Eco Environmentally Friendly Sustainable Desalinated Water Production: Turning a Challenge into an Opportunity

Eco Environmentally Friendly Sustainable Desalinated Water Production: Turning a Challenge into an Opportunity | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Eco Environmentally Friendly Sustainable Desalinated Water Production: Turning a Challenge into an Opportunity Mohsen Abdesharif E., Leila Ebrahimi, Elham Ebrahimi Sarindizaj, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6148690/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 6 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The seawater desalination is one of the prevalent methods to supply the freshwater demand. The discharge of saline wastewater from desalination facilities, known as brine, is a significant environmental challenge in the desalination process. This brine has the potential to be used as a raw material with the primary objective of the salt production process, subsequently augmenting desalinated water produced within this process. This paper provides a theoretical design of cost-effective sustainable desalination, by proposing a cost-effective process of harvesting high-value products including sodium chloride, magnesium chloride, calcium chloride, lithium carbonate, sodium hydroxide, and chlorine gas as the main commercial products, besides the desalinated water as a by-product. According to the results, regarding the economic analysis of the proposed methodology for brine discharge management, the B/C ratio of the entire process is about 1.31, demonstrating significant economic efficiency and desirability. The proposed platform can achieve a considerable economic gain and introduces the simplest technologies available to be used in every developing country especially in arid and semi-arid climates, aiming to produce eco-environmentally friendly desalinated water. This way, free desalinated water, the by-product of the process, may contribute to reducing water scarcity and approaching the sustainability goals. Desalination Economic Analysis Salt Recovery Commercial Production Salt Extraction Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 1. Introduction Regarding the rapid population growth, freshwater resources are dwindling which causes challenges related to insufficient water availability and severe water shortages in many regions worldwide. Conventional freshwater resources accommodate about 0.65% of global water, with ununiform distribution to the population (Meissner and Mampane, 2009). Drinking water is emerging as a vital commodity (Al-Karaghouli et al., 2009). Sustainable development in water-stressed areas, as a wicked problem, is closely associated with the available water, and as a subsequence, alternative water sources are required (Ali et al., 2018). Water use is expected to be 56% more than sustainable level by 2030, imposing an economic pressure of about 1 trillion USD/yr (Wilder, 2021). In light of evolving perspectives and mindsets, numerous obstacles that were encountered in the past have now been transformed into extraordinary prospects in the present era. Recognizing challenges as opportunities and proactive participation in their resolution exemplifies the nature of innovation in society (Aithal and Aithal, 2022). Therefore, today, significant emphasis has been placed on the managers’ attitude within the realm of production industries in the global context. In the current situation, water supply, energy production, and food production are considered interconnected factors in any sustainable solution for the water crisis in the future. Highlighting that there is no comprehensive definition of the nexus approach (Ebrahimi and Khorsandi, 2024), in the nexus analysis the interactions of different subsystems are assessed and it is tried to quantify the interconnections between the nexus variables (Zhang et al., 2018). Seawater desalination, as a climate-independent source of water and a practical solution to provide water when resources are insufficient, extends water supply beyond the hydrological cycle. This results in meeting demands and approaching Sustainable Development Goal 6 (Ayaz et al., 2022). Desalination methods provide about 1% of the world’s freshwater, having the reliance of about 4% of the global population to meet their water demands (IWA, 2016; IDRA, 2021). The increasing trend of global desalination capacity, about 7% per annum from 2010 to 2019, is projected to reach double capacity by 2030 (Ayaz et al., 2022). The most important environmental subsequences of the desalination processes include the discharge of highly concentrated discharge (wastewater from seawater desalination; so-called brine), with the higher density and temperature of the effluent compared to seawater, and the effects and subsequences of these wastewater discharges into the sea (Torabi Pellet-Kaleh and Rajabi Hashjin, 2017). On the other hand, these effluent compositions have caused concern about biodiversity change and the population increase in some aquatic species. In contrast, a population reduction is experienced in some other species in a large area of ​​the sea (Morillo et al., 2014). Despite the numerous milestones achieved in the efficiency enhancement of the desalination processes, there remains a remarkable improvement potential. As desalination is predominantly utilized in the Middle East, Spain, Australia, and parts of North America (Schenkeveld et al., 2004; Casas Garriga, 2011; Gude, 2017) which has a high level of living standards (Ali et al., 2018), it is imperative to lower the desalination cost to extend this sector in water-scarce regions worldwide (Kalogirou, 2005). The economic viability of desalination is closely corresponded to the location-specific costs and resource availability (Al-Karaghouli et al., 2009). Overall, different initiatives may deliver advantages, if the economic gains are predicted to outweigh or surpass the associated expenses. Seawater contains a lot of salt, and nowadays the extraction of four main metals (Sodium ( \(\:{Na}^{+})\) , Potassium \(\:\left({K}^{+}\right)\) , Magnesium ( \(\:{Mg}^{2+})\) , and Calcium ( \(\:{Ca}^{2+})\) ) from seawater is done commercially. Industrial and commercial extraction of minerals from seawater has been going on for a long time, and sodium chloride is the most obvious and common example (Bardi, 2010). As an example, Al Mutaz and Wagialia (1988) reported that the concentration of chlorine \(\:\left({Cl}^{-}\right)\) , \(\:{Na}^{+}\) , \(\:{Mg}^{2+}\) , \(\:{Ca}^{2+}\) , and \(\:{K}^{+}\) ions in the Persian Gulf are more than the global average concentration in oceans (23000, 15850, 1765, 500, and 460 ppm, respectively), and have continued to grow in recent years (Baboli and Velayatzadeh, 2013). The high concentration of Na, K, Mg, and Ca in the salty effluent of desalination plants is considered a very suitable source for their industrial extraction. Therefore, by taking advantage of the experiences gained in the commercial extraction of salts from brines, it is possible to conduct an economic analysis of this issue. In fact, in this management method, a desalination system is used to produce concentrated and ready-to-harvest brine, and the desalinated water will be a by-product. Before diving into the review of existing experiences for extracting salts from brines, it seems necessary to underline that the methods of salt extraction from brines have not yet been fully developed and most of the scientific findings are limited to laboratory studies. The recommendation and development of an industrial method on a commercial scale and its economic analysis may cause numerous problems and errors. In addition, the level of access to the required harvesting technologies, the location of the project implementation, and the distance from the product consumption markets are the factors that make the economic analysis challenging. Regarding the seawater desalination worth, it is necessary to acknowledge that the management of desalination plants’ brine, as a rich source of valuable materials, is a state–of–the–art technique and requires the cooperation of industry and scientific centers. With this background, in this research, the authors aim to investigate the possibility of transforming such an attitude in seawater desalination processes. It is essential to explore how desalination may be less questionable to serve as a long-term solution, instead of a temporary opportunity. This study sheds light on various aspects of the integration of economic goals with sustainable desalination systems. An outline of the main desalination processes is followed by an economic evaluation of the associated pros and cons. The paper has been prepared in four sections: Section 2 delves into the evaluation of the salt harvest and illustrates the methodology in subsections. Following the results and discussion in section 3 , a conclusive section with recommendations for future applications is presented. 2. Methodology Future goals for making the desalination sector sustainable include increasing the use of green energy, shared resources, brine recycling, sustainable salt production, higher recovery methods, and recent technologies. Conversely, elements that need to decrease to achieve sustainability include the use of non-renewable energy, adverse environmental impacts, costs, process complexity, and chemicals used in desalination (Ayaz et al., 2022). In this context, this paper aims to propose a method for cost-effective and environmentally friendly desalinated water production. The details are described in the following sections. 2.1. Salt Harvest from the Brine and Seawater Seawater contains a lot of salts (Fig. 1 ), in which \(\:{Na}^{+}\) , \(\:{Mg}^{2+}\) , \(\:{Ca}^{2+}\) , and \(\:{K}^{+}\) have the highest concentration. The next metal is Lithium (Li + ), which has a concentration of about 0.17 ppm (Bardi, 2010). The saline wastewater that originates from desalination plants, by altering the management's perspective and attitude, can be transformed from an environmental concern into a valuable resource. Precipitation is the simplest method among the different extraction processes for various salts. It needs a minimum amount of equipment, infrastructure, and skilled labor. Precipitation of salts of low solubility under supersaturation conditions is very fast, and the induction time is very short. Under those conditions, an unstable phase occurs which is immediately subject to structural irreversible processes (ripening). When seawater evaporates, it undergoes a process of salt precipitation. Here's how it works (Morin et al., 2008): 1. Evaporation and Concentration: As seawater evaporates in a restricted basin (such as a lagoon or salt flat), it becomes more concentrated, forming a brine. The concentration occurs because water evaporates, leaving behind dissolved salts. 2. Sequential Precipitation: Various mineral salts precipitate out in reverse order of solubility as evaporation proceeds. 3. Evaporites: These salty sedimentary deposits produced by evaporation are called evaporites. As seawater continues to evaporate and leave behind the dissolved salts, the accumulation occurs over time. In summary, the process of seawater evaporation leads to the sequential precipitation of different mineral salts, resulting in the formation of evaporites. Examination of the different methods of materials extraction from seawater revealed that the extraction of Na, K, Mg, Ca, Li, Sr, I, and Rb can be economically justified (Loganathan et al., 2017; Zhang et al., 2021). However, more examinations on salt harvesting are required, which are presented in the following sections. 2.1.1. Sodium, Chlorine and Caustic Soda Extraction Sodium chloride extraction from seawater aims to feed chlor-alkali plants. In the chlor-alkali industries, sodium/potassium hydroxide (caustic soda or caustic potash) and chlorine and hydrogen gas are generated using salty water electrolysis. Therefore, the extraction of supersaturated NaCl as input and sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) and the production of chlorine gas and hydrogen as the output of these plants are investigated simultaneously. The extraction of NaCl from seawater using solar evaporation ponds has been known and used commercially for a long time (Zhang et al., 2021), regarding the advantages of using renewable energies and its impact on sustainability. In the fractional crystallization process of seawater, sodium chloride, calcium sulfate, and magnesium chloride begin to precipitate before the other salts due to their high concentration (Steinberg and Dang, 1975). These plants provide the chlorine required in industries for polyvinyl chloride (PVC) production which is a commonly used product (Brinkmann et al., 2014). As another example, Casas Garriga (2011) utilized the electrodialysis (ED) method using ion exchange in selective membranes (selective ion transfer membrane) to concentrate sodium chloride in the effluent from reverse osmosis (RO) desalination plants. He stated that the energy required to produce NaCl is 0.16 kWh/kg finding it very suitable for using the effluent from water softeners for the chlor-alkali units. It is noteworthy that some desalination plants such as the chlor-alkali plant in Bandar Imam Petrochemical Company, in Iran, supply its required NaCl (salt) by evaporating Persian Gulf water in salt evaporation ponds (Godarzi Nik et al., 2012). First, the insoluble salts of calcium, magnesium, and silicates are separated from the seawater, and then the seawater is transferred to the crystallization ponds after being concentrated (Rahbar Shamskar et al., 2007). In evaporation ponds, NaCl with the required characteristics of the chlor-alkali plant is precipitated; after the sodium chloride has been removed, the residual solution is called bittern water, which contains significant amounts of potassium and magnesium salts (Bommaraju, 2007). The chemical analysis of the salts shows that more than 70–80% of sodium is deposited in the density range of 1.26–1.33 g/cm 3 and the percentage of potassium precipitation in this range is very small, while the salts deposited in the density of 1.36–1.33 g/cm 3 has the highest percentage of potassium (Rahbar Shamskar et al., 2007). Al Mutaz and Wagialla (1988) investigated the possibility of extracting sodium hydroxide from the desalination plants' effluent. As a sample site, they chose the desalination site in Al-Jubail Saudi Arabia. They reported that by using the multi-stage distillation method, to dilute the seawater and use the electrolysis of the wastewater, it is possible to extract 500,000 tons of sodium hydroxide, more than 400,000 tons of chlorine, as well as hydrogen gas about 1531344 GJ equivalents of H 2 , annually. Additionally, they stated that the cost of extracting each ton of caustic soda at the Al-Jubail site in Saudi Arabia is 239.27 USD (not including the income from chlorine and hydrogen production). The income from hydrogen and chlorine production per ton of soda was considered as 1.45 and 89 USD, respectively. RO, ED, and nanofiltration (NF), are the three membrane processes available for desalination (Greenlee et al., 2009; Zhou et al., 2015). In a study, the ED method, driven by the development of ion exchange membranes producing high water recovery without any requirement of phase change, reaction, or chemicals (Al-Amshawee et al., 2020), was used along with evaporation to produce bromine, chlorine, and caustic soda from the RO desalination plant effluent (Casas Garriga, 2011; Gasulla Casamajó, 2012). 