The GCC countries have been experiencing an accelerated socio-economic development process since the 1970s,resulting in rapid demographic and urbanization growth and associated with rapidly increasing municipal water ...The GCC countries have been experiencing an accelerated socio-economic development process since the 1970s,resulting in rapid demographic and urbanization growth and associated with rapidly increasing municipal water demands.To meet these demands’quantity and quality,the GCC countries resorted to desalination.Currently,the GCC countries collectively possess the largest desalination capacity in the world(~45%),and based on the current urbanization trends,it is expected that current rates in desalination capacity growth will continue in the future.However,desalination has a number of environmental externalities on the marine,and their severity will depend on various factors(i.e.,site-specific).The objective of the present study is to investigate the impacts of the brine water discharged by Al-Dur RO desalination plant on the coastal infauna benthic species composition in the east coast of Bahrain.Sediment samples were collected from 10 locations selected at different distances from the discharge outlet.The species composition of infauna was investigated using univariate analysis and multivariate analysis.The results showed an extreme elevation in temperature(>38℃)and hypersaline waters(>55‰)at locations nearby the discharge outlet,and also at bottom waters of depths more than 3 m during the high and low tide cycles in both seasons with exceptional levels in summer.Four main groups of benthic infauna identified are represented by Polychaeta(12 taxa),Bivalves(4 taxa),Gastropod(2 taxa),and Amphipod(3 taxa)including 256 specimens.The univariate analysis indicated spatial variations in infauna species composition where the lower diversity indices were found at locations close to the discharge outlet and at Station 5 where noticeable vertical differences were observed indicating exceptional elevation of hypersaline waters with lesser extent of temperature at bottom layer.However,the highest species diversity indices characterized the most offshore stations.The infauna species composition found to be related to the water quality particularly salinity in the outlet vicinity rather than the bottom texture.Polychaeta could be considered as the most useful bio-indicator to reveal any contamination from desalination brine discharge,due to their sensitivity and their capability to adopt to any environmental alteration.展开更多
文摘The GCC countries have been experiencing an accelerated socio-economic development process since the 1970s,resulting in rapid demographic and urbanization growth and associated with rapidly increasing municipal water demands.To meet these demands’quantity and quality,the GCC countries resorted to desalination.Currently,the GCC countries collectively possess the largest desalination capacity in the world(~45%),and based on the current urbanization trends,it is expected that current rates in desalination capacity growth will continue in the future.However,desalination has a number of environmental externalities on the marine,and their severity will depend on various factors(i.e.,site-specific).The objective of the present study is to investigate the impacts of the brine water discharged by Al-Dur RO desalination plant on the coastal infauna benthic species composition in the east coast of Bahrain.Sediment samples were collected from 10 locations selected at different distances from the discharge outlet.The species composition of infauna was investigated using univariate analysis and multivariate analysis.The results showed an extreme elevation in temperature(>38℃)and hypersaline waters(>55‰)at locations nearby the discharge outlet,and also at bottom waters of depths more than 3 m during the high and low tide cycles in both seasons with exceptional levels in summer.Four main groups of benthic infauna identified are represented by Polychaeta(12 taxa),Bivalves(4 taxa),Gastropod(2 taxa),and Amphipod(3 taxa)including 256 specimens.The univariate analysis indicated spatial variations in infauna species composition where the lower diversity indices were found at locations close to the discharge outlet and at Station 5 where noticeable vertical differences were observed indicating exceptional elevation of hypersaline waters with lesser extent of temperature at bottom layer.However,the highest species diversity indices characterized the most offshore stations.The infauna species composition found to be related to the water quality particularly salinity in the outlet vicinity rather than the bottom texture.Polychaeta could be considered as the most useful bio-indicator to reveal any contamination from desalination brine discharge,due to their sensitivity and their capability to adopt to any environmental alteration.
