Assessment of the abiotic and biotic effects of sodium metabisulphite pulses discharged from desalination plant chemical treatments on seagrass (Cymodocea nodosa) habitats in the Canary Islands |
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| Institution: | 1. UWA Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, 6009, Australia;2. School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley 6009, Australia;3. School of Life and Environmental Science, Deakin University, PO Box 423, Warrnambool, Victoria 3280, Australia |
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| Abstract: | Reverse osmosis membranes at many desalination plants are disinfected by periodic shock treatments with sodium metabisulphite, which have potentially toxic effects to the environment for marine life, although no empirical and experimental evidence for this is yet available. The aim of this study was to characterise for the first time, the physico-chemical modification of the marine environment and its biological effects, caused by hypersaline plumes during these membrane cleaning treatments. The case study was the Maspalomas II desalination plant, located in the south of Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain). Toxicity bioassays were performed on marine species characteristic for the infralittoral soft bottoms influenced by the brine plume (Synodus synodus and Cymodocea nodosa), and revealed a high sensitivity to short-term exposure to low sodium metabisulphite concentrations. The corrective measure of incorporating a diffusion system with Venturi Eductors reduced nearly all the areas of influence, virtually eliminating the impact of the disinfectant. |
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| Keywords: | Desalination Discharge Sodium metabisulphite Canary Islands |
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