Progress Energy is committed to being a good steward of our natural resources and is focused on innovative, responsible, community-based solutions to assuring water quality and the availability of water resources critical to our operations.

How we use water

Water is a shared natural resource that is critical to the production of electricity. We use water every day in a variety of ways to generate the reliable power our customers demand. These include:

• Creating steam to turn turbines and generate electricity in our fossil-fueled and nuclear plants
• Cooling the steam so we can recycle and use it again
• Controlling air emissions from power plants
• Providing potable water for human consumption and for sanitary purposes for employees
• We also operate four hydroelectric power plants in North Carolina, together capable of producing 225 megawatts of electricity.

Innovations in water management

• We are the first company in Florida to build and operate more than 2,000 megawatts of generation using alternative water supplies. Our Hines Energy Complex uses treated wastewater from the town of Bartow, Fla., a move that poses no negative environmental impact and helps conserve groundwater supplies. The plant also uses a "water cropping" system to capture and re-use storm water.
• Since December 2002, we have partnered with Volusia County, Fla., to transfer wastewater from our DeBary Plant to the county’s reclaimed water system. This water is used for irrigation of parks and golf courses and decreases the need to use valuable drinking water.
• We are the first utility to use the innovative ZENON ABMet bioreactor system as part of our wastewater treatment process. The bioreactor uses naturally occurring, nontoxic and nonpathogenic microbes to remove metals from water after it has been used in our clean-air equipment. The bioreactor is currently installed at our Roxboro Plant in Person County, N.C., and is designed to remove 95 percent of selenium and 90 percent of mercury from the water it treats

Conservation in our corporate headquarters

In 2008, we implemented a number of water conservation measures in our downtown Raleigh, N.C., headquarters buildings. These actions included converting about 500 sinks, toilets and urinals to low-flow devices. We also no longer irrigate our landscape with city water; instead, we use recycled water captured from the weekly mandatory tests of our fire pumps. Along with other actions, these measures saved more than 2,300,000 gallons of water in 2008.

Other water initiatives

In 2004, the University of Florida Water Institute was created through a partnership with Progress Energy to develop sound, science-based solutions to global water problems. The Institute hosted its first symposium in February 2008. Learn more about the UF Water Institute.