Desalination Technology: Health and Environmental Impacts

191 Pages·2010·1.56 MB·English

by  Joseph Cotruvo, Nikolay Voutchkov, John Fawell, Pierre Payment, David Cunliffe, Sabine Lattemann

DESALINATION
TECHNOLOGY
HEALTH AND
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC
DESALINATION
TECHNOLOGY
HEALTH AND
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
EDITED BY
JOSEPH COTRUVO • NIKOLAY VOUTCHKOV
JOHN FAWELL • PIERRE PAYMENT
DAVID CUNLIFFE • SABINE LATTEMANN
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Desalination technology : health and environmental impacts / editor, Joseph Cotruvo.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4398-2890-8 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1.  Saline water conversion.  I. Cotruvo, Joseph A. II. Title.
TD479.D473 2010
628.1’67--dc22 2010018117
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© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC
Contents
List of Figures ..........................................................................................................vii
List of Tables .............................................................................................................ix
Preface.......................................................................................................................xi
Acknowledgments ..................................................................................................xiii
Abbreviations and Acronyms.................................................................................xvii
The Editors ..............................................................................................................xix
Contributors .........................................................................................................xxiii
Chapter 1 Overview of the Health and Environmental Impacts of
Desalination Technology ......................................................................1
Joseph Cotruvo and Houssain Abouzaid
Chapter 2 Desalination Process Technology ......................................................21
Nikolay Voutchkov, Corrado Sommariva, Tom Pankratz, and
John Tonner
Chapter 3 Chemical Aspects of Desalinated Water ............................................91
John Fawell, Mahmood Yousif Abdulraheem, Joseph Cotruvo,
Fatimah Al-Awadhi, Yasumoto Magara, and Choon Nam Ong
Chapter 4 Sanitary Microbiology of the Production and Distribution of
Desalinated Drinking Water ............................................................107
Pierre Payment, Michèle Prévost, Jean-Claude Block, and
Sunny Jiang
Chapter 5 Monitoring, Surveillance, and Regulation .......................................123
David Cunliffe, Shoichi Kunikane, Richard Sakaji, and Nick Carter
Chapter 6 Environmental Impact Assessment of Desalination Projects ..........153
Sabine Lattemann, Khalil H. Mancy, Bradley S. Damitz,
Hosny K. Khordagui, and Greg Leslie
v
© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC
List of Figures
FIGURE 1.1 Distillation process representation. ..................................................10
FIGURE 1.2 Reverse osmosis desalination process outline. ................................12
FIGURE 2.1 Typical sequence of desalination treatment and distribution
processes. .................................................................................................................26
FIGURE 2.2 Vertical intake well. .........................................................................28
FIGURE 2.3 Horizontal intake well. ....................................................................29
FIGURE 2.4 Schematic of a typical MSF thermal desalination system. .............39
FIGURE 2.5 General schematic of an electrodialysis system (AM, anion
transfer membrane; CM, cation transfer membrane). ..............................................44
FIGURE 2.6 Reverse osmosis membrane train with a high-pressure pump. .......46
FIGURE 2.7 Thermal energy discharge load of MSF plants. ..............................62
FIGURE 2.8 General schematic of a mechanical vapor compression (MVC)
unit. ..........................................................................................................................78
FIGURE 2.9 General schematic of a small distiller unit. .....................................79
FIGURE 5.1 Water quality sampling guide. .......................................................150
FIGURE 6.1 Ten-step EIA process: Scoping, screening, and main EIA
phase. .....................................................................................................................158
FIGURE 6.2 Ten-step EIA process (continued): EIA decision phase and
follow-up activities. ................................................................................................159
vii
© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC
List of Tables
TABLE 1.1 Major Ion Composition of Seawater .....................................................8
TABLE 1.2 Major Ion Composition of a Raw Brackish Water ...............................9
TABLE 1.3 Comparison of Membrane Process Performance Characteristics ......12
TABLE 2.1 Chemicals Used in Thermal Desalination Processes .........................34
TABLE 2.2 Pretreatment Chemicals Used in Membrane Desalination Systems ....36
TABLE 2.3 Chemicals Used for Cleaning Membrane Pretreatment Systems ......37
TABLE 2.4 Factors Affecting Corrosion of Desalinated Water ............................50
TABLE 2.5 Environmental Impacts of Power Generation and Desalination
Processes ..................................................................................................................61