2.1.2. Potassium, Potassium Chloride and Potassium Sulfate Extraction Potassium is one of the main nutrients required by plants and has a significant effect on the quality of agricultural products, which is called a quality essential element. Potassium sulfate is one of the most commonly used potash fertilizers in the world (Mikkelsen and Roberts, 2021) and contains 50% K 2 O and 18% sulfate (Rahbar Shamskar et al., 2007). There are several methods for industrial production of potassium sulfate, such as the Mannheim process (KCl and sulfuric acid reaction) (Schultz et al., 2000), the conversion of magnesium sulfate sources (Bichara et al., 1985; Goncharik et al., 2014), the phosphogypsum process (Abu-Eishah et al., 2000; Goncharik et al., 2020) or the sodium sulfate reaction with KCl in a two-stage Glaserite process (Fabrik et al., 2017). The two-stage Glaserite process presents a favorable option, as the Mannheim process is the most prevalent method of potassium sulfate manufacture, underlining the challenge of HCl management as a co-product (along with the high energy requirements). However, NaCl is non-toxic and easy to handle by-products with easier process operation, it is not widely used in the industrial scope. Regarding the pricing premium of potassium sulfate (compared to KCl), safety, and low energy usage in the Glaserite process (Ogedengbe et al., 2020), there remains an entrancing investigation path. After NaCl is extracted, effluent from seawater evaporation ponds, so-called bittern, contains significant amounts of potassium and magnesium salts. As a practical example, Guo et al. (2016) studied the recovery and extraction of potassium as a by-product of desalination plants. According to their statements, the extraction rate of potassium from the desalination solution using clinoptilolite was 50% of the initial concentration (in the effluent). Investigation of the adsorption capacity of K + onto modified-clinoptilolite (MC) for recovering potassium from seawater reaches 36.3 mg/g. In another study, Marx et al. (2019), examined discharges of evaporation ponds to produce potassium sulfate and other potential valuable products. With a production capacity of more than 10 6 tons/yr of seawater salts, according to their results, extraction of bittern valuable by-products may be recognized as a commercially attractive approach. 2.1.3. Magnesium and Magnesium Chloride Extraction Magnesium has replaced conventional metals (steel, cast iron, aluminum, etc.) due to its lightweight and appropriate mechanical properties and thermal resistance. Additionally, Mg and its alloys are one of the most important metals in the development of defense and aerospace industries (Karaguiozova et al., 2016). The chlor-alkali industries use evaporation ponds to harvest table salt from seawater, after the precipitation of NaCl, the discharge is a rich source of magnesium chloride (MgCl 2 ) (Lychnos et al., 2010). Due to the higher quality of Mg crystals and the compounds obtained at the end, Mg extraction from seawater is preferable to extraction from land Mg mines (Loganathan et al., 2017). In this regard, studies on the optimization of the electrolysis method for its commercial use have been carried out recently (Liu et al., 2018; Fontana et al., 2023). In the context of the development timeline of studies related to Mg extraction, as one of the earliest investigations, Bhatti et al. (1984) investigated the method of Mg extraction (production of magnesium hydroxide from seawater) and suggested the Dow Seawater Process for magnesium extraction for this purpose. Al Mutaz and Wagialia (1990) investigated Mg production from the effluent of a desalination plant in the Persian Gulf. Their case study has a production rate of 2000 tons/yr, and the cost of producing each ton of Mg was calculated at about 2357 USD. In another study, Rempel et al. (2016) presented a method as a package to extract MgCl 2 and KCl from the effluent of the desalination system of General Electric Company (GEC). Their model is more cost-effective than the system model purchased by the GEC, however, can not cover the installation and operation costs overall. Hussein et al. (2017) concluded that 1.2 × 10 6 tons of magnesium chloride and 7 × 10 5 tons of magnesium sulfate can be extracted from every 10 7 tons of salt produced from seawater. da Silva et al. (2018) utilized Pitzer and Harvie’s Model to evaluate a separation method based on salt crystallization in supersaturated solution to extract different seawater salts. They considered four consecutive evaporation ponds for this purpose: in the first pond, NaCl, in the second pond, NaCl and KCl, in the third pond, MgCl 2 , and in the fourth pond, CaCl 2 reached the supersaturated state making it possible to harvest (Fig. 2 ). The main characteristics and some results of the model are presented in Table 1 . Table 1 General characteristics of the proposed model for salt extraction from seawater (adopted from da Silva et al., 2018) Description 1st pond 2nd pond 3rd pond 4th pond Evaporation pond area (m 2 ) 2442 579 693 2157 Crystallized salts composition (W/Wt%) 72/66% NaCl + 24/59% Water 56/47% NaCl + 15/46% KCl + 25/33% Water 61/01% MgCl 2 + 24/81% Water 63/41% CaCl 2 + 24/91% Water Evaporation intensity from the pond surface (mm/day) 3.5 3 2 1.5 Crystallization rate (kg/h) 160 29 27 94 Bittern discharge (kg/h) 482 385 300 71 Outflow salt concentration (g/L) 311 324 412 472 According to Table 1 , the evaporation intensity ranges from 1.5 to 3.5 mm/day for the ponds considered in the proposed methodology. With a bittern discharge of 482 kg/h in the first pond, this rate falls to 71 kg/h in the last pond. While the outflow salt concentration starts from 311 g/L and increasingly reaches about 472 g/L, the crystallization rate fluctuates from 27 kg/h in the third pond to 160 kg/h in the first pond. As a practical example, using the laboratory chemical method for Mg precipitation in the form of magnesium oxide (MgO), from the samples of the desalination plants effluents in Doha, the annual cost of extracting Mg from brine SWRO (seawater reverse osmosis), is about 605 USD. Specifically, the cost of extracting Mg from the Al-Shuwaykh site in Kuwait is estimated at 780 USD (Ahmad et al., 2019). It should be noted that the market price is about 2500 USD. Highlighting the requirement of a much more detailed field investigation (with a focus on overhead and maintenance and construction costs of necessary facilities). 2.1.4. Calcium and Calcium Chloride Extraction Calcium, as a soft gray alkaline earth metal, is the fifth in fifth in abundance in the earth’s crust and is chemically very active in combining with numerous other elements (Zoroddu et al., 2019). The precipitation of calcium carbonate and sulfate is among the challenging issues on membrane distillation efficiency (Morillo et al., 2014). Overall, in RO systems, efficiency reduction occurs due to pore clogging and membrane surface deposition. Factors contributing to this include natural organic substances, bacterial biofilm formation, and mineral precipitation (e.g., calcium carbonate, sulfate, iron hydroxide) within membrane pores. An energy recovery turbine can mitigate energy use in these systems (Morillo et al., 2014). Two types of calcium chloride are covered: solid and liquid. Solid type includes flakes, pellets, granular, and powder forms with a purity of at least 77% (grade 1), 90% (grade 2), and 94% (grade 3). As for the liquid form, CaCl2 reaches a concentration of 30–45% in water solution (Cross & Associates Limited, 1993). Hafez et al. (2002) investigated the method of extracting Ca from the Red Sea water before the seawater enters the desalination system. According to their statements, removing Ca before entering the desalination system is easier than removing hard calcium carbonate and sulfate. They concluded that using caustic soda (NaOH) as an alkali material instead of lime has a much greater effect on pH and is much more economical. Additionally, the use of caustic soda causes less sludge to be produced. Especially, caustic soda can be obtained from the electrolysis of the desalination plant brine. Their method efficiently precipitates carbonate and sulfate salts in a rapid and environmentally friendly way. However, it lacks selectivity in depositing salts in the process, due to the disregard for the commercial value of specific metals. Therefore, to extract and separate each of the metals from the settled salt mixture, the separation of salts must be done in another step. A large number of soluble salts are separated from seawater; in the next step, other methods such as melting point difference or electrolysis can be used to separate the mentioned metals. 2.1.5. Lithium and Lithium Carbonate Extraction Lithium has been introduced as the element of the 21st century and is mentioned as the primary source of energy storage worldwide (Butt et al., 2022; Ikeuba et al., 2024). In the past, an element with the potential of Li was rarely found (Grew et al., 2019). This element and its future importance can only be compared to carbon, as the essential source of energy production (Islamic Parliament Research Center, 2018). Lithium, as the lightest metal, with the highest specific heat capacity among solids has a low thermal expansion coefficient. Therefore, it has many applications in various industries, especially aerospace, military, nuclear, automotive, steelmaking, pharmaceutical, and many other industries (An et al., 2018; Gao et al., 2021). Lithium compound substitutions in batteries, ceramics, greases, and manufactured glass, may include calcium, magnesium, mercury, aluminum, zinc, and sodic and potassic fluxes (USGS, 2024). However, the use of lithium in lithium batteries as one of the essential tools in electrical energy storage systems has doubled the attention to this strategic metal recently (Bekele and Schmerold, 2020; Kelly et al., 2021). The trend of using energy storage systems from 2010 to 2020, demonstrates that the different technologies usage has increased more than 20 times in the different aspects of the mentioned systems development (Yang et al., 2018). Mineral and brine operations in China, Australia, Argentina, and Chile supply the majority of lithium worldwide (Calisaya-Azpilcueta et al., 2020). The lithium taken from brines and evaporation ponds can be considered a permanent source for the production of batteries (Bekele and Schmerold, 2020; Kelly et al., 2021). Looking back to the earliest studies, Steinberg and Dang (1975) examined seawater as an alternative to natural brines in the United States as a source of lithium supply. Regardless of the type of lithium extraction process from seawater, the minimum theoretical amount of energy requirement was estimated equal to 0.07 kWh/g. The commercial method proposed by Steinberg and Dang (1975) included the evaporation of seawater (to concentrate and remove sodium and magnesium salts), ion exchange, and finally water electrolysis. The main energy consumption in this method is dedicated to water evaporation (concentration). According to their results, if the lithium production is less than 1000 tons/yr, the amount of consumed energy will be 0.2 kWh/g of Li. If the lithium production amount exceeds this limit, due to the increase in pumping costs, the consumed energy to produce of lithium will be between 0.719 to 1.667 kWh/g of Li. An et al. (2012) investigated the extraction of lithium carbonate in Bolivia. The final product of lithium precipitation under their study’s condition was well-crystalline lithium carbonate with high purity (Fig. 4 ). Hoshino (2015) succeeded in recovering 7% of the lithium in seawater in 72 hours and 49% in 30 days by using a selective membrane for the lithium element and a dialysis system. With no need to provide electricity for the system and the electricity required for dialysis is provided by the contribution of the produced energy in the system. In this method, seawater lithium passes through the lithium selective membrane (LISM) and remains dissolved around the cathode in a 0.1 molar hydrochloric acid solution. If the solution extracted from the system is mixed with the sodium carbonate solution, insoluble lithium carbonate is generated, which precipitates in the system. Figure 3 shows the methodology to achieve the high rate of lithium carbonate recovery through Mg, B removal, Ca, and Mg removal, followed by solar evaporation, purification, and carbonation. The lithium carbonate precipitated in this method has a purity of about 99.6%. 2.2. Heavy Metals Bioremediation The discharge of concentrated brine into the sea is recognized as the most alarming environmental concern associated with the desalination processes (Ahmed and Anwar, 2012; Torabi Pellet-Kaleh and Rajabi Hashjin, 2017; Ghernaout, 2020). In this context, biological removal methods have been considered as an economic and more environmentally friendly option. In heavy metal removal and recovery, bioremediation is an innovative technique (using biomass components). It involves the use of living organisms (algae, bacteria, fungi, or plants) to manage heavy metal pollutants in low-risk form (Ayangbenro and Babalola, 2017). Some microalgae are very suitable for removing heavy metals in an aqueous solution, examples may include the accumulation and absorption of Cu and Pb by single-celled green algae (Flouty and Estephane, 2012); nickel-resistant bacterial species; the heavy metals (Pb, Cu, Zn, Cd, Ni, Co and Fe) removal using the pieces Xanthium Pensylvanicum plant (Salehzadeh, 2013); and Cu removal with S.Plantensis algae (Talei Bejarbaneh et al., 2015). A ranking of the removal as Zn < Cd < Cu < Pb < Ni < Fe < Co is proposed (Salehzadeh, 2013), highlighting that this method is significantly economical for removing Fe 3+ and Co 2+ from solutions. One of the noteworthy results of Salehzadeh (2013) is removing more than 70% of divalent copper and lead ions by utilizing parts of a weed in corn cultivation lands. Additionally, the removal rate of iron and cobalt from the solutions was about 90%. As for nickel, this rate was reported at about 80%. Due to the use of plant parts, after mixing and absorption, it floats and provides the possibility of extracting, drying, and packing it to prevent scattering. This approach causes the occupied space reduction in desalination sites. 