By linking its water utility and power station to a heat exchanger system, the city of Anchorage is addressing multiple environmental problems at once. The Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility draws enough excess heat from the Municipal Light and Power plant, located on the same Ship Creek campus, to warm 27 million gallons of water every hour.

Heating cold water is energy-intensive, and releasing waste heat from power plants into the atmosphere contributes to air pollution and plant efficiency loss. The $70.8-million project’s five heat exchangers are certified for potable water, a first for the industry and a challenge to the project team, which worked with the manufacturer to obtain the proper certification.

Prefabricated custom pipe fittings facilitated quick assembly to limit downtime.

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