The water in hdr geothermal is recycled and never turned to...

The water in hdr geothermal is recycled and never turned to steam - so water usage is minimal. You would expect some loss in the process but nothing like the amount used by coal plants.

Even coal plants fitted with water recyclers will still lose a lot of water, and if they are fitted it will increase the cost of generating the power. Whether this is properly accounted for is another question - perhaps the cost will be borne by the taxpayer and not factored into the cost of generation. Beattie's $2 billion (and rising) pipeline an example of this.