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this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2023
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I know we need this, but we can't drink the ocean withour consequences either.
Are you worried it's not going to make its way back to the ocean?
I'm worried we will take too much at once. What happens when these machines are running? How do we ensure the water is placed back correctly? You can't just dump it back in desalinated if everyone is doing it. Thats millions of gallons of fresh water. I'm not sure what the effects are, I just know that they will be and we'll have to figure that out too.
Right now the salinity of the ocean is decreasing because of the polar ice melting. So to some extent, taking freshwater out of the ocean should be beneficial to preserving its ecological conditions.
It depends on how the brine is reintroduced, which I am sure will be up to the company or individuals will have some sort of collection for households. But salinity going down raises ocean temperatures, as I've mentioned in a comment down below so I won't really restate it gere.
Definitely something needing consideration. Currently reverse osmosis plants are pumping super saline water out. I haven't looked too closely at how much damage they're doing. I've heard it's a problem they're trying to address
I also know ice cap melting is reducing salinity in other areas, which effects tempurature absorption and currents.