Need for Saline Groundwater Data To Advance Desalting Technology

Abstract

The use of desalting technology to supplement the water resources in semiarid areas of the United States indicates the need for more detailed information on the quantity and quality of saline groundwater supplies. The disposal of brine, a waste product of all desalting processes, poses a formidable problem at inland plant sites. Present work indicates that solar evaporation ponds and subsurface injection are the preferred methods of disposal. The latter method, if employed, would require more data and information on the geologic and hydrologic features of subsurface formations. Systems studies relating the intake and brine disposal facilities with the desalting process are being conducted to achieve optimum system economics.