ABSTRACTThis research has been conducted in a desalination plant in a production facility in the south Iranian oil field. The effluent of desalination plants is usually known as one of the most contaminated effluents in oil industry. Having this fact in mind, we have tried to measure the concentration of heavy metals (V, Ni, As, Pb, Cd, and, Fe) and also naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) in the desalination effluent and compare measured concentrations with respect to the international standard values and the other effluent in the other oil fields around the world in order to provide Environmental Management Plan (EMP) for the safe desalter effluent discharge to the environment. The desalination effluent sampling point was selected right at the location where it is discharged to the evaporation ponds. A total of five samples were taken in a period of one year, every two months. The concentration of heavy metals and NORM was measured with LSC (Liquid Scintillation Counting) and AAS (Atomic Absorption Spectrometry) methods, respectively. A significant difference of variable means against the standard was calculated with Minitab 17. The average measured concentrations of V, Pb, Cd, 238U, and 226Ra did not show a significant difference with standard values, whereas Ni, Fe, and As did show a significant difference with the 95% confidence level. Different oil origins in different geographical areas are the reasons of difference in measured variable amounts in produced water and their waste water.