Seawater desalination in Israel and its environmental impact

Until recently, very little information had been published about the effect of seawater desalination plants on the marine environment, overlooking, for instance, the discharge of chemicals in the reject brine.The plants at Ashkelon, Israel, and Perth, Australia, have been among the first to look at this aspect. This article looks at two working Israeli seawater reverse-osmosis plants, Ashkelon and Palmachim, located on the Mediterranean coast. They have contrasting discharge methods, which allows a closer look at the environmental effects. This article first appeared in the February/March 2012 issue of Desalination & Water Reuse magazine.

Until recently, very little information had been published about the effect of seawater desalination plants on the marine environment, overlooking, for instance, the discharge of chemicals in the reject brine.The plants at Ashkelon, Israel, and Perth, Australia, have been among the first to look at this aspect.

This article looks at two working Israeli seawater reverse-osmosis plants, Ashkelon and Palmachim, located on the Mediterranean coast. They have contrasting discharge methods, which allows a closer look at the environmental effects.

This article first appeared in the February/March 2012 issue of Desalination & Water Reuse magazine.