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Desalination waste dumping threatens Arabian Gulf

Posted by: Maven on June 15, 2009 at 3:10 pm

Thank you, cookie jill, for sending me this link. CJ wonders what this story means for California as the state contemplates producing more desalinated water. From Gulf News (the Middle East):

Dubai: Every time desalination plants dump tons of brine carrying chemicals into the Arabian Gulf, sea temperatures rise by 10 degrees Celsius, according to researchers. This is having life-threatening effects on the marine ecosystem in the region. More than 12 million cubic metres of sea water, equivalent to 4,800 Olympic swimming pools, are desalinated daily in this region.

The UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iran have 120 desalination plants between them. These plants flush nearly 24 tons of chlorine, 65 tons of algae-harming antiscalants used to descale pipes, and around 300kg of copper into the Arabian Gulf every day.

This chemical mixture is affecting seabed organisms and making its way up the food chain. Researchers say the Arabian Gulf is the water body most threatened by desalination.

Read more from Gulf News by clicking here.

June 15, 2009 · Filed Under Desalination

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One Response to “Desalination waste dumping threatens Arabian Gulf”

  1. The week that was, 6/14-20, 2009 | on June 21st, 2009 11:06 am

    [...] “Every time desalination plants dump tons of brine carrying chemicals into the Arabian Gulf, sea t… [...]

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