TABLE 2.6 Concentrate Disposal Methods and Their Frequency of Use ............63
TABLE 2.7 Residuals from Membrane Desalination Processes ...........................75
TABLE 4.1 CT Values for Inactivation of Viruses ..............................................111
TABLE 4.2 CT Values for Inactivation of Viruses Using Chloramines .............111
TABLE 5.1 Suggested Monitoring Parameters and Frequencies for
Desalination Plants ................................................................................................127
TABLE 5.2 Groups of Water Quality Parameters ...............................................151
ix
© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC
Preface
Water is essential to life, and access to sufficient quantities of safe water for
drinking and domestic uses and also for commercial and industrial applications
is essential for healthful living, enhanced quality of life and well-being, and the
opportunity to achieve human and economic development. Many world regions
are grossly deficient in the availability of water of sufficient quantity as well
as quality. People in many areas of the world have historically suffered from
inadequate access to safe water. Some must walk long distances just to obtain
sufficient water to sustain life. As a result, they have had to endure health con-
sequences and have not had the opportunity to develop their resources and capa-
bilities to achieve major improvements in their well-being. With growth of the
world population, the availability of the limited quantities of fresh water con-
tinually decreases.
Most of the world’s water is seawater or brackish water, and groundwater that
is high in total dissolved solids and either undesirable or unavailable for beneficial
uses without the application of technologies capable of removing large portions of
the salinity and dissolved solids. Commercial desalination technologies were intro-
duced about 50 years ago and were able to expand access to water, but at high cost.
Developments of significant new and improved technologies have now significantly
broadened the opportunities to access large quantities of safe water in many parts of
the world. Costs are still significant compared with those associated with freshwater
sources, but there has been a major cost reduction trend. The desalination option is
now much more widely available and probably the principal source of “new” water
in the world. Even so, when the alternative is no water or inadequate water quantity
for needs and significant harm to health and welfare, greater cost is endurable in
many circumstances.
Almost 14,000 desalination plants are in operation throughout the world, pro-
ducing about 53 million cubic meters of water per day. Facilities for an additional
10.6 million cubic meters of water per day have been contracted. The number is
growing rapidly as the need for freshwater supplies grows more acute, technologies
improve, and unit costs are reduced.
Desalination plants use waters that are impaired with salts or other contami-
nants as their sources. It appears that performance, operating, and product quality
specifications have evolved virtually on a site-by-site basis relative to source and
the specific end-product water use. Most worldwide desalination applications use
the World Health Organization’s Guidelines for Drinking-Water Quality (GDWQ)
in some way as finished water quality specifications. National or state requirements
exist in some areas. The GDWQ cover a broad spectrum of contaminants, includ-
ing inorganic and synthetic organic chemicals, disinfection by-products, microbial
indicators, and radionuclides, and are aimed at typical fresh drinking water sources
xi
© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC
xii Preface
and technologies. Because desalination is applied to nontypical source waters and
often uses nontypical technologies, existing national standards and guidelines may
not fully cover the unique factors that can be encountered during intake, production,
and distribution of desalinated water.
This book addresses drinking water quality, technology, and environmental pro-
tection issues in order to assist both proposed and existing desalination facilities to
be optimized to ensure that nations and consumers will be able to enjoy the benefits
of the expanded access to desalinated water with the assurance of quality, safety,
and environmental protection. Apart from the quality and safety of the finished
drinking water, numerous other health and environmental protection issues are also
evident when considering the impacts of desalination processes, including energy
conservation and sustainability. Many of them are not unique to desalination. They
may also relate to any large construction project sited in a coastal or other envi-
ronmentally sensitive area. Protection of the coastal ecosystem and protection of
groundwater from contamination by surface disposal of concentrates are examples
of issues that must be addressed during the design, construction, and operation of a
desalination facility.
© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC
Acknowledgments
The support of Dr. Hussein A. Gezairy, World Health Organization (WHO)
Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, was determinant for the initia-
tion and development of this critical project. We wish to express special apprecia-
tion to Dr. Houssain Abouzaid, Coordinator of the Regional Office for the Eastern
Mediterranean Healthy Environments Programme, for initiating the project, to the
chairs and members of the several technical committees, and to Dr. Joseph Cotruvo,
Technical Advisor, United States, who managed the desalination guidance develop-
ment process.
