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The water returned by these water-based technologies is used to

Jan. 8, 2018 by Kimberly Parks

The water returned by these water-based technologies is used to power a variety of agricultural or energy-intensive uses, such as water purification or heating power plants. But in many cases, even water that is less than ideal is wasted.

"It's like getting off the gasoline machine."

The only way to get off the gasoline machine is to burn it. But in some states, states that have enacted new regulations on water storage, utilities like the American Electric Power Association have adopted more than 300 new mandates to treat water as a scarce resource (though it's still hard enough to find water in the most drought-stricken states).

In some states, utilities have moved to make the water they use scarce. For instance, New Mexico is now offering water recycling to customers at the pumps of its power plants, and to those at the gas-powered plants it's dumping to the river in Lake Huron. As a result, some utilities are forcing customers to dump much of their water into rivers and streams.

The new state laws have a lot going for them. First, they require utilities to provide a "safe, consistent, and efficient way to return water to the environment," and they require utilities to make sure they are using only the most efficient water use—in other words, they must include only the worst-case scenario. But these rules are also aimed at avoiding costly pollution from the process, which is why many utilities have created a new standard requiring every state to treat water as a resource in order to help meet its needs.

Some states, like Oklahoma, have also introduced a set of rules for using the water in water conservation and energy efficiency, and some smaller ones have expanded water conservation and water storage laws in response. This could result in a "safe, consistent, and efficient way to get off the gasoline machine," says Robert S. Mather of the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City.