Brine Waste: Issues, Disposal and Reduction (2017)

In 2016, in response to California’s extreme drought conditions, California Senator Robert Hertzberg (D-San Fernando Valley) introduced Senate Bill 163, “Renewable Water Portfolio Supply,” which declared that discharging treated wastewater into the ocean is an unreasonable use of water in the state of California. The bill proposed a requirement that wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) reuse 50% of treated wastewater by 2026, and 100% by 2036 – in other words, Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD). The State should move toward ZLD in the long term, and disposal of brine waste represents a significant obstacle to overcome. HTO recommended that California should immediately dedicate more research to the issue.

SB 163 has been dropped, most likely because of the difficulty of brine disposal. This paper lays out the issues.