Re:California is not in drought
by throwaway197812 on Thursday May 06, 2021 @07:25PM
(#27070126)
Better membranes and renewable-powered desalination plants are not going to do anything about the waste problem. Has there been any progress on that?
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Re:California is not in drought
by WarOnPrivacy on Thursday May 06, 2021 @07:34PM
(#27070187)
Brine disposal has always been my concern. I haven't come across anything promising but I'm well out of the loop.
wouldn't releasing brine into the ocean be viable with a suitable dispersal mechanism? Or are there additional chemicals released from the plant?
Re:California is not in drought
by d110af5ccf on Thursday May 06, 2021 @08:53PM
(#27070710)
Yes. We already do this for all sorts of things, including sewage. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_outfall)
Can't we just have giant "salt plains" where we allow the brine to evaporate and we just collect the remaining salt/minerals?
Maybe I'm crazy or not informed enough, but I always thought this water-desalination thing was a solved problem. Then I got confused when they talked about how there is "brine waste" and it's a huge ecological problem. Why do they stop short of full evaporation of the brine?