Effect+of+Brine+Discharge+From+Al-Dur+RO+Desalination+Plant+on+the+Infauna+Species+Composition+in+th

ManagementStudies,Nov.-Dec.2019,Vol.7,No.6,609-623doi:10.17265/2328-2185/2019.06.012EffectofBrineDischargeFromAl-DurRODesalinationPlantontheInfaunaSpeciesCompositionintheEastCoastofBahrainAnwarAl-OsaimiMinistryofEducation,KuwaitThamerSalimAli,WaleedAl-ZubariArabianGulfUniversity,‎Manama,KingdomofBahrainHumoodNaserUniversityofBahrain,‎Zallaq,KingdomofBahrainTheGCCcountrieshavebeenexperiencinganacceleratedsocio-economicdevelopmentprocesssincethe1970s,resultinginrapiddemographicandurbanizationgrowthandassociatedwithrapidlyincreasingmunicipalwaterdemands.‎To‎meet‎these‎demands’‎quantity‎and‎quality,‎the‎GCC‎countries‎resorted‎to‎desalination.‎Currently,‎the‎GCCcountriescollectivelypossessthelargestdesalinationcapacityintheworld(~45%),andbasedonthecurrenturbanizationtrends,itisexpectedthatcurrentratesindesalinationcapacitygrowthwillcontinueinthefuture.However,desalinationhasanumberofenvironmentalexternalitiesonthemarine,andtheirseveritywilldependonvariousfactors(i.e.,site-specific).TheobjectiveofthepresentstudyistoinvestigatetheimpactsofthebrinewaterdischargedbyAl-DurROdesalinationplantonthecoastalinfaunabenthicspeciescompositionintheeastcoastofBahrain.Sedimentsampleswerecollectedfrom10locationsselectedatdifferentdistancesfromthedischargeoutlet.Thespeciescompositionofinfaunawasinvestigatedusingunivariateanalysisandmultivariateanalysis.Theresultsshowedanextremeelevationintemperature(>38°C)andhypersalinewaters(>55‰)‎at‎locations‎nearby‎thedischargeoutlet,andalsoatbottomwatersofdepthsmorethan3mduringthehighandlowtidecyclesinbothseasonswithexceptionallevelsinsummer.FourmaingroupsofbenthicinfaunaidentifiedarerepresentedbyPolychaeta(12taxa),Bivalves(4taxa),Gastropod(2taxa),andAmphipod(3taxa)including256specimens.TheunivariateanalysisindicatedspatialvariationsininfaunaspeciescompositionwherethelowerdiversityindiceswerefoundatlocationsclosetothedischargeoutletandatStation5wherenoticeableverticaldifferenceswereobservedindicatingexceptionalelevationofhypersalinewaterswithlesserex