The Oversight Committee chaired by Dr. Houssain Abouzaid included Dr. Jamie
Bartram, WHO; Dr. Habib El Habr, United Nations Environment Programme/
Regional Office for West Asia; Dr. Abdul Rahman Al Awadi, Regional Organization
for the Protection of the Marine Environment; and Dr. Joseph Cotruvo, Technical
Advisor.
The Steering Committee chaired by Dr. Houssain Abouzaid consisted of Amer
Al-Rabeh, Saudi Arabia; Dr. Anthony Fane, Australia; Dr. Gelia Frederick-van
Genderen, Cayman Islands; Dr. Totaro Goto, Japan; Dr. Jose Medina San Juan,
Spain; and Kevin Price, United States.
The Technical Working Groups consisted of a balanced group of international expert
scientists and engineers with particular expertise in the specialty technical areas. These
working groups and their members conducted the scientific analyses and generated the
respective chapters that provided the technical content and recommendations.
TECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING AND CHEMISTRY:
LARGE AND SMALL FACILITIES
Chair: Nikolay Voutchkov, Water Globe Consulting, LLC, Stamford,
Connecticut, USA
Chair: Dr. Corrado Sommariva, ILF Consulting Engineers, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Chair: Mr. Tom Pankratz, Water Desalination Report, Global Water Intelli-
gence, Houston, Texas, USA
Mr. Leon Awerbuch, Leading Edge Technologies, Winchester, Massa chu-
setts, USA
Mr. Nick Carter, Abu Dhabi Regulation and Supervision Bureau, Abu
Dhabi, UAE
Dr. Vince Ciccone, Romem Aqua Systems Co. (RASCO) Inc., Woodbridge,
Virginia, USA
Mr. David Furukawa, Separation Consultants, Inc., Poway, California, USA
xiii
© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC
xiv Acknowledgments
Dr. James Goodrich, National Risk Management Research Laboratory,
Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Ms. Lisa Henthorne, Water Standard, Tampa, Florida, USA
Dr. Tom Jennings, Bureau of Reclamation, Washington, DC, USA
Mr. Frank Leitz, Bureau of Reclamation, Denver, Colorado, USA
Mr. John Tonner, Water Consultants International, Mequon, Wisconsin, USA
CHEMICAL ASPECTS OF DESALINATED WATER
Chair: Mr. John Fawell, Consultant, Flackwell Heath, High Wycombe, UK
Chair: Dr. Mahmood Yousif Abdulraheem, Kuwait Foundation for the
Advancement of Sciences (KFAS), Kuwait; Advisor, Abu Dhabi
Environment Agency, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Dr. Fatimah Al-Awadhi, Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of
Sciences, Kuwait
Dr. Yasumoto Magara, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
Dr. Choon Nam Ong, National University of Singapore, Singapore
SANITARY MICROBIOLOGY OF PRODUCTION
AND DISTRIBUTION OF DESALINATED WATER
Chair: Dr. Pierre Payment, INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier, Laval, Quebec,
Canada
Chair: Dr. Michèle Prévost, Ecole Polytechnique de Montréal, Montreal,
Quebec, Canada
Chair: Dr. Jean-Claude Block, Laboratory of Physical Chemistry and Micro-
biology for the Environment, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique,
University Henri Poincaré, Nancy, France
Dr. Henryk Enevoldsen, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission
Centre on Harmful Algae, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen,
Denmark
Dr. Sunny Jiang, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, California
Dr. Harvey Winters, Fairleigh Dickenson University, Teaneck, New Jersey
MONITORING, SURVEILLANCE, AND REGULATION
Chair: Dr. David Cunliffe, Environmental Health Service, Department of
Health, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Dr. Marie-Marguerite Bourbigot, Veolia Environment, Paris
Dr. Shoichi Kunikane, Department of Water Supply Engineering, National
Institute of Public Health, Wako, Japan
Dr. Richard Sakaji, East Bay Municipal Utility District, Oakland, California
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS
Chair: Dr. Sabine Lattemann, Federal Environment Agency (UBA), Berlin
Mr. Bradley Damitz, Monterey, California
© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC