The nexus between energy policy and water policy hasn't gotten the amount of attention it deserves, and that's something the water sector needs to change

1. Energy Policy
is Water Policy
Brian Gongol, M.Ed.
DJ Gongol & Associates, Inc.
Nebraska Section AWWA Fall Conference
Kearney, Nebraska
November 2, 2023

2. Water is in a perpetual battle for
resources, attention, and respect
• This does not come
naturally to most
• That does not make
it any less important
to engage

3. Sometimes, you just have to grab some
coattails and go for it

4. Energy has a huge "mind share" with
the public right now
Everyone has an opinion on things like electric cars, solar panels, or
wind turbines
We should take advantage

5. Municipal water and public
power have been siblings
forever

6. There's only so much more our sector
can do to economize

7. Street
departments
can convert
streetlights to
LEDs

8. City hall can get
LEED certified

9. Police departments can start driving
hybrid and electric cruisers

10. Water utilities don’t have that kind of
liberty
• If you're pumping at 85% hydraulic efficiency on a NEMA
Premium Efficiency motor that's 90% to 95% efficient1, you
just don't have much upside left to capture

11. Water utilities don’t have that kind of
liberty
Strict energy efficiency is often a bad engineering design objective
To be reliable resources, we need to achieve total system efficiency
For example: More vanes mean higher efficiency in a pump, but
that's no good if you're trying to move solids without clogging

12. Water-industry professionals need to know
what's happening in the energy industry

13. Several things simultaneously
bind the water sector to the
power sector

14. Power demands
lots of water

15. Power demands
lots of water
• The power-production
sector is the largest water
user in the country
• It’s even ahead of irrigation
• Source data:
https://www.usgs.gov/speci
al-topics/water-science-
school/science/total-water-
use-united-states

16. Water demands lots of power
• Second, water and wastewater treatment and pumping are
usually the biggest users of electricity for most municipal
governments, “often accounting for 30 to 40 percent of total
energy consumed”
• That’s
• Source data: https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-water-
infrastructure/energy-efficiency-water-utilities

17. Demand for energy could well
skyrocket
Meeting future expectations for water and wastewater purification
will require substantial amounts of electricity
Particularly if we are to be responsible for removing PFAS to the
parts-per-trillion level

18. Energy could be a bonanza
• It is evident that virtually all of our problems -- from
pumping to treatment -- can be solved if energy can be
made clean, abundant, and super-cheap (much cheaper than
it is today).

19. Where we go from here
• We live at the intersection of these different interests
• The future of water policy lies wherever the future of energy
policy ultimately takes us

20. 1. Energy demand for water

21. Energy production as water consumer

22. Biofuels and water

23. Renewable electricity and water

24. Cloud computing and water

25. Huge water demand from battery
production
• Extraction
• Refining
• Manufacturing

26. 2. Water production,
distribution, collection, and
treatment as energy consumer

27. What each consumes today

28. If you don't have to go far,
you generally won't use much power

29. If you don't have to transform the water
much, you won't use much power either

30. Life comes at you fast
• If you have to go longer distances for longer times, or if you
have to put the water through bigger transitions (which
almost always involve lifting, heating, or pushing through
resistance), then the power demand escalates quickly

31. Power demand dynamics
You already know this implicitly, even if you probably don't realize it
You can carry a 16-oz. bottle of water a short distance without even thinking
about it
You can carry it a long distance without much complaint, either
But if you had to carry two gallons up 20 flights of stairs, you'd feel pain in a hurry

32. 3. What future water
standards could demand of
energy

33. Cheap is liberating
• As energy costs decrease, all kinds of possibilities open up for
water treatment and distribution

34. Filtration, distillation, reverse osmosis
• All of the high-purity processes are high-energy

35. PFAS and energy

36. Reuse and energy

37. At the extreme end, we have
atmospheric water collectors

38. Energy storage

39. Storing energy using water
(dams, pumped storage)

40. Peak/off-peak
energy shifting
(refilling elevated
storage at night)

41. When you look at an
elevated tank, you need
to start seeing a battery

42. Global concerns and stories

43. Fukushima reactor discharge and the
political blowback
• Japan obeys international rules
• China weaponizes water anyway

44. Water stress as subject of international
conflict

45. Still even a domestic source of friction
(see Republican River Compact)

46. Local concerns and stories

47. Omaha, Des Moines, other sites
recapturing energy from wastewater

48. Lincoln can pump
from the Missouri
River, but it will take
a lot of energy

49. Nutrients, biofuels, and nitrate pollution

50. Bottom line
• It is enormously in the best interests of the water sector to
see electricity generation increase, costs plummet, and
pollution drive ever closer to zero
• Water professionals need to be seen as vital and equal
stakeholders in energy policy-making

51. Questions?
• Thanks for your time and attention!
• Brian Gongol
DJ Gongol Associates
• 515-223-4144
• brian@gongol.net
• @djgongol across social media

52. Resources
• Ford electric police truck taken from marketing literature
found online:
• https://www.ford.com/police-vehicles/f150-police-truck/
• PFAS standards:
• https://www.epa.gov/sdwa/and-polyfluoroalkyl-substances-pfas
• Motor energy efficiency:
• https://www.energy.gov/eere/amo/articles/premium-efficiency-
motor-selection-and-application-guide-handbook-industry
• Omaha energy recovery:
• https://www.ketv.com/article/omaha-city-council-plan-
wastewater-into-revenue/40943741