Pumping-Induced Feed Water Quality Variation and Its Impacts on the Sustainable Operation of a Brackish Water Reverse Osmosis Desalination Plant, City of Hialeah, Florida, USA

Zoie R. Kassis, Weixing Guo, Robert G. Maliva, W. Scott Manahan, Rachel Rotz and Thomas M. Missimer ()
Additional contact information
Zoie R. Kassis: Department of Biomedical, Environmental and Civil Engineering, U. A. Whitaker College of Engineering, Florida Gulf Coast University, 10501 FGCU Boulevard South, Fort Myers, FL 33965, USA
Weixing Guo: Groundwater Teck Inc., 14542 Indigo Lakes Circle, Naples, FL 34119, USA
Robert G. Maliva: WSP USA, Inc., 1567 Hayley Lane, Suite 202, Fort Myers, FL 33907, USA
W. Scott Manahan: WSP USA, Inc., 1567 Hayley Lane, Suite 202, Fort Myers, FL 33907, USA
Rachel Rotz: Department of Marine and Earth Sciences, Florida Gulf Coast University, 10501 FGCU Boulevard South, Fort Myers, FL 33965, USA
Thomas M. Missimer: U. A. Whitaker College of Engineering, Florida Gulf Coast University, 10501 FGCU Boulevard South, Fort Myers, FL 33965, USA

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 6, 1-18

Abstract: Brackish water reverse osmosis (BWRO) desalination of groundwater is believed to be a sustainable method of providing municipal utilities with a high-quality supply in regions where freshwater sources are stressed and not sustainable. A key aspect of water management is the ability to evaluate an aquifer containing brackish water to ascertain future pumping-induced water quality changes and their impacts on the facility operation and economics. The city of Hialeah, Florida, has operated a BWRO facility for the last 9 years. The facility has a maximum design capacity of about 88,000 m 3 /d but is currently operating at about 33,000 m 3 /d. The facility was designed to treat water with a TDS of up to 10,000 mg/L. A detailed hydrogeologic investigation, including groundwater solute-transport modeling, suggested that the salinity of the source water would remain under 10,000 mg/L of TDS during the 30-year life expectancy of the facility. However, after 9 years of operation, it was found that the rate of salinity increase was much higher than predicted (27.5%), at the low rate of 33,000 m 3 /d. If the faculty was operated at the maximum capacity, the ability of the plant to treat the source water might be between 5 and 10 years. The conceptual model used to guide the solute transport modeling was not accurate for this site because it did not incorporate the apparent enhanced leakance through the basal confining unit below the aquifer. The greater leakance was likely caused by undetected, irregularly distributed fracturing of the underlying confining dolostones. The facility will require a major redesign to upgrade the process to be able to treat seawater at a TDS significantly above 10,000 mg/L in the future, should that occur. While the change will be costly, with a high capital cost to change the process, increased energy consumption, and overall higher water treatment cost, it is still more sustainable and has less environmental impact compared to other alternatives (e.g., treating tidal sources of seawater). The use of electricity from nuclear or solar generation could mitigate the environmental impacts of higher power consumption.

Keywords: brackish-water reverse osmosis desalination; sustainability; Floridan Aquifer System; municipal water supply; groundwater modeling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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