2.3. Economic Analysis The concerns that have always restricted the growth of the desalination industry include ecosystem degradation and the associated significant costs. Great potential exists for further expansion, but economic constraints impose pressure on many applications (Al-Karaghouli et al., 2009). As desalination is emerging as a critical solution for water security, the energy-efficient technologies extension to approach sustainable development goals and supply clean water is a key investigation topic (Ayaz et al., 2022), making further correctional actions necessary. Desalination economies and the decision-making on their different approaches are affected by location-specific variables such as local costs and availability of energy (Al-Karaghouli et al., 2009; Ziolkowska, 2015). The benefit-to-cost ratio (B/C) is an important financial metric, utilized in the economic assessment of the projects. It is calculated by taking the ratio of gains or positive outcomes of an investment to the expenses associated with the project (Al-Nabulsi et al., 2018). The B/C index as an indicator of whether the project is economically efficient, is the ratio of the present values of the benefit to the cost cash flows. While the benefit-cost ratios less than 1.0 in which the costs outweigh the benefits, reveal an uneconomic investment, the values greater than 1.0 demonstrate an investment that is efficient, profitable, and desirable. The B/C equal to 1.0, suggesting a break-even point, means that the expenses are recovered (Kosmadakis et al., 2009; Abd-ur-Rehman and Al-Sulaiman, 2016). The emphasis of this research is on proposing a method to find an economic solution for the environmental hazards associated with desalination plants. Regarding the commercial aspects, by making the project desirable for the private sector, and the use of the capabilities and expertise of the private sector through Build, Operation, and Transfer (BOT) contracts, a cost-effective freshwater production may be achieved. Additionally, by setting the appropriate measures and correct policies to harvest the most valuable materials from downstream of the desalination plants (i.e. Mg, Na, K, and Li), the unfavorable environmental effects of such facilities will be significantly reduced while gaining economic incentives of the desalinated water production costs. This is achieved by selling by-products derived from the outflow of desalination plants as primary raw materials. Such an approach can boost production capacity and lay the groundwork for establishing substantial desalination facilities that pose minimal environmental issues. Additionally, extracting potassium sulfate from evaporation ponds may result in an investment return period of up to 3 years (Marx et al., 2019). In the case of industrialization of potassium sulfate and magnesium chloride harvesting, the investment return time of 4 years can be achieved (Rahbar Shamskar et al., 2007). Besides, this highlights the less environmental pollution compared to the other industrial methods of potassium sulfate production. Other aspects may include the use of a Nano filter (Telzhenskyet al., 2011), with economic justification, to separate other soluble salts in seawater and the possibility of magnesium ions passing through the Nano filter without monovalent ions passing through it. It should be underlined that the variety of compounds in the brines and sources used in scientific research makes it impossible to accurately explain the economic efficiency of one method in another country. In addition, the published experiences in this field are mostly laboratory-based, which makes the economic performance of an industrial scale, hard to capture. Therefore, the economic analysis of different desalination methods’ performance cannot be fully and reliably indicated. On the other hand, due to the scattered and separate nature of these methods, it cannot necessarily be concluded that if these methods are used together, their profitability will be maintained. Such conclusions require more comprehensive studies and the creation of a pilot system to investigate and specify these issues. It is obvious that the continuation of the current methods, i.e. releasing wastewater into the sea or injecting it into the ground, cannot be a long-term and sustainable solution. From now on, a huge step must be taken to better use of existing resources and less damage to the surrounding environment. Another point is the issue of market price fluctuations and their effect on the economic justification of the plan, which in turn require macro and national policies in the public sector (Bagastyo et al., 2021). 3. Results and Discussion The important point in the economic analysis by the proposed method is the reliability of the plan in case of price fluctuation in one or two products and the possibility of a more detailed analysis of the items that are not taken into account in the calculations. As the contribution of each product in the economic process of this plan is small, their accumulation is of great importance. Therefore, if some items are neglected in the economic calculations, or the local conditions of the research origin (such as overhead costs, labor wage or energy price, etc.) are not the same as the conditions in the planned site, as each salt has a small share in the total economic analysis of the plan, the possibility of rejecting the economic aspect of the whole plan will be low. On the other hand, since the data used in this research are mainly related to the results of the research conducted for the commercial harvest of one or two specific products from seawater, and the overlapping aspect of implementation and overhead costs in case of the accumulation of all these methods in the form of one plan is investigated, then there is a possibility of cost reduction in case of integrated extraction and harvesting system of several products downstream of the desalination plant. The desalination cost per cubic meter of seawater for different desalination methods is between 0.5 - 1.5 USD/m 3 of freshwater (Islamic Parliament Research Center, 2021). It is noteworthy that while for a large-scale SWRO under given conditions, the cost of desalinated seawater is estimated as 0.5 USD/m 3 , this value is higher in other regions, reaching about 1 USD/m 3 (Ghaffour et al., 2013). In the other regions, this cost is approximately between 0.76 and 1.07 USD/m 3 of desalinated water (Ziolkowska, 2015; Charisiadis, 2018). Therefore, regardless of the implemented method, the production cost of each cubic meter of desalinated water can be considered to be about 1 USD/m 3 . In this context, as a generic example, the framework shown in Fig. 4, is proposed using the methods of successive sedimentation ponds. This research tries to introduce the simplest technologies available to be used in every developing country, aiming to produce eco-environmentally friendly desalinated water. Figure 4 offers a methodology for environmentally friendly desalinated water production. The proposed method can be applied in any desalination treatment facility in every developed or developing region without any requirement for primary changes in the facilities. The methodology presented in Fig. 4 describes the steps for a generic case study in any region of the world, however, for estimating the calculations, the data of Iran, as a semi-arid area close to the Persian Gulf is used to test the methodology. Based on Figure 4 and utilizing the data in the global experience reports, economic analysis is presented in Table 2. Table 2. The production cost of different extractable salts of desalinated water Reference Production Cost (USD/ton) The estimated amount of the product in reference (ton/year) Scale The product or material to be extracted Al Mutaz & Wagialla (1988), P 305-306 239 500000 Industrial (desalination unit of Al-Jubail, Saudi Arabia) Caustic Soda (Sodium Hydroxide) Al Mutaz & Wagialla (1988), P 305-306 - 446430 Industrial (desalination unit of Al-Jubail, Saudi Arabia) Chlorine (Gas) Battaglia et al. (2022), Table 5 2317-3100 5000-48000 Industrial Lithium Carbonate Based on the authors’ investigation 45 49320 Industrial (desalination plant with a capacity of 1 MCM/yr of desalinated water, South of Iran) Sodium Chloride Cross and Associates Limited (1993), P 26-27 *219 28406 Alberta, Canada Magnesium Chloride 46480 Alberta, Canada Calcium Chloride * The amount cited in the reference was in Canadian dollars, therefore, a conversion factor of 0.73 has been applied to the present the value in USD (300 Canadian dollars is converted to 219 USD). More details on the estimations are listed in Table 3. The economic analysis which highlights the proposed methodology’s exceptional justification is presented in the following section. Table 3. Production costs of the goal products of brine treatment Extraction efficiency (%) Salt production by 1 m 3 desalinated water production (kg/m 3 ) Average market price (USD/kg) Production cost (USD/kg) Formula Material to be removed 3.00 1.54 0.3 0.24 NaOH Caustic Soda (Sodium Hydroxide) 3.00 1.37 0.13 0.00 Cl 2 Chlorine (Gas) 10.00 0.6 13 3.09 Li 2 CO 3 Lithium Carbonate 60.00 49.32 0.05 0.04 NaCl Sodium Chloride 3.00 7.69 0.11 0.10 MgCl 2 Magnesium Chloride 60.00 2.048 0.06 0.20 CaCl 2 Calcium Chloride - - - 0.00 KCl Potassium Chloride Regarding the data listed in Table 3, in this research, the main attitude is giving priority to the optimal exploitation of Persian Gulf salts. Na, Mg, and Ca concentrations of the desalination plants' discharge is adopted from Movahed and Abedi (2017). Here, it is considered that utilizing the RO method results in 2 m 3 of wastewater production per cubic meter of desalinated water. The price of unrefined industrial NaCl is calculated from the average price in the Asian market, and the precipitation efficiency in this method is assumed to be about 6 0%. In addition to the amount of caustic soda and chlorine produced, the production cost is estimated based on the study of Al-Mutaz and Wagiala (1988) for the Al-Jubail site in Saudi Arabia. The production cost of MgCl 2 and CaCl 2 is estimated based on the economic studies of the extraction of CaCl 2 and MgCl 2 from the tributaries of Alberta-Canada (Cross & Associates Limited, 1993). Then with the efficiency of 6 0% precipitation for CaCl 2 and 3% for MgCl 2 , the production amount has been evaluated. As the separation of costs was not found in the reference used (Cross & Associates Limited, 1993), with a reported total of 219 USD/ton, the costs have been dominated by 33% for MgCl 2 and 67% for CaCl 2 to dedicate a bigger share for calcium salts. This assumption can be justified by Rahbar Shamskar et al. (2007), which considers the extraction of MgCl 2 from the petrochemical effluent of Bandar Imam Petrochemical Company as an economic and cost-effective process. The market price of these two products was estimated based on the average price obtained from the Alibaba website (Alibaba, 2024), and the prices in other Asian markets. Lithium carbonate estimation has been based on the method proposed by An et al. (2012). The efficiency of this method (which is reported about 47% by Battaglia et al., 2022), is assumed to be 10%, regarding the margin of safety. In practice, the recovery of product water can range from 30% to 80% or more (MacNevin, 2009; WateReuse Association, 2011; Ghafoor et al., 2020; Ahmad et al., 2019). The production cost per unit and price per kilogram for the lithium carbonate deposition method are considered based on the contents of Bagastyo et al. (2021). Meanwhile, the average prices in the Asian markets are slightly more than 15 USD/kg (Optar Capital, 2023), which may be due to price fluctuations and a volatile economy. However, due to the different investigated prices of the product, the value of 13 USD/kg is utilized in the research process. The benefit-to-cost ratio (B/C) as a useful meter providing insight into the benefits that may be obtained from a given investment, helps to evaluate the profitability of a project. To provide a B/C for economic evaluation (Table 4), the information provided in Table 3 is taken into account. Table 4. The cost and income of salt production by producing 1 m 3 of desalinated water PCDW (Production cost (USD/kg/m 3 of desalinated water) 1 ) - (C) Gross income (USD/kg/m 3 of desalinated water) - (B) Material to be removed 0.37 0.46 Caustic Soda (Sodium Hydroxide)- NaOH 0.00 0.18 Chlorine (Gas)- Cl 2 1.89 7.93 Lithium Carbonate- Li 2 CO 3 2.21 2.47 Sodium Chloride- NaCl 0.03 0.14 Magnesium Chloride- MgCl 2 0.30 0.20 Calcium Chloride- CaCl 2 - - Potassium Chloride- KCl 1.00 0.00 Desalinated Water (by-product) 2.32 Overhead Costs 0.58 Mobilization Costs 8.70 11.38 Sum 1 Reference: Al-Mutaz and Wagiala (1988); Cross & Associates Limited (1993); An et al. (2012); Bagastyo et al. (2021) As for the relationships between the values presented in Table 4 and Table 3, the benefit (the 2 nd column in Table 4), which is regared as Gross income (USD/kg/m 3 of desalinated water), is calculated by multiplying the 4 th column (Average market price (USD/kg)) and 5 th column (Salt production by 1 m 3 desalinated water production (kg/m 3 ) of Table 3. In the same way, the cost so called PCDW (Production cost (USD/kg/m 3 of desalinated water) 1 ) in Table 4, is the product of 3 th column (Production cost (USD/kg)) by and 5 th column (Salt production by 1 m 3 desalinated water production (kg/m 3 ) of Table 3. Utilizing the estimations presented bin Table 4, the net income obtained from the wastewater treatment of the seawater desalination plant for each cubic meter of desalinated water is obtained equal to 1.31 and the average cost per cubic meter of desalination, regardless of the method and place of implementation is equal to 1 USD. In which overhead costs include costs of personnel training, quality control and laboratory tests, computers and controlling devices, personnels work in central offices indirectly or directly relate to project, preparation of final data book, operational manual, as-bult, shop drawing, costs of utility bills, tax, insurance, etc. which is estimated about 40% of direct costs. Mobilization costs include cost of construction of office buildings, dormitory, clinic, access roads, fencing around the site, service personnel, etc. which is about 10% of direct costs As depicted in Table 4; by using existing technologies, it is possible to spend 1 USD per cubic meter of desalinated water and get about 1.31 USD of net income (income after deducting expenses). Therefore, the estimated B/C ratiois a quite satisfactory value, indicating that the expected benefits of an investment outweigh the corresponding costs. In other words, this B/C ratio, means that the expected benefits are 1.31 times the associated costs, making it an economically viable investment. In the current case, the desalinated water production will be an efficient and profitable process. This way, as the by-product of the desalination process, free desalinated water, may significantly contribute to approaching the sustainability goals by water scarcity reduction. Besides, this process with a relatively high B/C ratio, provides an economic incentive for different stakeholders including governments and the private sector. Implementing eco environmentally friendly sustainable desalinated water production in near sea coast developing countries faces various technical and logistical challenges. These challenges include the need to integrate renewable energy sources like solar and geothermal power to make desalination processes sustainable (Kaleekkal and John, 2022). Additionally, the high energy consumption of desalination plants, especially those reliant on the electricity grid, leads to significant energy costs and inefficiencies (Bdour et al., 2022). Moreover, the true cost of desalinated water production in terms of environmental, economic, and social factors can almost double when externality costs are considered, highlighting the financial burden of sustainable desalination technologies (Saleh and Mezher, 2021). Addressing these challenges requires a comprehensive analysis of technical-thermal performance, continuous research, and development efforts, and the synergistic integration of renewable energy sources to enhance the feasibility and market penetration of environmentally friendly desalination technologies in developing countries (Saleh and Mezher, 2021; Shokri and Fard, 2022; Kaleekkal and John, 2022). Challenges in implementing eco-friendly desalinated water production in developing countries include membrane development, process design optimization, energy efficiency, improper brine disposal, and economic feasibility (Kaleekkal and John, 2022; Bdour et al., 2022). Additionally, technical-thermal performance enhancement, cost factors, and technological advancements to reduce water production costs, market penetration, and minimizing energy consumption for sustainable water production (Shokri and Fard, 2022; 2023). High energy consumption, environmental impacts, and initial infrastructure costs can be mitigated through innovative technologies and renewable energy sources (Dawouda et al., 2020). Solar desalination offers sustainable water production in developing countries, addressing challenges like low-cost, maintenance-free systems, and eco-friendly practices to combat water scarcity and environmental impact (Bhagwati et al., 2023). Residual brine discharge from desalination plants may significantly impact the environment including changes in GHG emissions, temperature, salinity, oxygen levels, and overall stress on local aquatic ecosystems (Ariono et al., 2016; Ghernaout, 2020; Bonnail et al., 2023), emphasizing the requirement of accurate analysis and management. The discharge of brine, which is typically returned to the ocean, can lead to negative effects on marine life (marine water quality deterioration, reduced marine species, and economic losses) due to its high salinity and potentially harmful elements picked up during the desalination process (Gao et al., 2014). High salinity, residual chemicals, and heavy metals affect coastal biology and chemistry, water quality, and marine organisms, altering species composition, and causing potential harm to sensitive organisms, benthic fauna, and coral reefs (Yasmina et al., 2016; Fernández-Torquemada et al., 2019). Besides the aesthetic issues (colorization of water bodies due to brine discharge), which affects visual appeal and recreational use (Parshakova and Ivantsov, 2022), residual brine discharge may cause wetland degradation, water contamination, and infrastructure issues (such as encrustation and corrosion), emphasizing the need for sustainable brine harvest for mitigation (Ene et al., 2018). Proper planning and monitoring are crucial to minimize these impacts, with considerations such as selective discharge locations (away from sensitive habitats, coral reefs, areas with high biodiversity, and shallow coastal zones), maximizing mixing with ambient seawater, and implementing environmental monitoring programs to assess brine plume distribution over time while monitoring biota (Aljohani et al., 2022). Additionally, the dispersion patterns of brine discharges need to be carefully analyzed to understand their economic potentials, environmental implications, and geotechnical challenges, especially in areas where saline water discharges can lead to wetland degradation and water contamination (Fernández-Torquemada et al., 2019). In addition to using innovative technologies like forward osmosis, pressure retarded osmosis, or zero-liquid discharge systems to minimize brine production and improve efficiency, brine recovery, such as extracting valuable minerals or using it for industrial processes may reduce the volume of discharged brine. However, a holistic approach, considering local conditions and ecosystem dynamics, is essential for effective mitigation of the environmental impacts of brine discharge. Overall, developing environmentally friendly and sustainable desalination water production encounters barriers like excessive energy usage, disposal of brine, environmental repercussions, and expenses. Maintaining a balance between cost, water security, and gaining public approval is crucial. Successful execution requires cooperation among scientists, engineers, and decision-makers. 4. Conclusion Hypersaline brine production imposes significant environmental stress due to the unsustainable discharge strategies of the desalination plants. Sustainable desalination as the basic necessity is based on appropriate brine management and sustainable power supply (Singh et al., 2020). Brine production is projected to excessively increase as desalination capacity grows aiming to address water scarcity (Kadi et al., 2023). The rising cost of conventional water supplies driven by climatic variabilities, overexploitation, and water scarcity, has positioned desalination as a top choice for boosting water availability (Bello et al., 2021; Backer et al., 2022; Kadi et al., 2023). Increasing awareness about the strategic importance of water for national security has made the issue of desalination be most important part of the water-food-energy nexus (Torabi Pellet-Kaleh and Rajabi Hashjin, 2017). This study may provide a platform to support decision-makers in promoting desalination procedures and cost reduction. From now on, a huge step must be taken to optimize the use of the available resources (funds, water, and energy resources) with less environmental damage. In addition to income generation (commercially profitable), salt removal from wastewater prevents environmental problems. Considering the adverse environmental impact and danger of brine discharge for water resources (due to the presence of Na, Mg, K, and Ca salts, heavy metals, etc.), the attention in this research has been focused on finding an environmentally friendly solution to produce desalinated water with economic efficiency. As there was a knowledge gap in the monetary data of the governing variables of the economic analysis of potassium sulfate or potassium chloride, they are not taken into account in the proposed methodology. However, considering the importance of these materials' application in various industries such as agriculture, it is recommended to examine their extraction in future studies. The paper’s contribution is based on the management attitude alteration and processing of wastewater produced in desalination plants, which can be turned into an eco-environmentally friendly process. Harvest of several high-value by-products from one site ultimately that if some dimensions are ignored in the economic estimation, or if the price of the product fluctuates due to changes in the supply and demand market, the overall economic efficiency of this method will be low risky, or in other words the variety of products makes it hard to become unprofitable. Among the main advantages of the proposed system is its ability to remove the excess concentration of sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, lithium, chlorine, and sulfate ions, caused by the desalination process. As a subsequent, compared to the original raw water, the effluent may have an even lower ion concentration. However, due to the lack of removal of uranium, phosphates, nitrates, etc., the system does not recirculate the effluent. This limitation prevents potential issues by reintroducing the effluent into the original system, as it avoids disruptions and maintains water quality. The proposed methodology requires a remarkable land area, which imposes an economic burden, however, it is developed based on the simplest technologies with low requirement of skilled staff and experts. Thus, the land issue in successive precipitation pond systems for harvesting the main salts (NaCl, MgCl 2 , KCl, CaCl 2 , Li 2 CO 3 , NaOH, and Cl 2 ) is crucial. It should be noted that it is commonly accessible in different developed or developing countries, especially those with arid and semi-arid climates such as Middle Eastern areas. Highlighting that among all the other methods of removing salt from the solution, the need for a sufficient area to create enough evaporation surface of the ponds is an important limiting factor of this method (Morillo et al., 2014; Ariono et al., 2016), it can be mentioned that approximately 250 ha is required for a system with a production capacity of 1 MCM/yr of desalinated water (Refer to Table A1 in Appendix). From a climatic point of view, this method is not suitable for rainy areas due to rainwater entering the evaporation ponds and preventing it from reaching the supersaturation state. Areas with a low number of sunny days per year or low temperatures (due to insufficient evaporation), as well as areas where the land near the coast is expensive, are the regions where this method has no economic justification. With the use of existing technologies, it is possible to spend 1 USD per cubic meter of desalinated water and get about 1.31 USD of net income (income after deducting expenses). Regarding the B/C ratio greater than one (i.e. B/C=1.31), this satisfactory value ensures the efficiency of the proposed methodology. It is noteworthy that this value can fluctuate due to the volatile economy in some developing countries, however, there is yet a potential room for improvement. To come up with more universally applicable approaches, a bright path for further exploration encompasses a deeper analysis of the different economic aspects of the desalination process. The focus of the study is on proposing an efficient method of desalination in different regions, especially developing countries in arid and semi-arid climates, having usable lands, with some modifications, the results can be utilized in any other region worldwide. This way, free desalinated water, as the by-product of the process, may significantly contribute to reducing water scarcity and approaching the sustainability goals. Declarations Declaration of Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process The authors take full responsibility for the content of the publication. Ethical Approval Not applicable. Consent to Participate Not applicable. Consent to Publish Not applicable. Author Contributions Mohsen Abdesharif E.: Conceptualization, Analysis, Data Curation, Resources, Validation, Writing – Review & Editing. Leila Ebrahimi: Investigation, Validation, Writing – Review & Editing. Elham Ebrahimi Sarindizaj: Conceptualization, Analysis, Resources, Visualization, Validation, Writing – Review & Editing. Davood Reza Arab: Investigation, Validation, Writing. Funding The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript. Competing Interests The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose. Data Availability All data and models generated during the study are available from the corresponding author by request. References Abd-ur-Rehman, H. M., & Al-Sulaiman, F. A. (2016). Optimum selection of solar water heating (SWH) systems based on their comparative techno-economic feasibility study for the domestic sector of Saudi Arabia. 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Desalination , 376 , 109-116. Ziolkowska, J. R. (2015). Is desalination affordable? regional cost and price analysis. Water Resources Management , 29 , 1385-1397. Zoroddu, M. A., Aaseth, J., Crisponi, G., Medici, S., Peana, M., & Nurchi, V. M. (2019). The essential metals for humans: a brief overview. Journal of inorganic biochemistry , 195 , 120-129. Supplementary Files Appendix.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Major revisions 25 Feb, 2026 Editor invited by journal 14 Nov, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 28 Mar, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 27 Mar, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 04 Mar, 2025 First submitted to journal 03 Mar, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6148690","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":434884233,"identity":"03e9c5d2-7360-40e5-80c4-5eb5d8b99146","order_by":0,"name":"Mohsen Abdesharif E.","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Tehran University: University of Tehran","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mohsen","middleName":"Abdesharif","lastName":"E.","suffix":""},{"id":434884234,"identity":"9ad2485d-f3fa-41c8-9e30-537acb455ffc","order_by":1,"name":"Leila Ebrahimi","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Leila","middleName":"","lastName":"Ebrahimi","suffix":""},{"id":434884235,"identity":"5ccb3367-da60-46fe-acf7-a35fc98a03bf","order_by":2,"name":"Elham Ebrahimi Sarindizaj","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA4UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYHACNiA+wMPAzHwAyJCAiCUQp4UtgTQtQMxjQJyr+BmYjz2uqLkjo9vO8026MsdCnoH98AOGh3twa5FsYEs3PHPsGY/ZYd5tkme3SRg28KQZMCQ8w63F4ACPGVDbYYiWxm0SjA0MOUC/HMCtxf4A/zfJhn8gLTzPQFrsG/jf4NdiwMDDJtnYBtbCBtKS2CBBwBaJw2zmho19IC1sxpZALcltEs8MDuDTwt/e/Oxhw7fD9mbnDz+82bitzrafP/nhwx94tDAwowvAomkUjIJRMApGAQUAAGuwS/5aCq5AAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2845-4579","institution":"University of Tehran","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Elham","middleName":"Ebrahimi","lastName":"Sarindizaj","suffix":""},{"id":434884236,"identity":"f36c71d8-2ba3-4433-a1e6-662b7096b828","order_by":3,"name":"Davood Reza Arab","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Sharif University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Davood","middleName":"Reza","lastName":"Arab","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-03-03 18:54:45","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6148690/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6148690/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":80620315,"identity":"2374d3aa-7c9c-464d-a692-847825444bcc","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-04-15 09:38:18","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":64791,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eMaterials that can be economically extracted from seawater (adopted from Loganathan et al., 2017)\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6148690/v1/054a2400925d6a56fb9a049f.png"},{"id":80619911,"identity":"3974a738-2d6e-443e-ada3-2e42037e8614","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-04-15 09:30:18","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":87193,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eSchematic of the successive evaporation ponds method (adopted from da Silva et al., 2018)\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6148690/v1/1cdc17676d4d63c39b501d9b.png"},{"id":80619914,"identity":"670f1eb3-e4e0-48be-a4f4-e94d0a1f1148","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-04-15 09:30:18","extension":"png","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":59375,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eFlow diagram for the lithium carbonate recovery from brine (adopted from An et al., 2012)\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6148690/v1/64fc80d13b1558227bcbefb5.png"},{"id":80619915,"identity":"ba86c3c8-4c25-4484-8da0-8987e62bfa4d","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-04-15 09:30:19","extension":"png","order_by":4,"title":"Figure 4","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":103351,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eThe proposed flowchart for the free and environmentally friendly desalinated water production\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"4.