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The environmental impact of desalination waste disposal

Image found @ cleanocean.org. The environmental impact of desalination waste disposal. Darren Kimple. Freshwater. Lots of people = lots of freshwater needed By 2025: worldwide demand > freshwater supply, by 56% 97% of water → in oceans

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The environmental impact of desalination waste disposal

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  1. Image found @ cleanocean.org The environmental impact of desalination waste disposal Darren Kimple

  2. Freshwater Lots of people = lots of freshwater needed By 2025: worldwide demand > freshwater supply, by 56% 97% of water → in oceans …let’s clean it up and use it

  3. Desalination • How does the process work? • What happens to the waste? • Effects on the environment? • What problems have been caused? Image found @ projects.gsd.harvard.edu

  4. Desalination Who can use it? • Those with access to water sources • Coastal areas • Brackish aquifers • Those who can afford it • Oil-rich (water starved) Arabian Gulf countries • Other wealthy countries like the U.S.

  5. How does the desalination process work? Image found @ wwn-online.com/articles/69197/

  6. Image found @ coal2nuclear.com

  7. Waste Disposal 45% → surface waters 25% → publicly owned treatment works 15% → deep well injection Remainder → evaporation ponds and other land applications

  8. Desalination Waste What’s in it? Lots of salt (up to 2.5X more than seawater) Chemicals and metals used to initially purify water at intake • biocides • anticorrosion chemicals • coagulants • corrosion metals Heat

  9. Deep Well Injection Environmental concerns: • A leak in the aquifer could cause contamination to freshwater supplies • Earthquakes • Increase in fluid pressure • Has caused several thousand small earthquakes in the Colorado Rockies Image found @ www.simsenv.com

  10. Landfill and Evaporation Ponds Environmental concerns: • Groundwater contamination • Waste infiltration into subsurface • Possible effects on drinking water • Animals and their habitats • Harmful chemicals in waste • Vast space required Image found @ dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com

  11. River and Sewer (publicly owned treatment works) Environmental concerns: • Contamination of streams • Fish habitats •Human resources • Overload on local water treatment plants Image found @ www.thameswater.co.uk

  12. Solutions • Dilution of discharge with power plant cooling water • Cools down outgoing water • Possible only where desalination plant is near power plant • Separation of harmful constituents before discharge to water body • U.S. facilities are required to aerate and adjust pH on discharging concentrate • Filtered chemicals can later be reused • Monitoring

  13. Effects of Direct Ocean Discharge Negative effects: • Southern Australia • High salinity levels • 50% mortality rate for certain organisms • Sea urchins • Starfish Image found @www.yannarthusbertrand2.org

  14. Effects of Direct Ocean Discharge Negative effects: • Kuwait Bay: • Toxic chlorine concentrations • Phytoplankton • Vertebrates and invertebrates • Dumped daily into the Red Sea: • 2,708 kg of chlorine • 36 kg of copper • 9,478 kg of antiscalants Image found @www.yannarthusbertrand2.org

  15. Effects of Direct Ocean Discharge No effect: • Western Australia (Perth): • Organisms and lush plants living in discharge area • Island ofAntigua (Caribbean): • Elevated salinity • No effecton tropical reef ecosystem Image found @ www.caribda.com

  16. Conclusions • Right now,not a lot of negative reports • Could this trend change with increased desalination worldwide? • Will concern over the environment one day shut down a region’s desalination capabilities and their freshwater supply?

  17. Works Cited Anslow, Mark. "Salt of the Earth." The Ecologist 38 (2008): 12. Beitel, Curtis B. "Meeting Tomorrow's Water Needs." Public Works 135 (2004): 22-25. Bistany, Andrea S. "Navigating the Rising Currents Of U.S. Water Reuse." Water Environment & Technology 18 (2006): 20+. Brannan, Paul. "Debunking Desalination." E: the Environmental Magazine Mar.-Apr. 2008: 16-18. Burtka, Allison. "Desalination: What Happens Downstream." Water Environment & Technology 16 (2004): 16-18. Champ, Michael A., David A. Flemer, and Gary M. Noland. "The 21st Century Environmental Crisis." Sea Technology 49 (2008): 81. Conway, McKinley. "The Desalination Solution." The Futurist 42 (2008): 23-24. Energy Recovery Inc. "Energy Recovery Inc. Prospectus." 1 Apr. 2008. Energy Recovery Inc. 1 Feb. 2009 <http://ipo.nasdaq.com/edgar_conv_html%5C2008%5C04%5C01%5C000095 0149-08-000046.html>. Graber, Cynthia. "Desalination in Spain." Technology Review 109 (2006): S1-S8. Miller, Wade G., and Jeffrey J. Mosher. "Got Water?" Water Environment & Technology 17 (2005): 76-80. Reuther, Christopher G. "Saline solutions: the quest for fresh water." Environmental Health Perspectives 108 (2000): A78-80. "Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination Process." Tampa Bay Water. 17 Jan. 2008. 1 Feb. 2009 <http://www.tampabaywater.org/index.aspx>. (No author listed) "The Price of Drinking Water." Environment 45 (2003): 5. Voutchkov, Nikolay. "That's Enough Salt, Thanks." Water Environment & Technology 19 (2007): 96-99. Voutchkov, Nikolay. "The Ocean: A New Resource for Drinking Water." Public Works 135 (2004): 30-33. Water Science and Technology Board. Desalination - A National Perspective. Washington D.C.: National Academic P, 2008. Images found at: projects.gsd.harvard.edu dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com www.yannarthusbertrand2.org www.ifh.uni-karlsruhe.de wwn-online.com/articles/69197/ www.thameswater.co.uk cleanocean.org coal2nuclear.com www.simsenv.com www.caribda.com Image found @ www.ifh.uni-karlsruhe.de

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