Inland Brackish Water Research Articles

Inland Desalination: Challenges and Research Needs

Drought and population growth have both contributed to water scarcity in many inland areas of the United States, especially the Southwest. This has focused attention on inland desalination of subsurface brackish waters and wastewaters. Inland desalination will differ from seawater desalination because the byproduct brine (concentrate) produced during reverse osmosis treatment cannot be disposed of in the ocean. Moreover, inland brackish waters and wastewaters differ in composition from seawater, the former being dominated by calcium, carbonate and sulfate rather than sodium and chloride. Concentrate management for inland desalination will have to address basic salinity and sustainability issues, while smaller plant size and water pumping costs may lead to increased expenses for inland desalination plants. Background

Reverse Osmosis Desalting of Inland Brackish Water of High Gypsum Scaling Propensity: Kinetics and Mitigation of Membrane Mineral Scaling

The potential for mineral scaling that may limit the generation of new potable water resources by reverse osmosis (RO), from inland brackish water of high gypsum scaling propensity, was experimentally explored via flux decline measurements and real-time RO membrane surface imaging. Antagonistic gypsum and calcium carbonate scaling kinetics were demonstrated for high-sulfate brackish water desalting. RO scaling studies with brackish water from the California San Joaquin Valley (approximately 10 000 mg/L total dissolved solids) revealed that membrane gypsum scaling was increasingly retarded with rising bicarbonate concentrations. Crystal growth rate, fractional membrane scale coverage, and flux decline decreased by up to about 63, 78, and 73%, respectively, as the bicarbonate concentration increased, at the membrane surface, from < 0.01 to 7.81 mM, for a gypsum saturation index of 2. Inhibition of gypsum crystal growth was attributed to bicarbonate adsorption onto the crystal surfaces, and CaCO3 scaling was undetected even up to a calcite saturation index of approximately 16. Given the suppression of gypsum scaling by bicarbonate, it is essential to considerthis effect in the conventional practice of pH adjustment to suppress CaCO3 scaling. The present results suggest that antagonistic and synergistic mineral crystallization kinetics effects are important for optimizing scale-control strategies (e.g., acid and antiscalants addition to the RO feed).

Global diversity of spelaeogriphaceans &amp; thermosbaenaceans (Crustacea; Spelaeogriphacea &amp; Thermosbaenacea) in freshwater

Spelaeogriphaceans and thermosbaenaceans are two orders of eyeless, unpigmented peracarid crustaceans represented by very few species from subterranean waters. Spelaeogriphaceans occur only in continental waters, either running or still, in limestone or sandstone caves, or in calcrete aquifers. The four species known are limnic except one occurring in slightly brackish water loosely associated with an endorheic basin. The Thermosbaenacea are primarily marine, with only 18 species recorded in limnic conditions or in brackish inland waters whose salinity does not derive from dilution of seawater. They occur in limestone caves, the interstitial medium associated to alluvial deposits, or in thermo-mineral springs. Spelaeogriphaceans are found on the southern continents, in ancient cratons not affected by sea transgressions at least since the Early Cretaceous, when Gondwana started to breakup. The former integration of these terranes into Gondwana suggests that the penetration of spelaeogriphaceans in continental waters took place previous to the fragmentation of this super continent (starting ca. 140 Ma), and that their current distribution pattern was driven by continental drift. The distribution of the Thermosbaenacea matches precisely the area covered by the ancient Tethys Sea or its coastlines. They are most probably relicts of a once widespread shallow-water marine Tethyan fauna stranded in interstitial or crevicular groundwater during marine regressions.

Desalination of Brackish Waters Using Ion-Exchange Media

An environmentally friendly method and materials study for desalinating inland brackish waters (i.e., coal bed methane produced waters) using a set of ion-exchange materials is presented. This desalination process effectively removes anions and cations in separate steps with minimal caustic waste generation. The anion-exchange material, hydrotalcite (HTC), exhibits an ion-exchange capacity (IEC) of ∼3 mequiv g-1. The cation-exchange material, an amorphous aluminosilicate permutite-like material, (Nax+2yAlxSi1-xO2+y), has an IEC of ∼2.5 mequiv g-1. These ion-exchange materials were studied and optimized because of their specific ion-exchange capacity for the ions of interest and their ability to function in the temperature and pH regions necessary for cost and energy effectiveness. Room temperature, minimum pressure column studies (once-pass through) on simulant brackish water (total dissolved solids (TDS) = 2222 ppm) resulted in water containing TDS = 25 ppm. A second once-pass through column study on act...

The macrofauna distribution in brackish inland waters in relation to chlorinity and other factors : de Kroon, Hans, Hans de Jong and J.T.A. Verhoeven, 1985. Hydrobiologia, 127(3):265–275

The macrofauna distribution in brackish inland waters in relation to chlorinity and other factors : de Kroon, Hans, Hans de Jong and J.T.A. Verhoeven, 1985. Hydrobiologia, 127(3):265–275

The macrofauna distribution in brackish inland waters in relation to chlorinity and other factors

The macrofauna of small isolated brackish waters on a barrier island in the Dutch Wadden Sea was sampled qualitatively. An attempt was made to correlate species composition and species richness to chlorinity characteristics and to data on the water regime of the localities studied.

Macrofauna distribution in brackish inland waters in relation to chlorinity and other factors

Macrofauna distribution in brackish inland waters in relation to chlorinity and other factors

Note on the distribution ofSigara selecta (Fieber) in the brackish inland waters of the south-west Netherlands

A survey of the distribution ofSigara selecta (Fieber) in the south-west Netherlands is reported. Some chemical, physical and biological parameters are presented. The species was found in about 20, for the greater part mesohaline and polyhaline, inland waters, usually accompanied bySigara stagnalis (Leach). In these waters an increase in the density of the vegetation is accompanied by a replacement ofS. stagnalis byS. selecta.

The distribution of aquatic oligochaetes in brackish inland waters in the SW Netherlands

Macrobenthic fauna was sampled in inland waters with unstable environmental parameters in the SW Netherlands. The distribution of 23 species of aquatic oligochaetes was related to chlorinity. Oligochaetes and other macrofaunal taxa were grouped by cluster analysis. Brackish-marine oligochaetes appeared to have a similarly large tolerance for chlorinity variations, as is known for the better researched euryhaline macrofauna.

The Diatom Flora of the Lower Chevelon Creek Area of Arizona: An Inland Brackish Water System

The Diatom Flora of the Lower Chevelon Creek Area of Arizona: An Inland Brackish Water System

Symposium on “Salt and Brackish Inland Waters” Introductory Comments

"Symposium on “Salt and Brackish Inland Waters” Introductory Comments." Internationale Vereinigung für theoretische und angewandte Limnologie: Verhandlungen, 17(1), pp. 419–420