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6148690/v1/9e3a585241fd92f8389f7145.png"},{"id":80621280,"identity":"9a721c0c-8787-4e4c-b5fe-893b0924e1db","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-04-15 09:46:20","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1540393,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6148690/v1/36e17378-cad4-4524-95de-4134fde2e1e3.pdf"},{"id":80619912,"identity":"38812edf-769e-4593-989c-56a1bb83a524","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-04-15 09:30:18","extension":"docx","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":17370,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Appendix.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6148690/v1/3a0542a5849251b778bcaa37.docx"}],"financialInterests":"","formattedTitle":"Eco Environmentally Friendly Sustainable Desalinated Water Production: Turning a Challenge into an Opportunity","fulltext":[{"header":"1. Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eRegarding the rapid population growth, freshwater resources are dwindling which causes challenges related to insufficient water availability and severe water shortages in many regions worldwide. Conventional freshwater resources accommodate about 0.65% of global water, with ununiform distribution to the population (Meissner and Mampane, 2009). Drinking water is emerging as a vital commodity (Al-Karaghouli et al., 2009). Sustainable development in water-stressed areas, as a wicked problem, is closely associated with the available water, and as a subsequence, alternative water sources are required (Ali et al., 2018). Water use is expected to be 56% more than sustainable level by 2030, imposing an economic pressure of about 1 trillion USD/yr (Wilder, 2021).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn light of evolving perspectives and mindsets, numerous obstacles that were encountered in the past have now been transformed into extraordinary prospects in the present era. Recognizing challenges as opportunities and proactive participation in their resolution exemplifies the nature of innovation in society (Aithal and Aithal, 2022). Therefore, today, significant emphasis has been placed on the managers\u0026rsquo; attitude within the realm of production industries in the global context. In the current situation, water supply, energy production, and food production are considered interconnected factors in any sustainable solution for the water crisis in the future. Highlighting that there is no comprehensive definition of the nexus approach (Ebrahimi and Khorsandi, 2024), in the nexus analysis the interactions of different subsystems are assessed and it is tried to quantify the interconnections between the nexus variables (Zhang et al., 2018).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSeawater desalination, as a climate-independent source of water and a practical solution to provide water when resources are insufficient, extends water supply beyond the hydrological cycle. This results in meeting demands and approaching Sustainable Development Goal 6 (Ayaz et al., 2022). Desalination methods provide about 1% of the world\u0026rsquo;s freshwater, having the reliance of about 4% of the global population to meet their water demands (IWA, 2016; IDRA, 2021). The increasing trend of global desalination capacity, about 7% per annum from 2010 to 2019, is projected to reach double capacity by 2030 (Ayaz et al., 2022).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe most important environmental subsequences of the desalination processes include the discharge of highly concentrated discharge (wastewater from seawater desalination; so-called brine), with the higher density and temperature of the effluent compared to seawater, and the effects and subsequences of these wastewater discharges into the sea (Torabi Pellet-Kaleh and Rajabi Hashjin, 2017). On the other hand, these effluent compositions have caused concern about biodiversity change and the population increase in some aquatic species. In contrast, a population reduction is experienced in some other species in a large area of ​​the sea (Morillo et al., 2014). Despite the numerous milestones achieved in the efficiency enhancement of the desalination processes, there remains a remarkable improvement potential. As desalination is predominantly utilized in the Middle East, Spain, Australia, and parts of North America (Schenkeveld et al., 2004; Casas Garriga, 2011; Gude, 2017) which has a high level of living standards (Ali et al., 2018), it is imperative to lower the desalination cost to extend this sector in water-scarce regions worldwide (Kalogirou, 2005). The economic viability of desalination is closely corresponded to the location-specific costs and resource availability (Al-Karaghouli et al., 2009). Overall, different initiatives may deliver advantages, if the economic gains are predicted to outweigh or surpass the associated expenses.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSeawater contains a lot of salt, and nowadays the extraction of four main metals (Sodium (\u003cspan class=\"InlineEquation\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mathinline\"\u003e\\(\\:{Na}^{+})\\)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e, Potassium \u003cspan class=\"InlineEquation\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mathinline\"\u003e\\(\\:\\left({K}^{+}\\right)\\)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e, Magnesium (\u003cspan class=\"InlineEquation\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mathinline\"\u003e\\(\\:{Mg}^{2+})\\)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e, and Calcium (\u003cspan class=\"InlineEquation\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mathinline\"\u003e\\(\\:{Ca}^{2+})\\)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e) from seawater is done commercially. Industrial and commercial extraction of minerals from seawater has been going on for a long time, and sodium chloride is the most obvious and common example (Bardi, 2010). As an example, Al Mutaz and Wagialia (1988) reported that the concentration of chlorine \u003cspan class=\"InlineEquation\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mathinline\"\u003e\\(\\:\\left({Cl}^{-}\\right)\\)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan class=\"InlineEquation\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mathinline\"\u003e\\(\\:{Na}^{+}\\)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan class=\"InlineEquation\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mathinline\"\u003e\\(\\:{Mg}^{2+}\\)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan class=\"InlineEquation\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mathinline\"\u003e\\(\\:{Ca}^{2+}\\)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e, and \u003cspan class=\"InlineEquation\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mathinline\"\u003e\\(\\:{K}^{+}\\)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e ions in the Persian Gulf are more than the global average concentration in oceans (23000, 15850, 1765, 500, and 460 ppm, respectively), and have continued to grow in recent years (Baboli and Velayatzadeh, 2013).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe high concentration of Na, K, Mg, and Ca in the salty effluent of desalination plants is considered a very suitable source for their industrial extraction. Therefore, by taking advantage of the experiences gained in the commercial extraction of salts from brines, it is possible to conduct an economic analysis of this issue. In fact, in this management method, a desalination system is used to produce concentrated and ready-to-harvest brine, and the desalinated water will be a by-product.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBefore diving into the review of existing experiences for extracting salts from brines, it seems necessary to underline that the methods of salt extraction from brines have not yet been fully developed and most of the scientific findings are limited to laboratory studies. The recommendation and development of an industrial method on a commercial scale and its economic analysis may cause numerous problems and errors. In addition, the level of access to the required harvesting technologies, the location of the project implementation, and the distance from the product consumption markets are the factors that make the economic analysis challenging. Regarding the seawater desalination worth, it is necessary to acknowledge that the management of desalination plants\u0026rsquo; brine, as a rich source of valuable materials, is a state\u0026ndash;of\u0026ndash;the\u0026ndash;art technique and requires the cooperation of industry and scientific centers.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWith this background, in this research, the authors aim to investigate the possibility of transforming such an attitude in seawater desalination processes. It is essential to explore how desalination may be less questionable to serve as a long-term solution, instead of a temporary opportunity. This study sheds light on various aspects of the integration of economic goals with sustainable desalination systems. An outline of the main desalination processes is followed by an economic evaluation of the associated pros and cons. The paper has been prepared in four sections: Section \u003cspan refid=\"Sec2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e delves into the evaluation of the salt harvest and illustrates the methodology in subsections. Following the results and discussion in section \u003cspan refid=\"Sec11\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e, a conclusive section with recommendations for future applications is presented.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"2. Methodology","content":"\u003cp\u003eFuture goals for making the desalination sector sustainable include increasing the use of green energy, shared resources, brine recycling, sustainable salt production, higher recovery methods, and recent technologies. Conversely, elements that need to decrease to achieve sustainability include the use of non-renewable energy, adverse environmental impacts, costs, process complexity, and chemicals used in desalination (Ayaz et al., 2022). In this context, this paper aims to propose a method for cost-effective and environmentally friendly desalinated water production. The details are described in the following sections.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e2.1. Salt Harvest from the Brine and Seawater\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSeawater contains a lot of salts (Fig. \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e), in which \u003cspan class=\"InlineEquation\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mathinline\"\u003e\\(\\:{Na}^{+}\\)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan class=\"InlineEquation\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mathinline\"\u003e\\(\\:{Mg}^{2+}\\)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan class=\"InlineEquation\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mathinline\"\u003e\\(\\:{Ca}^{2+}\\)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e, and \u003cspan class=\"InlineEquation\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mathinline\"\u003e\\(\\:{K}^{+}\\)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e have the highest concentration. The next metal is Lithium (Li\u003csup\u003e+\u003c/sup\u003e), which has a concentration of about 0.17 ppm (Bardi, 2010). The saline wastewater that originates from desalination plants, by altering the management\u0026apos;s perspective and attitude, can be transformed from an environmental concern into a valuable resource. Precipitation is the simplest method among the different extraction processes for various salts. It needs a minimum amount of equipment, infrastructure, and skilled labor. Precipitation of salts of low solubility under supersaturation conditions is very fast, and the induction time is very short. Under those conditions, an unstable phase occurs which is immediately subject to structural irreversible processes (ripening). When seawater evaporates, it undergoes a process of salt precipitation. Here\u0026apos;s how it works (Morin et al., 2008):\u003c/p\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. Evaporation and Concentration: As seawater evaporates in a restricted basin (such as a lagoon or salt flat), it becomes more concentrated, forming a brine. The concentration occurs because water evaporates, leaving behind dissolved salts.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2. Sequential Precipitation: Various mineral salts precipitate out in reverse order of solubility as evaporation proceeds.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3. Evaporites: These salty sedimentary deposits produced by evaporation are called evaporites. As seawater continues to evaporate and leave behind the dissolved salts, the accumulation occurs over time.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/span\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIn summary, the process of seawater evaporation leads to the sequential precipitation of different mineral salts, resulting in the formation of evaporites.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eExamination of the different methods of materials extraction from seawater revealed that the extraction of Na, K, Mg, Ca, Li, Sr, I, and Rb can be economically justified (Loganathan et al., 2017; Zhang et al., 2021). However, more examinations on salt harvesting are required, which are presented in the following sections.