The brine that is produced is mixed back in with the three quarters of seawater that the buoys pull in but hasn’t gone through the membrane. This is then released back into the sea. “It’s only about 25% saltier than the original sea water,” says Ms Hunt. “It’s a much lower concentration of brine compared to traditional desalination methods.”
My limited understanding of the process lets me assume that it is an open system on the ocean side and thus there is not really a way to capture the concentrate.
However I also doubt that this is a real issue. These are rather small units that even in large scale deployments would be spread over a large area that is highly agitated by waves.
Compared to the total volume of the ocean this concentrate is really insignificant and with other systems it is really more of a mixing problem than that the concentrate is actually harmful at the location it is produced.
On the other hand, on land salt brines can be very environmentally damaging, so the idea to take them out of the ocean is rather misguided.
The water we take out also flows back into the ocean for the most part and currently a lot of non-salty water is entering the oceans from melting glaciers, so making the oceans too saltly is really the opposite of what is a problem right now.
That would be ideal but given how we keep slipping our climate goals, I think it’s worthwhile to have contingency plans to provide some societal stability. If you think we’re not devoting enough resources to combatting climate change, just wait till nations are focusing on fighting water wars and puting down riots. Having ways to provide people with clean water where they live (i.e. most, not near glaciers) isn’t just humane, it helps prevent environmental damage. Wars and their incredible destruction aside, we’re currently draining aquifers and rivers dry all over the place.
Edit: also, if it does become a problem, removing the salt from seawater is easier than removing the water from seawater.
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My limited understanding of the process lets me assume that it is an open system on the ocean side and thus there is not really a way to capture the concentrate.
However I also doubt that this is a real issue. These are rather small units that even in large scale deployments would be spread over a large area that is highly agitated by waves.
Compared to the total volume of the ocean this concentrate is really insignificant and with other systems it is really more of a mixing problem than that the concentrate is actually harmful at the location it is produced.
On the other hand, on land salt brines can be very environmentally damaging, so the idea to take them out of the ocean is rather misguided.
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Main difference being that this is not about mining salt and dumping it in the ocean…
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The water we take out also flows back into the ocean for the most part and currently a lot of non-salty water is entering the oceans from melting glaciers, so making the oceans too saltly is really the opposite of what is a problem right now.
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That would be ideal but given how we keep slipping our climate goals, I think it’s worthwhile to have contingency plans to provide some societal stability. If you think we’re not devoting enough resources to combatting climate change, just wait till nations are focusing on fighting water wars and puting down riots. Having ways to provide people with clean water where they live (i.e. most, not near glaciers) isn’t just humane, it helps prevent environmental damage. Wars and their incredible destruction aside, we’re currently draining aquifers and rivers dry all over the place.
Edit: also, if it does become a problem, removing the salt from seawater is easier than removing the water from seawater.