Water Management

Maintaining our water supply for future generations

We strategically plan for our current and future water needs while continuously seeking ways to use water more efficiently

Water in Our Communities

Oklahoma is within the drier, western United States, and at OG&E we recognize that not only is water a valuable resource, but it’s also vital to the economic success and quality of life in our communities. As our communities grow and the demand for electricity and water rises, we strategically plan for our future water needs and continue to seek ways to use water more efficiently.

How Do We Use Water?

Water is a valuable resource, vital to the economic success and quality of life in our communities. As our communities grow and the demand for electricity and water rises, we strategically plan for our future water needs and continue to seek ways to use water more efficiently.

The cooling water we use is “non-contact” water, which means the water is circulated through pipes to condense the steam used to generate electricity and then returned as reusable water without coming into contact with any of our systems. We return almost 98 percent of our cooling water to be reused. The balance is lost mostly due to evaporation.

This “closed-cycle” system is similar to a pool pump that continually recycles water through its system. Using this system means our plants consume a relatively small amount of water, preserving the water for others as well for future use.

Some water is also used onsite or collected from storm water runoff. We make it a practice to reuse water onsite as much as possible to minimize the need for a continuous supply of additional water.

Municipal Water Reuse

Two of our plants, McClain and Redbud, rely on cooling water from municipal wastewater treatment facilities in Oklahoma City and Moore, known as treated effluent. By using treated effluent, we conserve about 2.27 billion gallons of our fresh water sources each year, which is the equivalent of approximately nine Olympic-size swimming pools each day, solidifying our commitment to being good stewards of one of Oklahoma’s most precious resources.

Recreation and Industry TOGETHER

In 1971, we became the first electric company in Oklahoma to open one of our cooling reservoirs for public recreation. Today, Oklahomans enjoy boating, fishing and swimming at Seminole Power Plant’s 1,350-acre Lake Konawa and Sooner Power Plant’s 5,400-acre reservoir. The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) periodically stocks these reservoirs with game fish. In fact, Sooner Lake is known as one of the best bass fishing locations in the state, and Konawa Lake has been recognized as the 38th best bass fishing lake in the United States.