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cdiv id=\"Sec4\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e2.1.1. Sodium, Chlorine and Caustic Soda Extraction\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSodium chloride extraction from seawater aims to feed chlor-alkali plants. In the chlor-alkali industries, sodium/potassium hydroxide (caustic soda or caustic potash) and chlorine and hydrogen gas are generated using salty water electrolysis. Therefore, the extraction of supersaturated NaCl as input and sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) and the production of chlorine gas and hydrogen as the output of these plants are investigated simultaneously. The extraction of NaCl from seawater using solar evaporation ponds has been known and used commercially for a long time (Zhang et al., 2021), regarding the advantages of using renewable energies and its impact on sustainability. In the fractional crystallization process of seawater, sodium chloride, calcium sulfate, and magnesium chloride begin to precipitate before the other salts due to their high concentration (Steinberg and Dang, 1975). These plants provide the chlorine required in industries for polyvinyl chloride (PVC) production which is a commonly used product (Brinkmann et al., 2014). As another example, Casas Garriga (2011) utilized the electrodialysis (ED) method using ion exchange in selective membranes (selective ion transfer membrane) to concentrate sodium chloride in the effluent from reverse osmosis (RO) desalination plants. He stated that the energy required to produce NaCl is 0.16 kWh/kg finding it very suitable for using the effluent from water softeners for the chlor-alkali units.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIt is noteworthy that some desalination plants such as the chlor-alkali plant in Bandar Imam Petrochemical Company, in Iran, supply its required NaCl (salt) by evaporating Persian Gulf water in salt evaporation ponds (Godarzi Nik et al., 2012). First, the insoluble salts of calcium, magnesium, and silicates are separated from the seawater, and then the seawater is transferred to the crystallization ponds after being concentrated (Rahbar Shamskar et al., 2007). In evaporation ponds, NaCl with the required characteristics of the chlor-alkali plant is precipitated; after the sodium chloride has been removed, the residual solution is called bittern water, which contains significant amounts of potassium and magnesium salts (Bommaraju, 2007). The chemical analysis of the salts shows that more than 70\u0026ndash;80% of sodium is deposited in the density range of 1.26\u0026ndash;1.33 g/cm\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e and the percentage of potassium precipitation in this range is very small, while the salts deposited in the density of 1.36\u0026ndash;1.33 g/cm\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e has the highest percentage of potassium (Rahbar Shamskar et al., 2007).\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAl Mutaz and Wagialla (1988) investigated the possibility of extracting sodium hydroxide from the desalination plants\u0026apos; effluent. As a sample site, they chose the desalination site in Al-Jubail Saudi Arabia. They reported that by using the multi-stage distillation method, to dilute the seawater and use the electrolysis of the wastewater, it is possible to extract 500,000 tons of sodium hydroxide, more than 400,000 tons of chlorine, as well as hydrogen gas about 1531344 GJ equivalents of H\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e, annually. Additionally, they stated that the cost of extracting each ton of caustic soda at the Al-Jubail site in Saudi Arabia is 239.27 USD (not including the income from chlorine and hydrogen production). The income from hydrogen and chlorine production per ton of soda was considered as 1.45 and 89 USD, respectively.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eRO, ED, and nanofiltration (NF), are the three membrane processes available for desalination (Greenlee et al., 2009; Zhou et al., 2015). In a study, the ED method, driven by the development of ion exchange membranes producing high water recovery without any requirement of phase change, reaction, or chemicals (Al-Amshawee et al., 2020), was used along with evaporation to produce bromine, chlorine, and caustic soda from the RO desalination plant effluent (Casas Garriga, 2011; Gasulla Casamaj\u0026oacute;, 2012).\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv id=\"Sec5\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e2.1.2. Potassium, Potassium Chloride and Potassium Sulfate Extraction\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003ePotassium is one of the main nutrients required by plants and has a significant effect on the quality of agricultural products, which is called a quality essential element. Potassium sulfate is one of the most commonly used potash fertilizers in the world (Mikkelsen and Roberts, 2021) and contains 50% K\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eO and 18% sulfate (Rahbar Shamskar et al., 2007). There are several methods for industrial production of potassium sulfate, such as the Mannheim process (KCl and sulfuric acid reaction) (Schultz et al., 2000), the conversion of magnesium sulfate sources (Bichara et al., 1985; Goncharik et al., 2014), the phosphogypsum process (Abu-Eishah et al., 2000; Goncharik et al., 2020) or the sodium sulfate reaction with KCl in a two-stage Glaserite process (Fabrik et al., 2017). The two-stage Glaserite process presents a favorable option, as the Mannheim process is the most prevalent method of potassium sulfate manufacture, underlining the challenge of HCl management as a co-product (along with the high energy requirements). However, NaCl is non-toxic and easy to handle by-products with easier process operation, it is not widely used in the industrial scope. Regarding the pricing premium of potassium sulfate (compared to KCl), safety, and low energy usage in the Glaserite process (Ogedengbe et al., 2020), there remains an entrancing investigation path. After NaCl is extracted, effluent from seawater evaporation ponds, so-called bittern, contains significant amounts of potassium and magnesium salts.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAs a practical example, Guo et al. (2016) studied the recovery and extraction of potassium as a by-product of desalination plants. According to their statements, the extraction rate of potassium from the desalination solution using clinoptilolite was 50% of the initial concentration (in the effluent). Investigation of the adsorption capacity of K\u003csup\u003e+\u003c/sup\u003e onto modified-clinoptilolite (MC) for recovering potassium from seawater reaches 36.3 mg/g. In another study, Marx et al. (2019), examined discharges of evaporation ponds to produce potassium sulfate and other potential valuable products. With a production capacity of more than 10\u003csup\u003e6\u003c/sup\u003e tons/yr of seawater salts, according to their results, extraction of bittern valuable by-products may be recognized as a commercially attractive approach.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv id=\"Sec6\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e2.1.3. Magnesium and Magnesium Chloride Extraction\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMagnesium has replaced conventional metals (steel, cast iron, aluminum, etc.) due to its lightweight and appropriate mechanical properties and thermal resistance. Additionally, Mg and its alloys are one of the most important metals in the development of defense and aerospace industries (Karaguiozova et al., 2016). The chlor-alkali industries use evaporation ponds to harvest table salt from seawater, after the precipitation of NaCl, the discharge is a rich source of magnesium chloride (MgCl\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e) (Lychnos et al., 2010). Due to the higher quality of Mg crystals and the compounds obtained at the end, Mg extraction from seawater is preferable to extraction from land Mg mines (Loganathan et al., 2017). In this regard, studies on the optimization of the electrolysis method for its commercial use have been carried out recently (Liu et al., 2018; Fontana et al., 2023).\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIn the context of the development timeline of studies related to Mg extraction, as one of the earliest investigations, Bhatti et al. (1984) investigated the method of Mg extraction (production of magnesium hydroxide from seawater) and suggested the Dow Seawater Process for magnesium extraction for this purpose. Al Mutaz and Wagialia (1990) investigated Mg production from the effluent of a desalination plant in the Persian Gulf. Their case study has a production rate of 2000 tons/yr, and the cost of producing each ton of Mg was calculated at about 2357 USD. In another study, Rempel et al. (2016) presented a method as a package to extract MgCl\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e and KCl from the effluent of the desalination system of General Electric Company (GEC). Their model is more cost-effective than the system model purchased by the GEC, however, can not cover the installation and operation costs overall. Hussein et al. (2017) concluded that 1.2 \u0026times; 10\u003csup\u003e6\u003c/sup\u003e tons of magnesium chloride and 7 \u0026times; 10\u003csup\u003e5\u003c/sup\u003e tons of magnesium sulfate can be extracted from every 10\u003csup\u003e7\u003c/sup\u003e tons of salt produced from seawater. da Silva et al. (2018) utilized Pitzer and Harvie\u0026rsquo;s Model to evaluate a separation method based on salt crystallization in supersaturated solution to extract different seawater salts. They considered four consecutive evaporation ponds for this purpose: in the first pond, NaCl, in the second pond, NaCl and KCl, in the third pond, MgCl\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e, and in the fourth pond, CaCl\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e reached the supersaturated state making it possible to harvest (Fig. \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e). The main characteristics and some results of the model are presented in Table \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003ctable id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e\n \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eGeneral characteristics of the proposed model for salt extraction from seawater (adopted from da Silva et al., 2018)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003c/caption\u003e\n \u003ccolgroup cols=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\n \u003cthead\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eDescription\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1st pond\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2nd pond\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3rd pond\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e4th pond\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/thead\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEvaporation pond area (m\u003c/strong\u003e\u003csup\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e2\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2442\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e579\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e693\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2157\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCrystallized salts composition (W/Wt%)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e72/66% NaCl\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;24/59% Water\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e56/47% NaCl\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;15/46% KCl\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;25/33% Water\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e61/01% MgCl\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;24/81% Water\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e63/41% CaCl\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;24/91% Water\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEvaporation intensity from the pond surface (mm/day)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3.5\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.5\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCrystallization rate (kg/h)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e160\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e29\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e27\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e94\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBittern discharge (kg/h)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e482\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e385\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e300\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e71\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOutflow salt concentration (g/L)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e311\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e324\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e412\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e472\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAccording to Table \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e, the evaporation intensity ranges from 1.5 to 3.5 mm/day for the ponds considered in the proposed methodology. With a bittern discharge of 482 kg/h in the first pond, this rate falls to 71 kg/h in the last pond. While the outflow salt concentration starts from 311 g/L and increasingly reaches about 472 g/L, the crystallization rate fluctuates from 27 kg/h in the third pond to 160 kg/h in the first pond.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAs a practical example, using the laboratory chemical method for Mg precipitation in the form of magnesium oxide (MgO), from the samples of the desalination plants effluents in Doha, the annual cost of extracting Mg from brine SWRO (seawater reverse osmosis), is about 605 USD. Specifically, the cost of extracting Mg from the Al-Shuwaykh site in Kuwait is estimated at 780 USD (Ahmad et al., 2019). It should be noted that the market price is about 2500 USD. Highlighting the requirement of a much more detailed field investigation (with a focus on overhead and maintenance and construction costs of necessary facilities).\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv id=\"Sec7\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e2.1.4. Calcium and Calcium Chloride Extraction\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCalcium, as a soft gray alkaline earth metal, is the fifth in fifth in abundance in the earth\u0026rsquo;s crust and is chemically very active in combining with numerous other elements (Zoroddu et al., 2019). The precipitation of calcium carbonate and sulfate is among the challenging issues on membrane distillation efficiency (Morillo et al., 2014). Overall, in RO systems, efficiency reduction occurs due to pore clogging and membrane surface deposition. Factors contributing to this include natural organic substances, bacterial biofilm formation, and mineral precipitation (e.g., calcium carbonate, sulfate, iron hydroxide) within membrane pores. An energy recovery turbine can mitigate energy use in these systems (Morillo et al., 2014). Two types of calcium chloride are covered: solid and liquid. Solid type includes flakes, pellets, granular, and powder forms with a purity of at least 77% (grade 1), 90% (grade 2), and 94% (grade 3). As for the liquid form, CaCl2 reaches a concentration of 30\u0026ndash;45% in water solution (Cross \u0026amp; Associates Limited, 1993).