Birzeit University

Department of Civil Engineering

ENCE 411: Seminar in Civil Engineering

Brackish Water Treatment and Usage

Awni Al Aref 1122051

Instructor: Dr.Faisal Awadallah

Birzeit-Palestine

March 15,2017:
Many areas of the world face the task of providing water for rapidly

growing populations in

environments where new water supplies are not readily available. Some

stakeholders have

proposed using unconventional water resources, including brackish

groundwater, in order to

meet these emerging demands (Hightower et al. 2005).

Brackish Water Definition:

All water naturally contains dissolved solids that, if present in sufficient

concentration, can

make a surface-water or groundwater resource brackish, typically

defined as distastefully

salty. Although quantitative definitions of this term vary, it is generally

understood that

brackish groundwater is water that has a greater dissolved-solids content

than occurs in

freshwater, but not as much as seawater (35,000 milligrams per liter). It is

considered by many

investigators to have dissolved-solids concentration between 1,000 and

10,000 milligrams per

1
liter (mg/L). The term saline commonly refers to any water having

dissolved-solids

concentration greater than 1,000 mg/L and includes the brackish

concentration range.

Brackish water condition commonly occurs when fresh water meets sea

water. In fact, the most

extensive brackish water habitats worldwide are where a river meets the

sea. In addition to

certain surface water settings such as estuaries, brackish water can be

found in aquifers. In

some regions of the world with limited availability of freshwater,

desalination of brackish

groundwater is being used as an alternative supply.

Brackish Water Treatment

Because brackish groundwater contains a high level of salts, it requires

advanced treatment

prior to most common uses. Brackish water have many treatment methods

and the most

commonly used method is reverse osmosis (RO).

Reverse Osmosis systems can be used to remove both salts and organic

materials from brackish

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water, enabling communities with limited fresh water to increase potable

water for their

inhabitants. Long lasting, highly efficient membranes reduce

demineralization and desalination

costs. Reverse osmosis produces one of the purest methods of water

filtration, removing up to

99% of all contaminants from water.

In (RO), water passes through a series of filters including an activated

carbon filter for the

removal of chlorine. After which the water passes through a semi

permeable membrane that

has the ability to remove and reject a wide spectrum of impurities,

bacteria and contaminants

from the water, producing an ultra pure product water. Every 10 gallons of

brackish water is

converted to nine gallons of drinking water. The salts and minerals that are

removed are then

injected deep into the ground into an area where existing salt

concentrations are higher.

Most Brackish Water can be treated with a Reverse Osmosis Water

Purification System,

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however, desalinating brackish water occurs at lower pressure compared

to seawater

desalination, resulting in more economical process, less energy

consumption and more cost

efficient.

Seawater desalination in the Arabian countries and Arabian Gulf

countries:

In some of the more arid parts of the Middle East, in particular the Gulf

states, where

good quality water is not available or is extremely limited, desalination of

seawater

has been commonly used to solve the problems of water supply for

municipal and

industrial uses. Kuwait was the first state to adopt seawater desalination,

linking electricity

generation to desalination. The co-generation station, as it is called, re-

uses low pressure steam

from the generator to provide energy for the desalination process. As a

result, both energy and

costs are minimized. Kuwait began desalinated water production in 1957,

when 3.1 million m3

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were produced per year. By 1987 this figure had risen to 184 million m 3

per year. (Abusada,

S.M. 1988.).

In Qatar, too, an intensive programme of desalinated water production has

been started, which

should be supplying about 150 million m3 of water per year by the year

2000. This is believed

to be about threequarters of the total water demand, with the rest to be

supplied from

groundwater sources, which are mostly brackish. About half of the

country's demand will be

generated in the urban/industrial centres.

Saudi Arabia entered the desalinated water field much later than Kuwait.

The first plant was

commissioned in 1970. It has, however, gone in for an ambitious

programme of desalination

plant construction on both the Red Sea and Gulf coasts. The Saline Water

Conversion

Corporation had installed 30 desalination plant projects by the end of the

1980s. The total

production of desalinated water is estimated to be 2.16 million m 3 (572

million [US] gal.) per

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day including a facility at Al-Jubail producing 1 million m 3 per day, which is

currently the

world's largest distillation plant. (Akkad, A.A. 1990.).

In Gaza, desalinated brackish groundwater has become an important

source of drinking water.

Over 20,000 consumers in over 50% of the Gaza households have installed

domestic (RO) units

to desalinate water for drinking purposes. The water quality is high,

though the water lacks

basic minerals. As of January 2014, there were 18 neighborhood

desalination plants in the Gaza

strip, providing safe drinking water for free to 95,000 people who come to

fill their canisters

at the plants. 13 of these plants are operated by UNICEF.

Brackish Water Usage:

Brackish groundwater is directly used for purposes such as cooling water

for power generation,

aquaculture, and for a variety of uses in the oil and gas industry such as

drilling, enhancing

recovery, and hydraulic fracturing. Brackish water reverse osmosis can

also be used by specific

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industries in which water is a key ingredient, namely the food and

beverage industries. For

example, Carlsbergs operations in Israel used brackish water reverse

osmosis units for the

removal of residual salts, organics, and bacteria from tapwater at its

facility. (National Research Council, 2008).

References

Abusada, S.M. 1988. The Essentials of Groundwater Resources of Kuwait. Technical Report
KISR2665. Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research.

Akkad, A.A. 1990. Conservation in the Arabian Gulf

Countries. Management and Operations, journal of the American Water
Works Association, May.

Alley, W.M. 2003. Desalination of ground water: Earth science perspective.

U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 075-03.

Brackish Groundwater National Desalination Research Facility.

Hightower, M., R. Kottenstette, and L. Webb. 2005. Regional Trends in the

Use and Reuse of Impaired Water. Paper presented at the 50th Annual
New Mexico Water Conference, Las Cruces, New Mexico. October.

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National Research Council, 2008, Desalinationa national perspective:
Washington D.C., The National Academies Press.