A proposed index to assess quality of waters from desalination plants

Revista Brasileira de Engenharia Agricola e Ambiental

Antas, Francisco P. de S.¹  Lima, Alexandre de O.²  Oliveira, André M. de³  Freitas, Jair J. R. de⁴  Dias, Nildo da S.⁵ 

[1] Instituto Federal de Educação Ciência e Tecnologia do Rio Grande do Norte, Currais Novos, Brazil;Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-Árido, Angicos, Brazil;Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-Árido, Caraúbas, Brazil;Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-Árido, Mossoró, Brazil;Universidade do Estado do Rio Grande do Norte, Mossoró, Brazil

关键词: soil salinization;    brackish well water;    groundwater contamination.;   

DOI  :  10.1590/1807-1929/agriambi.v22n10p667-672

学科分类：农业科学（综合）

来源: Universidade Federal de Campina Grande * Centro de Ciencias e Tecnologia

【 摘 要 】

Reverse osmosis is the technology commonly used to produce fresh water from brackish groundwater. Due to the reject brine generated in desalination plants by reverse osmosis, vulnerability assessment to define critical areas to monitor waters from desalination has been an important tool for delineating the monitoring networks required for surveillance of potential salinization sites. The objective of this study was to assess the quality of waters sampled in desalination plants by a quality index, which provides a relative assessment of water vulnerability to potential salinization. The present study proposes an index to assess the quality of waters from desalination plants initially using the chemical parameters electrical conductivity, sodium adsorption ratio, Mg2+/Ca2+ ratio, and the ions sodium, chloride and bicarbonate. The index to assess quality of waters from desalination plants showed good performance and can include additional parameters referring to the soil and crop exploited. High values of the relative index of quality of waters from desalination plants are considered as possible indicators of risk of soil salinization and groundwater contamination. The highest level of land use impact on the quality of waters from desalination plants was found in reject brine samples followed by well water samples.

【 授权许可】

CC BY