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As I understand desalination, a huge bottleneck besides cost is what to do with the brine. Why can't they build a gigantic pool/lake out in the desert and pump

As I understand desalination, a huge bottleneck besides cost is what to do with the brine. Why can't they build a gigantic pool/lake out in the desert and pump the brine there and let it dry into salt and other minerals. A 10 square mile pit/pool with a clay or other barrier to prevent it from sinking into the aquifers would allow for a massive amount of brine to be safely contained in one place wouldn't it?

okareaman 5y ago
brine disposable seems like a made up problem to me. We're not going to raise the salt content of the world's oceans by pumping the salt back from whence it came. I understand we don't want to put the high salt discharge near sea life, but that is not a hard problem.
- travisporter 5y ago
  > We're not going to raise the salt content of the world's oceans by pumping the salt back from whence it came. Sorry, maybe dumb question but why not? We're taking out water and leaving behind salt
  - okareaman 5y ago
    I meant the salinity content per liter of the world's oceans would rise an insignificant amount, especially since fresh water flows back to the sea for the most part. If someone can tell me otherwise, I'm ready to be educated.
    - mixmastamyk 5y ago
      It takes a while to disperse. Meanwhile salinity in the region has gone up, say 2%. Apparently sea life is very sensitive to it. I agree there are a number of solutions though. Adding to treated sewage is a good one.
      - okareaman 5y ago
        I grew up in a town with a gray water pipe to the ocean. When the environmentalist movement took hold, it was decided the pipe should be extended further into the ocean so as not to disturb the ecosystem. They got it done, so I know even a small town can do this.
  - e12e 5y ago
    Partly we're taking out small amounts of water (compared to the size of oceans) - secondly some of the water is likely to come back via eg sewer treatment plants.
- dntrkv 5y ago
  Seriously, so many possible solutions. You can sell it. You can give it away for free. You can turn it into something else and use it/sell it. You can mix it with treated sewage water flowing into the ocean. You can mix it with fresh water flowing into the ocean. You can discharge it over a larger area. It's not a "real" problem.
philwelch 5y ago
The logistics would be a challenge. You’d have to transport the brine from the coast to the desert. In some places this would be a relatively short trip (Israel, North Africa, California) but in other places you’d be shipping a lot of heavy fluid over long distances. And you don’t even have someone buying the stuff on the other end; you’re just disposing of it.

okareaman 5y ago

brine disposable seems like a made up problem to me. We're not going to raise the salt content of the world's oceans by pumping the salt back from whence it came. I understand we don't want to put the high salt discharge near sea life, but that is not a hard problem.

travisporter 5y ago
> We're not going to raise the salt content of the world's oceans by pumping the salt back from whence it came. Sorry, maybe dumb question but why not? We're taking out water and leaving behind salt
- okareaman 5y ago
  I meant the salinity content per liter of the world's oceans would rise an insignificant amount, especially since fresh water flows back to the sea for the most part. If someone can tell me otherwise, I'm ready to be educated.
  - mixmastamyk 5y ago
    It takes a while to disperse. Meanwhile salinity in the region has gone up, say 2%. Apparently sea life is very sensitive to it. I agree there are a number of solutions though. Adding to treated sewage is a good one.
    - okareaman 5y ago
      I grew up in a town with a gray water pipe to the ocean. When the environmentalist movement took hold, it was decided the pipe should be extended further into the ocean so as not to disturb the ecosystem. They got it done, so I know even a small town can do this.
- e12e 5y ago
  Partly we're taking out small amounts of water (compared to the size of oceans) - secondly some of the water is likely to come back via eg sewer treatment plants.
dntrkv 5y ago
Seriously, so many possible solutions. You can sell it. You can give it away for free. You can turn it into something else and use it/sell it. You can mix it with treated sewage water flowing into the ocean. You can mix it with fresh water flowing into the ocean. You can discharge it over a larger area. It's not a "real" problem.

philwelch 5y ago

The logistics would be a challenge. You’d have to transport the brine from the coast to the desert. In some places this would be a relatively short trip (Israel, North Africa, California) but in other places you’d be shipping a lot of heavy fluid over long distances. And you don’t even have someone buying the stuff on the other end; you’re just disposing of it.