contaminants if they want to use it.”
Permits must have “evolved.”
“Contaminants” that are captured by filtration are not dissolved chemicals. They are silt, small pebbles, leaves, etc. And whatever passes through the intake pumps’ screens, supposedly.
The EPA is quite dumb to have the process plant’s waste effluent stream “diluted” by relatively clean river water. The probes on the effluent pipe would measure less chemical pollutants’ PPM or percentages than the real numbers in the treated stream without the extra load of clean water, especially if the back wash is relatively constant as in the 24/7 plants.
That’s what I have to say on the subject.