What is Brine Pollution?
When the desalination process separates salt from water, the salt needs to be managed in some way. The typical method is to send the salt-heavy water back into a local bay or inlet. This ‘brine’ has a salt concentration many times higher than seawater. When injected back into a bay or inlet, the marine organisms usually are not able to handle the increased salinity. Like air pollution, the brine will dissipate with time over a large area, but considerable damage can still be done close to the area of emission.
