This paper analyzes the development situation and water efficiency of the thermal power industry，based on the water intake and operation data of the thermal power industry in Jiangxi province.The results show that the overall change of annual water intake of thermal power industry in Jiangxi province from 2012 to 2019 is relatively stable, and the water efficiency has been continuously improved, because of the improvement of the efficiency and scale of the circulating cooling unit.At the same time, the local thermal power industry still has many problems to be solved in terms of water-saving technology, management and transformation.The corresponding countermeasures are put forward from the aspects of strengthening water resources demonstration, formulating water -saving standards, and increasing water-saving incentive mechanism, which provides a reference for further tapping the water -saving potential of the thermal power industry and improving industrial water efficiency in Jiangxi province.