OREANDA-NEWS. January 15, 2013.  GE (NYSE: GE) today announced that its zero liquid discharge (ZLD) wastewater treatment technology will be installed at two new 758-megawatt natural gas-fueled, combined-cycle power plants in Texas. In recent years, Texas has been experiencing a drought and by using GE’s ZLD technology, the two power plants, located in Sherman and Temple, will be able to reduce incoming water needs by recycling and reusing more than 98 percent of its own cooling tower wastewater.

Once commissioned, the Temple Power Plant, located in Bell County, will use treated water from a nearby wastewater treatment plant, and the Sherman Power Plant, located in Grayson County, will use Lake Texoma as its cooling water source. GE’s ZLD systems will treat 450 gallons per minute of water for each power plant, more than 98 percent of which can then be reused in the process, reducing the amount of new water needed from the original sources. Panda Power Funds owns the two power plants and Bechtel will serve as the engineering, procurement and construction contractor.

GE’s brine concentrator and ZLD crystallizer technology were selected for the Sherman and Temple power plants based on a proven record of reliability, performance, high-quality materials and modularization, as well as GE’s ability to meet the demanding schedule and reliability requirements for both Sherman and Temple.

Specifically, GE will provide a brine concentrator and crystallizer for the Sherman Power Plant and a brine concentrator for the Temple Power Plant. Panda expects both power plants to begin commercial operation by the end of 2014.

When complete, the Temple Power Plant will provide electricity for approximately 750,000 homes in the Central Texas area and the Sherman Power Plant will supply the power needs for approximately 750,000 homes in the North Texas area.

“Energy and water are two of the world’s most precious resources, and they are interdependent; energy is needed to produce water, and water is needed to produce energy. GE’s zero liquid discharge technology will enable these two power plants to reuse at least 98 percent of water, which is crucial in a region plagued by drought,” said Yuvbir Singh, general manager, engineered systems—water and process technologies for GE Power & Water.