Traveling Water Screen Field Optimization Challenges

Under the §316(b) Rule, facilities with intake flows greater than 2 MGD will be required to install technologies to reduce impingement mortality.  It is expected that traveling water screens (TWS) will have the greatest potential for wide-scale application for minimizing impingement mortality due to their relatively easy installation in existing intake bays with minimal structural modifications.  If TWS are selected for impingement compliance, a two-year biological optimization field evaluation is required under the §316(b) Rule at each facility. 

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) is currently developing a screen optimization guidance manual and has developed a guidance document for the design and maintenance of fish return systems (FRS) to provide their membership with the guidance and information needed to design a TWS screen optimization study to comply with the §316(b) Rule.  In addition, EPRI is conducting several pilot optimization studies which have demonstrated the real world challenges associated with completing a TWS optimization study in the field.  This presentation will provide an overview of a TWS and FRS optimization program (study design, set-up, methods, and equipment) and highlight the challenges associated with such an evaluation (statistical data strength, environmental conditions, sampling methods, holding organisms, screen maintenance, and program logistics).