Adverse environmental impacts of desalination plants are barriers for their development. Nevertheless, current environmental impact assessment (EIA) methods cannot provide a suitable quantitative framework for comparing and evaluating different practices or strategies. This study introduced a quantitative method based on midpoint and endpoint ReCiPe coefficients used in life cycle impact assessment (LCIA). Accordingly, both direct and indirect environmental impacts of seawater desalination on humans, terrestrial and marine ecosystems were calculated and compared for coastal and inland operating conditions. The impacts of using renewable energies and zero liquid discharge (ZLD) systems were also compared by the proposed methodology. For this purpose, we used the available brine water quality data of operating RO and MED plants located in southern Iran and the Middle East. Results showed that LCIA method can properly account the accumulated environmental impacts of desalination. In addition, this research highlighted that the main damage of desalination plants on marine and terrestrial ecosystems is originated from discharging toxins and hazardous wastes through brines. Consequently, it is emphasized that brines should be carefully monitored based on their toxicity. In addition, due to 70-80% effectiveness of ZLD on environmental impact reductions, its application should gain the highest priority for environmental protection.
Hashempoor, F., Pardakhti, A., & Jamshidi, S. (2023). Cumulative Environmental Impacts of Desalination Plants Based on ReCiPe Indices Used in Life Cycle Assessment. Journal of Water and Wastewater Science and Engineering, (), -. doi: 10.22112/jwwse.2023.364061.1328
MLA
Faranak Hashempoor; Alireza Pardakhti; Shervin Jamshidi. "Cumulative Environmental Impacts of Desalination Plants Based on ReCiPe Indices Used in Life Cycle Assessment". Journal of Water and Wastewater Science and Engineering, , , 2023, -. doi: 10.22112/jwwse.2023.364061.1328
HARVARD
Hashempoor, F., Pardakhti, A., Jamshidi, S. (2023). 'Cumulative Environmental Impacts of Desalination Plants Based on ReCiPe Indices Used in Life Cycle Assessment', Journal of Water and Wastewater Science and Engineering, (), pp. -. doi: 10.22112/jwwse.2023.364061.1328
VANCOUVER
Hashempoor, F., Pardakhti, A., Jamshidi, S. Cumulative Environmental Impacts of Desalination Plants Based on ReCiPe Indices Used in Life Cycle Assessment. Journal of Water and Wastewater Science and Engineering, 2023; (): -. doi: 10.22112/jwwse.2023.364061.1328
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