The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act requires that the location, design, construction, and capacity of cooling water intake structures reflect the best technology available (BTA) for minimizing adverse environmental impacts, including strict regulations regarding the allowable mortality rates (from impingement or entrainment) for fish and other aquatic life that encounter intake and outfall screens.
Hydrolox screens have undergone laboratory tests conducted by Alden Research Laboratory and by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), as well as field tests conducted at the E.F. Barrett Field Station. In every instance, they have performed at the highest levels possible. And, they can be run 24/7 with no maintenance—a claim competing technologies can’t make.
Hydrolox engineered polymer screens offer an array of unique design features that makes them the ideal solution for 316(b) compliance:
- available in specific mesh sizes (<2 mm) that are designed to minimize impingement and entrainment
- a cantilevered head section that ensures accurate fish delivery
- patented, sealed boot section that prevents aquatic life or debris from passing under the screen and eliminates moving underwater parts
- patented interchangeable attachments that offer maximum flexibility
- proprietary tensioning system that eliminates guesswork and maintenance related to slack removal
- smooth, impact- and abrasion-resistant surfaces that are fully sealable along the sides, noncorrosive, and easy to clean
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