this post was submitted on 01 Oct 2023
231 points (95.7% liked)

Technology

59120 readers
3733 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.

Our Rules

  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each another!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
L3s
[email protected]
[email protected]
L4s
enu
231
Desalination system could produce freshwater that is cheaper than tap water (news.mit.edu)
submitted 1 year ago by L4s to c/technology
34 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Desalination system could produce freshwater that is cheaper than tap water::A new solar desalination system takes in saltwater and heats it with natural sunlight. The system flushes out accumulated salt, so replacement parts aren’t needed often, meaning the system could potentially produce drinking water that is cheaper than tap water.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

The verdict on brine impact is not out yet AFAIK. It impact species differently.

The good news is that they found no significant changes in the organisms living on the seafloor and other biological indicators. The researchers attributed this to the long history of industrial activities in the area, including cooling water discharge from a power plant adjacent to the desalination plant, which had already perturbed the natural setting.

Study of brine discharge from desalination plant finds good news and bad news (2019)

They are developing technologies to deal with brine like solar powered brine crystallization or mixing it with sea water before reintroducing it. More are discussed quickly in this review: Characteristics of Desalination Brine and Its Impacts on Marine Chemistry and Health, With Emphasis on the Persian/Arabian Gulf: A Review. That one is actually good and very readable to the layman (i.e me):

The conclusion puts it well

The physicochemical qualities of desalination brine are influenced by a number of factors, including the quality of the input water, desalination processes, and discharge methods. These features determine how it affects the chemistry and health of the ocean. The tolerance of marine species to the impacts of salt varies. Several brine management solutions have been developed lately, with increasing water recovery to eventually achieve zero-liquid discharge being the most promising strategy for reducing the harmful impact on marine health.