A review of environmental governance and its effects on concentrate discharge from desalination plants in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Merwe, Riaan Van Der; Lattemann, Sabine; Amy, Gary L.

doi:10.1080/19443994.2012.693700

Cited by 11 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…It has been suggested that this dense boundary layer will reduce the nutrient fluxes from the seabed, thus impacting the natural benthic-pelagic nutrient cycle in coastal waters . Moreover, hypersaline brine and the accompanying chemical additives can impose osmotic shock, as well as alter nutrient stoichiometric ratios, thus directly affecting benthic organisms. ,, Following the tight nexus of desalination with the coastal environment, brine discharge must be highly regulated by local guidelines to minimize its ecological footprint …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of Desalination Brine Discharge on Benthic Ecosystems

Sirota,

Winters,

Levy

et al. 2024

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination facilities produce freshwater and, at the same time, discharge hypersaline brine that often includes various chemical additives such as antiscalants and coagulants. This dense brine can sink to the sea bottom and creep over the seabed, reaching up to 5 km from the discharge point. Previous reviews have discussed the effects of SWRO desalination brine on various marine ecosystems, yet little attention has been paid to the impacts on benthic habitats. This review comprehensibly discusses the effects of SWRO brine discharge on marine benthic fauna and flora. We review previous studies that indicated a suite of impacts by SWRO brine on benthic organisms, including bacteria, seagrasses, polychaetes, and corals. The effects within the discharge mixing zones range from impaired activities and morphological deformations to changes in the community composition. Recent modeling work demonstrated that brine could spread over the seabed, beyond the mixing zone, for up to several tens of kilometers and impair nutrient fluxes from the sediment to the water column. We also provide a possible perspective on brine's impact on the biogeochemical process within the mixing zone subsurface. Desalination brine can infiltrate into the sandy bottom around the discharge area due to gravity currents. Accumulation of brine and associated chemical additives, such as polyphosphonate-based antiscalants and ferric-based coagulants in the porewater, may change the redox zones and, hence, impact biogeochemical processes in sediments. With the demand for drinking water escalating worldwide, the volumes of brine discharge are predicted to triple during the current century. Future efforts should focus on the development and operation of viable technologies to minimize the volumes of brine discharged into marine environments, along with a change to environmentally friendly additives. However, the application of these technologies should be partly subsidized by governmental stakeholders to safeguard coastal ecosystems around desalination facilities.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of Desalination Brine Discharge on Benthic Ecosystems

Sirota,

Winters,

Levy

et al. 2024

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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“…Another study [114] investigated the current status of regulations on discharge from desalination plants in Saudi Arabia. The results indicated that studies regarding the discharge from desalination plants are facing deficient statistics and a lack of supporting data.…”

Section: Effluent-related Environmental Impactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Renewable Energy Resources in Sustainability of Water Desalination as a Potential Fresh-Water Source: An Updated Review

et al. 2020

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Desalination is becoming a practical option to meet water demand in an increasing number of locations that are facing water scarcity. Currently, more than 150 countries in the world are already using desalination technologies, which account for about one percent of the world’s drinking water. Although for specific regions, desalination is the only feasible solution to close the supply–demand gap (for example the production of desalinated seawater in the Middle East is predicted to rise almost fourteen-fold by 2040), the sustainability of desalination systems is still remarkably under question. This review aims first to investigate the technical and economic trends and environmental and social aspects of desalination systems and then, in the second stage, to give an overview of the role of renewable energy technologies in the sustainability of the future water systems with an increasing share of desalination.

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“…A major shortcoming however is the nonexistence of tailored desalination-specific regulations with regard to concentrate discharges into the marine environment, not to mention situations where the concentrate is blended with *Corresponding author. Email: riaan.vandermerwe@kaust.edu.sa wastewater or cooling water before discharge (van der Merwe et al 2012). A second shortcoming is that most numeric discharge values restrict the levels of aquatic pollutants at the discharge point (effluent standards) but not for the receiving waters (ambient standards).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Additionally, discharge designs are often not optimized and regulations often lack clear guidance with regard to the monitoring of ambient standards (Jirka et al 2004;Bleninger & Jirka 2008;van der Merwe et al 2012). Taking into account the effluent properties and particular discharge configuration, mathematical models can assist in predicting discharge dilution ratios and plume behavior under different conditions Roberts et al 2010;Palomar et al 2012b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combining autonomous underwater vehicle missions with velocity and salinity measurements for the evaluation of a submerged offshore SWRO concentrate discharge

Merwe

Bleninger

Acevedo-Feliz

et al. 2014

Journal of Applied Water Engineering and Research

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High salinity discharges from seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) plants into the marine environment may adversely affect water quality in the area surrounding the outfall. In general, very little systematic information on the potential impacts from full-scale operations on marine biota is available and even less to quantify such impacts for regulatory purposes. Scientifically validated and efficient planning tools in the form of predictive models and expert systems are normally used to assist regulators with regard to possible impacts on the marine environment. Numerical modeling has always been an efficient tool for predicting wastewater discharges and also more recently for high salinity discharges into seawater. The purpose of this study was to combine a series of propulsion-driven autonomous underwater vehicle missions with velocity and salinity measurements for the effective evaluation of a submerged offshore SWRO concentrate discharge near the campus of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. The Cornell Mixing Zone Expert System was additionally utilized in order to assess discharge performance under different ambient velocity magnitudes.The paper therefore focuses on the evaluation of an existing SWRO desalination discharge with emphasis on the regulatory framework of the mixing zone. The objective of this case study is to develop an approach that can be followed by SWRO plant operators and environmental competent agencies for establishing regulatory mixing zones for SWRO plants in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and worldwide, based on robust field monitoring.

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A review of environmental governance and its effects on concentrate discharge from desalination plants in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Cited by 11 publications

References 16 publications

Impacts of Desalination Brine Discharge on Benthic Ecosystems

Impacts of Desalination Brine Discharge on Benthic Ecosystems

The Role of Renewable Energy Resources in Sustainability of Water Desalination as a Potential Fresh-Water Source: An Updated Review

Combining autonomous underwater vehicle missions with velocity and salinity measurements for the evaluation of a submerged offshore SWRO concentrate discharge

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