17/September

Enviromental aspects in desalination

Enviromental aspects in desalination

One of the techniques to obtain irrigation water is through Water Desalination. In some areas of our country it has become vital due to droughts and low water availability.

However, few environmental aspects of desalination processes:

- Environmental and Visual Impact that produces the Construction and Implementation of desalination plants in coast. 

- Environmental Impacts of brine dumping. These brines have higher concentration than sea water, approximately double. They also have a pH, temperature and alkalinity different from seawater, generating impacts on the marine environment. The discharge of this brine does not usually have dangerous environmental impacts, however the motionless marine life is more sensitive to these impacts. In the case of the Mediterranean coast: Posidonia Oceanica, which does not tolerate these concentration changes.
 
Some of the solutions to avoid environmental impacts on Posidonia Oceanica would be to perform those discharges in areas that do not affect its natural habitat. So, every ecosystem should be studied to find the best solutions.
Another solution is to use equipment for a quick mixture of brine with seawater minimizing the condition area. At this moment the technology has advanced a lot in this branch and we get dilutions in less than 50 cm from the outlets of the discharge pipes.

The desalination process if it is not done correctly could generate undesirable environmental impacts. To be able to determine the potential environmental impacts, it is needed an Environmental Impact Study and carry out the recommendations and corrective measures to minimize the damage to the environment. However, environmental impacts are not usually serious. These plants produce a great benefit in the area: Uninterrupted Water access.

In KEIKEN, we promote the development of Sustainable Desalination Plants, including preventive and improvement measures that affect as little as possible the marine ecosystem. Conducting a previous rigorous study of environmental impact.

Our Plants are built ad-hoc to adapt perfectly to the demands of our clients. Moreover, our proposed technologies can be hybridized with Renewable Energy to reduce Carbon Footprint. Some of these plants can be Reverse Osmosis Plants (RO), MED and MSF Plants, Membrane Distillation (MD) Or Forward Osmosis Plants (FO), among others.

To request our Water Treatment and Regeneration services or more information, you can contact us by email info@keiken.es.