Desalination Brine Disposal and the Environmental Impact

Natalie Shuman, California State University Monterey Bay

Introduction
Desalination is a process of extracting salts and minerals from saltwater to produce
freshwater suitable for human use. Worldwide desalination produces 24.5 million m3 of water a
day (Lattemann). With the need for freshwater growing, and the sources being depleted,
desalination offers a solution to coastal communities.
There are a many factors when proposing and planning a desalination facility. It takes
energy to run a desalination plant, which is economically costly. The operations of the facility
produce carbon emissions and thus there are environmental concerns for its carbon footprint.
Drawing in sea water to desalinate can be done different ways, but the intake of source water can
kill marine organisms, especially with entrainment and entrapment. Fresh water is produced, but
there is also a salt waste byproduct produced that then needs to be disposed of, and with this
comes economic and environmental concerns.
This paper deals solely with the policy and concerns of desalination in terms of brine
disposal. The salt waste is put back into the ocean and the increased salinity can cause problems
for the environment. There are multiple policy options for disposal with varying effects on
organismal mortality. The Monterey Peninsula is proposed to build a desalination plant to solve
its freshwater needs. When creating regulations for a proposed facility, policy should be
included to minimize the environmental impact of brine.

Background
The need for fresh water on the Monterey Peninsula has been a pressing issue in recent
years. It started prior to Californias drought and continued to worsen during. After the rain in
the winter of 2016, California has escaped the drought but the Monterey area has not escaped its
water shortage.
In creating a desalination plant, there needs to be a proven need for the water in the area.
The Monterey Peninsula retrieves about 2/3rds of its water from the Carmel River, and the other
1/3rd from the Seaside Groundwater Basin. Both methods of water retrieval have been
mandated to decrease significantly, and the peninsula needs a new source of freshwater, meaning
there is the need for a desalination plant.
Another consideration is the salt and mineral waste created. The policy involving brine
disposal in the desalination plant is involves primarily environmental concerns. The salt waste
product is produced in great quantities and there is no perfect way to dispose of it. Although
people do buy sea salt, there is not a market for it in this quantity.
 Most desalination plants return the salt to the ocean; this avoids potential problems on
land but can be harmful to marine environments. With a Monterey Peninsula plant occurring
within the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, the discharge of any substance is
prohibited unless with a permit. Recently the state of California has also adopted similar policy,
minimizing environmental impacts of desalination plants.
The Water Quality Control Plan for Ocean Waters of California, also referred to as the
Ocean Plan, is responsible for water quality control plans and policy for marine waters off
California. It is developed by the State Water Resources Control Board of the California
Environmental Protection Agency. On May 6, 2015 the State Water Board adopted an
amendment to the Ocean Plan that deals with desalination facilities. This Desalination
Amendment addresses the protection of marine life and water quality, providing a consistent
permitting process for facilities throughout all of California (State of California).
Both the Ocean Plan Amendment and the requirements for a permit in the Monterey Bay
National Marine Sanctuary require any potential desalination plants to have a discharge without
adversely affecting the coastal ecosystem. Many organisms can adapt to minor changes in
salinity but the constant outflow of brine if not treated could be fatal for the marine life in the
area.
The brine waste has a higher salinity than the ocean, and this also gives it a higher
density. This concentrated solution sinks to the bottom where it builds up as more brine is
disposed of. The accumulation of high saline water can result in a dead zone on the ocean floor.
The water becomes hypoxic, meaning it cannot hold as much oxygen and the organisms within
can suffocate. Without treating the brine before sending it back to the ocean and not diffusing it
over a large area could be fatal to marine life, especially benthic organisms, in the coastal area
near the desalination plant.
There are three proposed desalination projects for the Monterey Peninsula: CALAM,
Deep Water and The Peoples. CALAM is the furthest along and most likely to obtain the
needed permits to proceed. The federal lead on this project is from the National Marine
Sanctuary, and their primary concern is the marine environment. They are working to minimize
cost to citizens but not at the expense of the environment.
The Deep Water project had been working with the Monterey Peninsula Water
Management District, and will likely work with them again if they proceed with the creation of a
desalination plant. They are concerned with cost and their carbon footprint with energy, with
brine disposal as a secondary concern. To obtain permits, they must abide by regulations in
place, and the environment benefits from those. This project proposes the highest freshwater
yield, which will result in the highest amount of brine produced as well.
The Peoples project is the furthest behind of the three proposals. Their desalination plant
would create more freshwater than CALAM but less than Deep Water, meaning the amount of
brine to be disposed of would be in between the other two plans as well. Plans had been created
for this Moss Landing plant but those organizing it have stepped down and they are now starting
over with new management.
Discussion
The options for brine disposal are direct disposal, mixing brine with seawater, and mixing
brine with freshwater waste. They all involve the brine being released back into the ocean but at
different salt concentrations, and thus with varying impact on the marine ecology of the area.
Option A is a direct disposal. This uses pipes to send the brine back into the ocean at its
high salinity and letting the ocean and energy/current created by its release promote the only
mixing and diluting. This is the least costly option but it is also the most harmful to the
environment. There is no mitigation of the brines impact and direct deposit could lead to
hypoxic dead zones, killing marine life.
Option B is mixing the brine with sea water. This alternative to direct deposit is a little
costlier but does reduce the salinity of the brine. Sea water has to be obtained to mix, and
depending on the method could impact marine life and could have varying cost. The mixed
solution is still more saline than the ocean and thus can still so damage to the environment, but to
a lesser extent than direct disposal.
Option C is mixing brine with freshwater waste. Power plants sometimes use fresh water
as part of their cooling system, and that water once used is waste to be disposed of. This option
is only available if the desalination plant is located close enough to the power plant for water to
be transported, mixed and disposed of. This solution is a more expensive option than A or B, and
the cost varies depending on how much transportation is needed. Using the fresh waste water to
mix with brine means that the water cant be used for another purpose, like being recycled.
Mixing with fresh waste water is another way to dispose of the brine in the ocean, but at a more
ambient salinity. By using this mix of fresh water with the salt, they solution discharged into the
ocean has a salinity closer to that of the ocean and thus less of an impact on marine organisms.

