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Reorientation of Our Saline Water Resources Thinking
Author(s) -
Kohout F. A.
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/wr006i005p01442
Subject(s) - brackish water , saline water , desalination , groundwater recharge , environmental science , gallon (us) , groundwater , produced water , seawater , water resources , environmental engineering , aquifer , hydrology (agriculture) , water resource management , waste management , engineering , salinity , chemistry , geology , ecology , membrane , geotechnical engineering , biochemistry , oceanography , biology
Desalination as a method for making sweet water from salt water is currently one of the most important factors that conceptually change the direction of our investigation of the nation's water resources. Desalting costs have decreased from about $5 per 1000 gallons 10 years ago to about $1 per 1000 gallons for seawater distillation today. For membrane desalting of brackish ground water, costs now range from 40 cents to $1 per 1000 gallons. Projected costs for desalting in the mid‐1970's are in the range of from 25 to 50 cents per 1000 gallons at the plant, which is in the same range as consumer costs for delivered water in large cities in 1969. Thus, saline ground water has developed considerable intrinsic worth. In addition, the pore space occupied by the saline water can be considered as a useful medium for storing natural gas, for artificial recharge and recovery of freshwater stored as ‘bubbles’, or for storing certain toxic industrial wastes. These beneficial uses are not necessarily competitive or incompatible, but great reliance must be placed on hydrologic prediction if haphazard interference of the various uses is to be avoided. Our thinking, planning, and investigative funding must be greatly expanded to provide necessary data on the physical, chemical, and hydrologic boundaries of saline water systems. On this total view of the environment depend enlightened engineering and legal decisions concerning best use of saline ground water and saline aquifers.