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Where does all the brine go currently? The countries most dependent on desalination currently at least seem to have plenty of desert space available to dump it,
by Sol- 2y ago
Where does all the brine go currently? The countries most dependent on desalination currently at least seem to have plenty of desert space available to dump it, but I do wonder if it might reach volumes that are difficult to manage once desalination becomes more widespread.
Though perhaps dumping it back into the ocean is the correct thing to do, because the extracted fresh water will eventually also stream back into the ocean via the normal water cycle.
- mangamadaiyan 2y agoI seem to remember reading that dumping the brine byproduct from desalination in the ocean can screw up marine life. I don't have a reference ready, will look for one. I guess there might be a "right" way of dumping brine in the ocean without harming marine life, but I have no idea what that would be.
- 1jbdg 2y agoPlan it to be combined with waste water treatment or other cooling water from power plants to dilute it, or disperse it over a larger area. It goes into the ocean currently.
- jupp0r 2y agoYou can also dilute it with lots of seawater
- Eddy_Viscosity2 2y agoIt would cause areas of higher salt concentrations where it is dumped. They only way to not cause this (for large volumes of brine) would be to dilute it first and of course that defeats the purpose of salination.
- throwawayffffas 2y agoYou can dilute with treated waste water.
- Euphorbium 2y agoPump it through pipe a few miles off coast?
- SkyPuncher 2y agoIt still doesn’t solve the issue. Two of the major problems is brine doesn’t homogenize well and its denser than seawater. You end up brine that settles into ever nook and cranny on the sea floor without mixing back into the ocean. Probably a solvable problem, but not something that has a good solution right now.
- GeoAtreides 2y agoPump it through pipes with holes in it, so that it leaks n% brine every x% miles. This assures dilution of the brine.
- imglorp 2y agoIf you dump it into an evaporation pond, you can pick up all the minerals and metals left behind such as lithium.
- red-iron-pine 2y agogood. we got the minerals. but now where do we put all of the salt?
- Molitor5901 2y agoI worry about the waste which can destroy habitats and soil forever. I'm not a scientist, but I know what happens if someone pours salt on a garden, or a water habitat becomes too salty. Not good. Cheap is great, but something has to be done with the waste so that it doesn't cause more environmental damage. https://news.sky.com/story/woman-whose-allotment-was-sabotaged-with-salt-receives-250-000-in-donations-12866683 https://news.sky.com/story/woman-whose-allotment-was-sabotag... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salton_Sea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salton_Sea