Recommendation
I recommend Option C for the Monterey Peninsula. Moss Landing has a power plant
that uses a fresh water cooling system, giving the proposed plants access to waste water to mix
with the brine. This option has the least impact on the organisms near the disposal site and
would be the most compliant with the standards for discharge set by the Monterey Bay National
Marine Sanctuary as well as the State Water Board for California.
With the issue of brine disposal, the main concern is the environmental impact.
Desalination plants must comply with regulations in order to build and operate a facility. There
is also minimal monetary cost differences involved when comparing different disposal methods,
especially when the rest of desalination costs like energy and construction are taken into account.
Mixing the brine with freshwater creates a more ambient solution and thus is the best option for
disposal.

Conclusion
 With the growing human population, the need for freshwater will only increase.
Desalination technology is used around the world and will likely only become more common.
The Monterey Peninsula will utilize desalination in the near future and has the responsibility to
not only minimize cost in production and operation but minimize the impact on the environment.
As more of the world uses desalination, regulations of broader areas will need to occur to
minimize damage of marine ecosystems. California has adopted policy to mitigate the states
impact but the ocean is bigger than one state and international cooperation and conversation will
need to happen.
The best solution to minimize damage from brine disposal is to avoid desalination when
possible. Finding other fresh water sources, like recycling water, can help to reduce the amount
of brine created. Cutting down unnecessary water waste is also an important, cost effective
solution. Hopefully as time goes on and need grows, technology and research will advance to
keep up with the water needs and protect the environment from being adversely affected.

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Personal Communication A. 2017. Interview with Bridget Hoover on March 22, 2017 via phone.
Personal Communication B. 2017. Interview with David J. Stoldt on April 6, 2017 via phone.