Officials press presenter on water use, evaporative cooling and local condensation risks

During the Q&A, elected officials and staff repeatedly pressed the presenter on water use if the site were expanded and end users selected wet (evaporative) cooling. Charlie said the current installation uses no water for cooling and described closed-loop dry coolers, adding that where water-chilled options are used they may require periodic top-offs and a catch basin for blowdown. He said, “we don't inject it with chemicals,” and described cleaning with biodegradable detergents.

Charlie gave worst-case numbers in response to multiple questions: he said a 5-MW wet-chiller configuration could use about '7,000,000 gallons a year' and estimated a 25-MW wet-chiller site could use '35 to 43 million gallons a year.' He put those figures in local context by comparing them with nearby users: he said Big River Resources uses about '1,140,000 gallons of water a day' and that a local golf club uses about '27,500,000 gallons per year.' County staff flagged a known condensation/icing issue on Highway 34 near an ethanol plant and asked how evaporative discharge might affect it; Charlie said closed-loop systems are less concerning and that the company would avoid systems that worsen known local problems.