ArmadilloReasonable9

ArmadilloReasonable9 t1_issdv9o wrote

18% salt by weight? This stuff is 5% salt by weight, 15% higher than sea water. Sadly there probably wouldn’t be many desalination plants near areas that have to salt their roads.

There are definitely uses for it but they’re all pretty impractical until we’ve got excess renewable energy capacity to pump it further or use electrolysis to separate the different ions.

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ArmadilloReasonable9 t1_isp84xj wrote

There was no mention of toxicity in that article? Dissolution of NaCl in H2O produces Na+, Cl-, OH- and H+ ions. These can form sodium hydroxide and hydrochloride acid. The article supports what I said saying that careful discharging into the ocean is safe if properly managed.

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ArmadilloReasonable9 t1_isp5lo0 wrote

That’s exactly what it means, there’s a safe amount of any substance. A substance is toxic when it harms an organism. You can’t just eat sea salt, even water is toxic when you drink enough of it to dilute you blood to the point your cells swell and burst.

This brine is toxic because it is saltier than the local ecosystem is able to tolerate, and can displace seawater forming pools that hang around.

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ArmadilloReasonable9 t1_isp3tze wrote

It’s sea water with a 15% higher concentration of salt, the brine just needs to be well dispersed and released slowly and it won’t cause any issues to the environment. That article was a mess.

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