Echinoderms as indicators of brine discharge impacts

Abstract

A B S T R A C TEchinoderms are osmoconformer organisms and are expected to be very sensitive to brine discharges. The objective of this study is to examine the use of echinoderms as early warning 10 indicators of the impact of brine discharges and its application in the management of desalination discharges. We sampled using visual census along transect lines, for nine consecutive years and in three different stations, i.e. before the SWRO desalination plant began operating and thereafter. One year after the plant operation, echinoderms disappeared from the localities affected by the desalination brine. When the desalination brine was diluted with seawa-15 ter prior to discharge, it was observed a recovery of echinoderm densities in these localities. Therefore, echinoderm populations may be used as early indicators to monitor impacts associated with a desalination brine discharge, but also to detect a possible recovery of a previously impacted area when additional mitigation measures to reduce the impact of brine discharge have been implemented. 20

Evaluating environmental requirements for the management of brine discharges in Spain

“…These include: i-ii) the analysis of the quantity and quality of the effluent and marine environment including, at least, salinity and nutrients but also substances that come from the pre-treatment and cleaning of membranes and filters, as coagulants and antifouling or organic matter [5,10,29,30]; iii) the control of the saline plume to determine the area potentially affected by the brine discharge [9]. For this, it is necessary that the implementation of salinity profiles which reach the bottom are used to determine salinity and temperature in a grid of points that cover the potential area of influence, and with seasonal replication to include different oceanographic conditions [9]; iv) to monitor key and protected species if they are present in the area to ensure they are not affected by the discharge [12,15] [13,14,29,32]; vi) the use of salinity-sensitive species of benthic fauna as bioindicators has proven to be useful as sentinel species in order to prevent possible impacts on benthic habitats [20,33] and to discriminate between the effects of desalination and other impacts that may coincide in space [32,34]; vii) it is necessary to carry out a structural monitoring of the submerged outfall for the early detection of possible fractures [8]; viii) in the case of a possible rupture of the outfall (or if the discharge is close to key habitats), the existence of a protocol of action with mitigation measures is convenient, given that this may include the increase of dilution, or the reduction of production [15]. Table 2 summarizes the requirements considered in the analysis of the EMPs.…”

“…EMPs are applied to ensure the effectiveness of preventive and corrective measures established in the EIAs [19]. EMPs can identify marine environmental impacts of brine discharges, and mitigate them when they are identified [14,16,20].…”

Understanding the role of ecological indicator use in assessing the effects of desalination plants

“…Likewise, certain species of the amphipod, bivalve, and copepod group are considered capable of accumulating toxic substances, as well as species of the polychaetes group like Nereis diversicolor, Neanthes arenaceodentata, Glycera alba, Tharyx marioni, Nephtys hombergii. On the other hand, Echinoderms are osmoconformer organisms and are expected to be very sensitive to brine discharges, and this species in desalination projects can be used as ecological indicators [100]. Marine ecosystem due to the impact and/or risk of desalination projects has been reported such as Amphipoda, Bivalve, and Copepod, and previously reported results closely make use of genetics.…”

Environmental impact of RO units installation in main water treatment plants of Basrah city/south of Iraq

“…However, it took until the 1990s before the scientific interest in the marine environmental concerns of desalination plants became more pronounced, as reflected in the large published number of studies. Examples of these studies include those conducted by; Höpner and Windelberg [10], Morton et al [11], Oldfield and Todd [12], Höpner and Lattemann [13], El-Samanoudi et al [14], El-Gamal and Abdrabbo [5], Elabbar and Elmabrouk [8], Medeazza [15], Tularam and Ilahee [16], Lattemann and Höpner [7,17], Münk [18], Abo Qdais [19], Fernández-Torquemada et al [20], Al-Dousari [21], Dupavillon and Gillanders [2], Ahmed and Anwar [22], Dawoud and Al Mulla [23], Darwish et al [24], Naser [25], Fernández-Torquemada et al [26] and Hu [6]. The review of these studies shows that; most of them either examined and compared the environmental impacts of MSF and RO desalination processes or conducted by collecting field data from existing desalination plants.…”