Environmental impacts of desalination and brine treatment - Challenges and mitigation measures

• Published in: Marine pollution bulletin 2020-12, Vol.161 (Pt B), p.111773, Article 111773
• Main Authors: Panagopoulos, Argyris, Haralambous, Katherine-Joanne
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Air pollution; Air pollution measurements; Brackish water; Brine discharge; Brines; Desalination; Desalination brine treatment; Desalination environmental impacts; Desalination plants; Emissions; Energy consumption; Entrainment; Entrapment; Environmental impact; Freshwater; Greenhouse gases; Greenhouse gases emissions; High energy consumption; Humans; Inland water environment; Marine environment; Marine environment pollution; Mitigation; Pollutants; Saline solutions; Salinity; Salts; Seawater; Water desalting; Water pollution; Water Purification
• ISSN: 0025-326X; 1879-3363
• DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111773

Desalination is perceived as an effective and reliable process for obtaining freshwater from aqueous saline solutions such as brackish water, seawater and brine. This can be clarified by the fact that >300 million people worldwide rely on desalinated water for their daily needs. Although the desalination process offers many advantages, there are rising concerns about possible adverse environmental impacts. Generally, environmental impacts can be generated both in the construction and operation of desalination plants. A major issue of desalination is the co-produced waste called ‘brine’ or ‘reject’ which has a high salinity along with chemical residuals and is discharged into the marine environment. In addition to brine, other main issues are the high energy consumption of the desalination and brine treatment technologies as well as the air pollution due to emissions of greenhouse gasses (GHGs) and air pollutants. Other issues include entrainment and entrapment of marine species, and heavy use of chemicals. The purpose of this review is to analyze the potential impacts of desalination and brine treatment on the environment and suggest mitigation measures. [Display omitted] •The environmental impacts of desalination are analyzed & assessed.•Hyper-saline by-product & high energy consumption are the main concerns.•Mitigation measures are proposed to address the adverse environmental impacts.•Advances in technologies & mineral recovery can make desalination more sustainable.