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Environmental Engineer:
Applied Research and Practice
Novel Method for Assessing Salinity Tolerance of Marine Organisms
Author: Nikolay S. Voutchkov, P.E., BCEE
Abstract
Seawater desalination plants produce concentrate (brine) which is usually 1.5 to 2 times higher than the concentration of total dissolved solids (TDS or salinity) of the ambient seawater. When returned to the ocean without dilution, the concentrate may have negative impact on the aquatic environment in the area of the discharge. This impact is very site-specific and depends to a great extent on the salinity tolerance of the specific marine organisms inhabiting the water column and benthic environment influenced by the discharge. The existing US EPA whole effluent toxicity (WET) tests are indicative of the level of salinity which causes mortality of pre-selected test organisms, which may or may not inhabit the discharge area. This work presents a novel method that allows establishing the site-specific maximum level of salinity concentration (salinity tolerance threshold) at which marine organisms not only survive, but can also grow and reproduce normally. The described method was used successfully for the permitting of the concentrate ocean discharge of two large seawater desalination projects in California -- the 189,000 m3/day (50 MGD) Carlsbad and Huntington Beach desalination plants.
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