ASCE/EWRI Efforts to Establish Concentrate Management Guidelines for Desalination and Water Reuse

In 2004, there were no industry-wide concentrate management performance standards for the types of desalination and water reuse technologies identified in the recently completed "Desalination and Water Purification Technology Roadmap". Additionally, brackish and seawater desalination and concentrate management regulations vary significantly from state-to-state, region-to-region, and internationally, in terms of both field testing and monitoring requirements. For example, the best management practices recommended for concentrate disposal in one state may not be allowed in an adjoining state. In other cases, receiving water quality criteria either do not exist, or may require a concentrate stream's quality to be significantly better than the quality of the receiving water. As desalination and water reuse become an increasingly larger part of our water supply and water use portfolio, improved guidance and standards on environmentally, ecologically, and economically sound management practices for desalination and water reuse concentrate are needed. In 2005, several organizations including the American Water Works Association, Ground Water Protection Council, Water Reuse Foundation, and the Environmental Protection Agency agreed to work cooperatively through an American Society of Civil Engineers-Environmental and Water Resources Institute task committee to develop a consensus-based assessment and provide recommendations and guidance on sound and commonly acceptable concentrate management practices for new and existing desalination and water reuse facilities of all sizes. The ASCE/EWRI task committee has worked to establish appropriate activities for 2006–2007, and this paper provides an overview of the goals, objectives, schedule, and progress to date of these efforts.