Seawater desalination is one of the most feasible technologies for producing fresh water to address the water scarcity scenario worldwide. However, environmental concerns about the potential impact of brine discharge on marine ecosystems hinder or delay the development of desalination projects. In addition, scientific knowledge is lacking about the impact of brine discharges on the South America Pacific coast where desalination, is being developed. This paper presents the first monitoring results of brine discharge influence areas from seawater reverse osmosis desalination plants (SWRO) on the South America Pacific coast, using Chile as case study. Our results indicate that the combination of favorable oceanographic conditions and diffusers, results in the rapid dilution of brine discharge on coastal ecosystems; showing a faster dilution than other SWRO plants in other regions, such as Mediterranean or Arabian Gulf, with similar production characteristics. Also, the increase in salinity over the natural salinity in the brine-discharge-affected area was <5 % in a radius of <100 m from the discharge points. Further, according to the published literature and on our monitoring results, we propose a number of considerations (environmental regulation, best scientifically tested measures, environmental requirements) to achieve a long-term sustainable desalination operation.

中文翻译：

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南美太平洋沿岸海水淡化厂可持续管理的盐水排放分散评估


海水淡化是生产淡水以解决全球水资源短缺问题的最可行的技术之一。然而，对盐水排放对海洋生态系统潜在影响的环境担忧阻碍或推迟了海水淡化项目的发展。此外，关于盐水排放对正在开发海水淡化的南美太平洋沿岸的影响缺乏科学知识。本文以智利为例，介绍了南美太平洋沿岸海水反渗透淡化厂（SWRO）盐水排放影响区域的首次监测结果。我们的结果表明，有利的海洋条件和扩散器的结合导致沿海生态系统的盐水排放迅速稀释；与地中海或阿拉伯湾等其他地区的其他 SWRO 工厂相比，具有相似生产特征的稀释速度更快。此外，在距排放点 <100 米的半径范围内，受盐水排放影响的区域的盐度相对于自然盐度的增加为 <5%。此外，根据已发表的文献和我们的监测结果，我们提出了一些考虑因素（环境监管、经过科学检验的最佳措施、环境要求），以实现长期可持续的海水淡化运营。