Over the period between 1993-2007 the consumption of cooling water could be lowered by 15.5 %, which amounts to some 262 million m3. Cooling water is not polluted by any chemical process.
The consumption of industrial water was reduced from 46 to 17.3 million m3 in the same period. This reduction of polluted industrial water resulted in a reduced loading of the wastewater treatment plants and avoiding extensions or new constructions of such plants. the industrial water consumption has been reduced to less than 10 % of the cooling water used.