Abstract:
Desalination plants cause environmental pollution of local effects. Disposal of desalination effluents is considered as a serious environmental dilemma. The concentration of brine varies
from 50 to 75 g/L and has a much higher density than seawater and consequently tends to fall
on the seafloor near the brine outfall outlet (plume effect), therefore, creating a very salty layer
that can have a negative impacts on the flora and the marine life and any related human activities. In this work, we present a case study on the environmental impacts of the effluents from
the MSF seawater desalination plant into a coastal and marine ecosystem of Zliten-Libya. Samples were collected from the reject channel and therefore many parameters were measured
such as PH, Temperature, Salinity, Conductivity and other parameters related to seawater and
produced water have been investigated too. The results showed that the pH is slightly lower
than the seawater; the values range from 6.1 to 7.8. The salinity of brine discharge was found
57113 ppm compared with 35000 ppm for the seawater. The TDS of brine discharge registered
56700mg/l in comparison with 32000 mg/l for seawater, Reject brines were around 10-14C
higher than the ambient seawater temperature, which causes a negative impact on marine
ecosystems
