Advancing Industrial Sector Water Management for Energy Recovery in Water Supply, In-Process, and Discharge Systems
This paper addresses both water-for-energy and energy-for-water by integrating hydropower generation to improve industrial water system resilience. Conduit hydropower is produced by capturing flowing water under pressure in closed-pipe systems and converting the energy into usable electricity. By converting excess hydraulic energy into electricity at the facility level, industrial sites can maintain critical operations during grid disruptions, reduce peak power demand, and improve their ability to withstand and recover from energy or water supply interruptions. Conduit hydropower can thus strengthen local energy and water system reliability. A 2022 national conduit hydropower resource assessment provides additional information on nationwide estimates for hydropower potential in industrial, municipal, and agricultural water systems. The 2022 study estimated a total of 1.4 GW of new conduit hydropower potential across the United States with 126 MW estimated in industrial public water supply and 28 MW estimated for the industrial wastewater sector; 224 MW was estimated for thermoelectric cooling (which constitutes the largest source of US water withdrawals). Besides this study, other literature also addresses energy recovery from industrial water processes.
Citation Formats
TY - DATA
AB - This paper addresses both water-for-energy and energy-for-water by integrating hydropower generation to improve industrial water system resilience. Conduit hydropower is produced by capturing flowing water under pressure in closed-pipe systems and converting the energy into usable electricity. By converting excess hydraulic energy into electricity at the facility level, industrial sites can maintain critical operations during grid disruptions, reduce peak power demand, and improve their ability to withstand and recover from energy or water supply interruptions. Conduit hydropower can thus strengthen local energy and water system reliability. A 2022 national conduit hydropower resource assessment provides additional information on nationwide estimates for hydropower potential in industrial, municipal, and agricultural water systems. The 2022 study estimated a total of 1.4 GW of new conduit hydropower potential across the United States with 126 MW estimated in industrial public water supply and 28 MW estimated for the industrial wastewater sector; 224 MW was estimated for thermoelectric cooling (which constitutes the largest source of US water withdrawals). Besides this study, other literature also addresses energy recovery from industrial water processes.
AU - Bhandari, Indraneel
A2 - Billings, Blake
A3 - DeNeale, Scott
A4 - Chu, Antonia
A5 - Ashworth, Lindsay
A6 - Meira, Kalie
DB - Energy-Water Resilience
DP - Open EI | National Laboratory of the Rockies
DO -
KW - hydropower
KW - energy production
KW - conduit power
KW - water supply
KW - in-process
KW - discharge systems
KW - hydraulic energy
KW - grid disruptions
KW - peak power
LA - English
DA - 2026/01/16
PY - 2026
PB - ORNL
T1 - Advancing Industrial Sector Water Management for Energy Recovery in Water Supply, In-Process, and Discharge Systems
UR - https://ewr.openei.org/submissions/78
ER -
Bhandari, Indraneel, et al. Advancing Industrial Sector Water Management for Energy Recovery in Water Supply, In-Process, and Discharge Systems. ORNL, 16 January, 2026, Energy-Water Resilience. https://ewr.openei.org/submissions/78.
Bhandari, I., Billings, B., DeNeale, S., Chu, A., Ashworth, L., & Meira, K. (2026). Advancing Industrial Sector Water Management for Energy Recovery in Water Supply, In-Process, and Discharge Systems. [Data set]. Energy-Water Resilience. ORNL. https://ewr.openei.org/submissions/78
Bhandari, Indraneel, Blake Billings, Scott DeNeale, Antonia Chu, Lindsay Ashworth, and Kalie Meira. Advancing Industrial Sector Water Management for Energy Recovery in Water Supply, In-Process, and Discharge Systems. ORNL, January, 16, 2026. Distributed by Energy-Water Resilience. https://ewr.openei.org/submissions/78
@misc{EWR_Dataset_78,
title = {Advancing Industrial Sector Water Management for Energy Recovery in Water Supply, In-Process, and Discharge Systems},
author = {Bhandari, Indraneel and Billings, Blake and DeNeale, Scott and Chu, Antonia and Ashworth, Lindsay and Meira, Kalie},
abstractNote = {This paper addresses both water-for-energy and energy-for-water by integrating hydropower generation to improve industrial water system resilience. Conduit hydropower is produced by capturing flowing water under pressure in closed-pipe systems and converting the energy into usable electricity. By converting excess hydraulic energy into electricity at the facility level, industrial sites can maintain critical operations during grid disruptions, reduce peak power demand, and improve their ability to withstand and recover from energy or water supply interruptions. Conduit hydropower can thus strengthen local energy and water system reliability. A 2022 national conduit hydropower resource assessment provides additional information on nationwide estimates for hydropower potential in industrial, municipal, and agricultural water systems. The 2022 study estimated a total of 1.4 GW of new conduit hydropower potential across the United States with 126 MW estimated in industrial public water supply and 28 MW estimated for the industrial wastewater sector; 224 MW was estimated for thermoelectric cooling (which constitutes the largest source of US water withdrawals). Besides this study, other literature also addresses energy recovery from industrial water processes. },
url = {https://ewr.openei.org/submissions/78},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Energy-Water Resilience, ORNL, https://ewr.openei.org/submissions/78},
note = {Accessed: 2026-06-10}
}
Details
Data from Jan 16, 2026
Last updated Jan 16, 2026
Submitted Jan 16, 2026
Contact
Indraneel Bhandari
Authors
Keywords
hydropower, energy production, conduit power, water supply, in-process, discharge systems, hydraulic energy, grid disruptions, peak powerDOE Project Details
Project Name White Papers on Ideas to Advance Energy-Water Resilience
Project Lead
Project Number WP-078