\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eHafez et al. (2002) investigated the method of extracting Ca from the Red Sea water before the seawater enters the desalination system. According to their statements, removing Ca before entering the desalination system is easier than removing hard calcium carbonate and sulfate. They concluded that using caustic soda (NaOH) as an alkali material instead of lime has a much greater effect on pH and is much more economical. Additionally, the use of caustic soda causes less sludge to be produced. Especially, caustic soda can be obtained from the electrolysis of the desalination plant brine. Their method efficiently precipitates carbonate and sulfate salts in a rapid and environmentally friendly way. However, it lacks selectivity in depositing salts in the process, due to the disregard for the commercial value of specific metals. Therefore, to extract and separate each of the metals from the settled salt mixture, the separation of salts must be done in another step. A large number of soluble salts are separated from seawater; in the next step, other methods such as melting point difference or electrolysis can be used to separate the mentioned metals.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv id=\"Sec8\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e2.1.5. Lithium and Lithium Carbonate Extraction\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eLithium has been introduced as the element of the 21st century and is mentioned as the primary source of energy storage worldwide (Butt et al., 2022; Ikeuba et al., 2024). In the past, an element with the potential of Li was rarely found (Grew et al., 2019). This element and its future importance can only be compared to carbon, as the essential source of energy production (Islamic Parliament Research Center, 2018). Lithium, as the lightest metal, with the highest specific heat capacity among solids has a low thermal expansion coefficient. Therefore, it has many applications in various industries, especially aerospace, military, nuclear, automotive, steelmaking, pharmaceutical, and many other industries (An et al., 2018; Gao et al., 2021). Lithium compound substitutions in batteries, ceramics, greases, and manufactured glass, may include calcium, magnesium, mercury, aluminum, zinc, and sodic and potassic fluxes (USGS, 2024). However, the use of lithium in lithium batteries as one of the essential tools in electrical energy storage systems has doubled the attention to this strategic metal recently (Bekele and Schmerold, 2020; Kelly et al., 2021). The trend of using energy storage systems from 2010 to 2020, demonstrates that the different technologies usage has increased more than 20 times in the different aspects of the mentioned systems development (Yang et al., 2018).\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMineral and brine operations in China, Australia, Argentina, and Chile supply the majority of lithium worldwide (Calisaya-Azpilcueta et al., 2020). The lithium taken from brines and evaporation ponds can be considered a permanent source for the production of batteries (Bekele and Schmerold, 2020; Kelly et al., 2021).\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eLooking back to the earliest studies, Steinberg and Dang (1975) examined seawater as an alternative to natural brines in the United States as a source of lithium supply. Regardless of the type of lithium extraction process from seawater, the minimum theoretical amount of energy requirement was estimated equal to 0.07 kWh/g. The commercial method proposed by Steinberg and Dang (1975) included the evaporation of seawater (to concentrate and remove sodium and magnesium salts), ion exchange, and finally water electrolysis. The main energy consumption in this method is dedicated to water evaporation (concentration). According to their results, if the lithium production is less than 1000 tons/yr, the amount of consumed energy will be 0.2 kWh/g of Li. If the lithium production amount exceeds this limit, due to the increase in pumping costs, the consumed energy to produce of lithium will be between 0.719 to 1.667 kWh/g of Li. An et al. (2012) investigated the extraction of lithium carbonate in Bolivia. The final product of lithium precipitation under their study\u0026rsquo;s condition was well-crystalline lithium carbonate with high purity (Fig. \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e). Hoshino (2015) succeeded in recovering 7% of the lithium in seawater in 72 hours and 49% in 30 days by using a selective membrane for the lithium element and a dialysis system. With no need to provide electricity for the system and the electricity required for dialysis is provided by the contribution of the produced energy in the system. In this method, seawater lithium passes through the lithium selective membrane (LISM) and remains dissolved around the cathode in a 0.1 molar hydrochloric acid solution. If the solution extracted from the system is mixed with the sodium carbonate solution, insoluble lithium carbonate is generated, which precipitates in the system.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eFigure \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e shows the methodology to achieve the high rate of lithium carbonate recovery through Mg, B removal, Ca, and Mg removal, followed by solar evaporation, purification, and carbonation. The lithium carbonate precipitated in this method has a purity of about 99.6%.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec9\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e2.2. Heavy Metals Bioremediation\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe discharge of concentrated brine into the sea is recognized as the most alarming environmental concern associated with the desalination processes (Ahmed and Anwar, 2012; Torabi Pellet-Kaleh and Rajabi Hashjin, 2017; Ghernaout, 2020). In this context, biological removal methods have been considered as an economic and more environmentally friendly option. In heavy metal removal and recovery, bioremediation is an innovative technique (using biomass components). It involves the use of living organisms (algae, bacteria, fungi, or plants) to manage heavy metal pollutants in low-risk form (Ayangbenro and Babalola, 2017). Some microalgae are very suitable for removing heavy metals in an aqueous solution, examples may include the accumulation and absorption of Cu and Pb by single-celled green algae (Flouty and Estephane, 2012); nickel-resistant bacterial species; the heavy metals (Pb, Cu, Zn, Cd, Ni, Co and Fe) removal using the pieces Xanthium Pensylvanicum plant (Salehzadeh, 2013); and Cu removal with S.Plantensis algae (Talei Bejarbaneh et al., 2015).\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eA ranking of the removal as Zn\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;Cd\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;Cu\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;Pb\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;Ni\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;Fe\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;Co is proposed (Salehzadeh, 2013), highlighting that this method is significantly economical for removing Fe\u003csup\u003e3+\u003c/sup\u003e and Co\u003csup\u003e2+\u003c/sup\u003e from solutions. One of the noteworthy results of Salehzadeh (2013) is removing more than 70% of divalent copper and lead ions by utilizing parts of a weed in corn cultivation lands. Additionally, the removal rate of iron and cobalt from the solutions was about 90%. As for nickel, this rate was reported at about 80%. Due to the use of plant parts, after mixing and absorption, it floats and provides the possibility of extracting, drying, and packing it to prevent scattering. This approach causes the occupied space reduction in desalination sites.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec10\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e2.3. Economic Analysis\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe concerns that have always restricted the growth of the desalination industry include ecosystem degradation and the associated significant costs. Great potential exists for further expansion, but economic constraints impose pressure on many applications (Al-Karaghouli et al., 2009). As desalination is emerging as a critical solution for water security, the energy-efficient technologies extension to approach sustainable development goals and supply clean water is a key investigation topic (Ayaz et al., 2022), making further correctional actions necessary. Desalination economies and the decision-making on their different approaches are affected by location-specific variables such as local costs and availability of energy (Al-Karaghouli et al., 2009; Ziolkowska, 2015).\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe benefit-to-cost ratio (B/C) is an important financial metric, utilized in the economic assessment of the projects. It is calculated by taking the ratio of gains or positive outcomes of an investment to the expenses associated with the project (Al-Nabulsi et al., 2018). The B/C index as an indicator of whether the project is economically efficient, is the ratio of the present values of the benefit to the cost cash flows. While the benefit-cost ratios less than 1.0 in which the costs outweigh the benefits, reveal an uneconomic investment, the values greater than 1.0 demonstrate an investment that is efficient, profitable, and desirable. The B/C equal to 1.0, suggesting a break-even point, means that the expenses are recovered (Kosmadakis et al., 2009; Abd-ur-Rehman and Al-Sulaiman, 2016).\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe emphasis of this research is on proposing a method to find an economic solution for the environmental hazards associated with desalination plants. Regarding the commercial aspects, by making the project desirable for the private sector, and the use of the capabilities and expertise of the private sector through Build, Operation, and Transfer (BOT) contracts, a cost-effective freshwater production may be achieved. Additionally, by setting the appropriate measures and correct policies to harvest the most valuable materials from downstream of the desalination plants (i.e. Mg, Na, K, and Li), the unfavorable environmental effects of such facilities will be significantly reduced while gaining economic incentives of the desalinated water production costs. This is achieved by selling by-products derived from the outflow of desalination plants as primary raw materials. Such an approach can boost production capacity and lay the groundwork for establishing substantial desalination facilities that pose minimal environmental issues. Additionally, extracting potassium sulfate from evaporation ponds may result in an investment return period of up to 3 years (Marx et al., 2019). In the case of industrialization of potassium sulfate and magnesium chloride harvesting, the investment return time of 4 years can be achieved (Rahbar Shamskar et al., 2007). Besides, this highlights the less environmental pollution compared to the other industrial methods of potassium sulfate production. Other aspects may include the use of a Nano filter (Telzhenskyet al., 2011), with economic justification, to separate other soluble salts in seawater and the possibility of magnesium ions passing through the Nano filter without monovalent ions passing through it.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIt should be underlined that the variety of compounds in the brines and sources used in scientific research makes it impossible to accurately explain the economic efficiency of one method in another country. In addition, the published experiences in this field are mostly laboratory-based, which makes the economic performance of an industrial scale, hard to capture. Therefore, the economic analysis of different desalination methods\u0026rsquo; performance cannot be fully and reliably indicated. On the other hand, due to the scattered and separate nature of these methods, it cannot necessarily be concluded that if these methods are used together, their profitability will be maintained. Such conclusions require more comprehensive studies and the creation of a pilot system to investigate and specify these issues. It is obvious that the continuation of the current methods, i.e. releasing wastewater into the sea or injecting it into the ground, cannot be a long-term and sustainable solution. From now on, a huge step must be taken to better use of existing resources and less damage to the surrounding environment. Another point is the issue of market price fluctuations and their effect on the economic justification of the plan, which in turn require macro and national policies in the public sector (Bagastyo et al., 2021).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"3. Results and Discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe important point in the economic analysis by the proposed method is the reliability of the plan in case of price fluctuation in one or two products and the possibility of a more detailed analysis of the items that are not taken into account in the calculations. As the contribution of each product in the economic process of this plan is small, their accumulation is of great importance. Therefore, if some items are neglected in the economic calculations, or the local conditions of the research origin (such as overhead costs, labor wage or energy price, etc.) are not the same as the conditions in the planned site, as each salt has a small share in the total economic analysis of the plan, the possibility of rejecting the economic aspect of the whole plan will be low.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn the other hand, since the data used in this research are mainly related to the results of the research conducted for the commercial harvest of one or two specific products from seawater, and the overlapping aspect of implementation and overhead costs in case of the accumulation of all these methods in the form of one plan is investigated, then there is a possibility of cost reduction in case of integrated extraction and harvesting system of several products downstream of the desalination plant.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe desalination cost per cubic meter of seawater for different desalination methods is between 0.5 - 1.5 USD/m\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e of freshwater (Islamic Parliament Research Center, 2021). It is noteworthy that while for a large-scale SWRO under given conditions, the cost of desalinated seawater is estimated as 0.5 USD/m\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e, this value is higher in other regions, reaching about 1 USD/m\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e (Ghaffour et al., 2013). In the other regions, this cost is approximately between 0.76 and 1.07 USD/m\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e of desalinated water (Ziolkowska, 2015; Charisiadis, 2018). Therefore, regardless of the implemented method, the production cost of each cubic meter of desalinated water can be considered to be about 1 USD/m\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e. In this context, as a generic example, the framework shown in Fig. 4, is proposed using the methods of successive sedimentation ponds. This research tries to introduce the simplest technologies available to be used in every developing country, aiming to produce eco-environmentally friendly desalinated water.