TITLE:
Characterization of the Outfall Area of a Multi-Stage-Flash Desalination Plant in Bahrain
AUTHORS:
Waleed K. Al-Zubari, Alaa A. El-Sadek, Mohamed J. Khadim
KEYWORDS:
Desalination, Brine, Salinity, Temperature, GCC Countries, Bahrain
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Water Resource and Protection,
Vol.10 No.3,
March
19,
2018
ABSTRACT: In Bahrain, like the other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, desalination is inevitable to meet the escalating municipal water demands. However, desalination is associated with many environmental effects, which need to be minimized to their lowest possible limits. One of the major environmental concerns of desalination in the Arabian Gulf region is the local and regional effects of the outfall areas on the marine environment. In this study, the outfall area of a government-owned MSF desalination plant is characterized in terms of temperature and salinity. The spatial extent of the plume of the desalination plant’s effluent is mapped by a field survey conducted during the winter season around the plant’s outfall area at 25 cm and 1 m below the water surface and at low and high tide. The results of the characterization indicated that the temperature of the brine discharged to the outfall was 37°C, higher than the ambient seawater temperature by 16.5°C at high tide and 17.5°C at low tide, and that the extent of the mixing zone area was found at about 260 m and 1 km from the outfall point at high tide and low tide, respectively. The results also showed that brine thermal discharge is not in compliance with the standard limits (