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFigure 4 offers a methodology\u0026nbsp;for environmentally friendly desalinated water production. The proposed method can be applied in any desalination treatment facility in every developed or developing region without any requirement for primary changes in the facilities. The methodology presented in Fig. 4 describes the steps for a generic case study in any region of the world, however, for estimating the calculations, the data of Iran, as a semi-arid area close to the Persian Gulf is used to test the methodology. Based on Figure 4 and utilizing the data in the global experience reports, economic analysis is presented in Table 2.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTable 2.\u003c/strong\u003e The production cost of different extractable salts of desalinated water\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003ctable dir=\"rtl\" border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"671\"\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 163px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReference\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 104px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProduction Cost (USD/ton)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 135px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe estimated amount of the product in reference (ton/year)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 141px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eScale\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 129px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe product or material to be extracted\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 163px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003eAl Mutaz \u0026amp; Wagialla (1988), P 305-306\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 104px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e239\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 135px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e500000\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 141px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003eIndustrial\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e(desalination unit of Al-Jubail, Saudi Arabia)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 129px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCaustic Soda (Sodium Hydroxide)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 163px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003eAl Mutaz \u0026amp; Wagialla (1988), P 305-306\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 104px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 135px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e446430\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 141px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003eIndustrial\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e(desalination unit of Al-Jubail, Saudi Arabia)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 129px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChlorine (Gas)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 163px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003eBattaglia et al. (2022), Table 5\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 104px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e2317-3100\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 135px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e5000-48000\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 141px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003eIndustrial\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 129px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLithium Carbonate\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 163px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003eBased on the authors\u0026rsquo; investigation\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 104px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e45\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 135px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e49320\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 141px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003eIndustrial\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e(desalination plant with a capacity of 1 MCM/yr of desalinated water, South of Iran)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 129px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSodium Chloride\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd rowspan=\"2\" style=\"width: 163px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003eCross and Associates Limited (1993), P 26-27\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd rowspan=\"2\" style=\"width: 104px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e*219\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 135px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e28406\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 141px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003eAlberta, Canada\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 129px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMagnesium Chloride\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 135px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e46480\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 141px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003eAlberta, Canada\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 129px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCalcium Chloride\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e* The amount cited in the reference was in Canadian dollars, therefore, a conversion factor of 0.73 has been applied to the present the value in USD (300 Canadian dollars is converted to 219 USD).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMore details on the estimations are listed in Table 3. The economic analysis which highlights the proposed methodology\u0026rsquo;s exceptional justification is presented in the following section.\u003cspan dir=\"RTL\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp skip=\"true\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTable 3.\u003c/strong\u003e Production costs of the goal products of brine treatment \u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003ctable dir=\"rtl\" border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"671\"\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 91px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eExtraction efficiency (%)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 201px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSalt production by 1 m\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e\u003cspan dir=\"RTL\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/span\u003edesalinated water production (kg/m\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 102px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAverage market price (USD/kg)\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 95px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProduction cost (USD/kg)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 59px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFormula\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 123px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMaterial to be removed\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 91px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e3.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 201px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e1.54\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 102px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e0.3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 95px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e0.24\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 59px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003eNaOH\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 123px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCaustic Soda\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e(Sodium Hydroxide)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 91px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e3.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 201px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e1.37\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 102px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e0.13\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 95px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e0.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 59px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003eCl\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 123px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChlorine (Gas)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 91px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e10.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 201px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e0.6\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 102px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e13\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 95px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e3.09\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 59px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003eLi\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eCO\u003csub\u003e3\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 123px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLithium Carbonate\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 91px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e60.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 201px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e49.32\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 102px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e0.05\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 95px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e0.04\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 59px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003eNaCl\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 123px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSodium Chloride\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 91px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e3.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 201px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e7.69\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 102px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e0.11\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 95px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e0.10\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 59px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003eMgCl\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 123px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMagnesium Chloride\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 91px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e60.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 201px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e2.048\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 102px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e0.06\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 95px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e0.20\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 59px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003eCaCl\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 123px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCalcium Chloride\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 91px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 201px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 102px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 95px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e0.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 59px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003eKCl\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 123px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePotassium Chloride\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp skip=\"true\"\u003eRegarding the data listed in Table 3, in this research, the main attitude is giving priority to the optimal exploitation of Persian Gulf salts. Na, Mg, and Ca concentrations of the desalination plants\u0026apos; discharge is adopted from Movahed and Abedi (2017). Here, it is considered that utilizing the RO method results in 2 m\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e of wastewater production per cubic meter of desalinated water. The price of unrefined industrial NaCl is calculated from the average price in the Asian market, and the precipitation efficiency in this method is assumed to be about \u003cspan dir=\"RTL\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e0%. In addition to the amount of caustic soda and chlorine produced, the production cost is estimated based on the study of Al-Mutaz and Wagiala (1988) for the Al-Jubail site in Saudi Arabia.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe production cost of MgCl\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e and CaCl\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e is estimated based on the economic studies of the extraction of CaCl\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e and MgCl\u003csub\u003e2\u0026nbsp;\u003c/sub\u003efrom the tributaries of Alberta-Canada (Cross \u0026amp; Associates Limited, 1993). Then with the efficiency of \u003cspan dir=\"RTL\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e0% precipitation for CaCl\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e and 3% for MgCl\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e, the production amount has been evaluated. As the separation of costs was not found in the reference used (Cross \u0026amp; Associates Limited, 1993), with a reported total of 219 USD/ton, the costs have been dominated by 33% for MgCl\u003csub\u003e2\u0026nbsp;\u003c/sub\u003eand 67% for CaCl\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e to dedicate a bigger share for calcium salts. This assumption can be justified by Rahbar Shamskar et al. (2007), which considers the extraction of MgCl\u003csub\u003e2\u0026nbsp;\u003c/sub\u003efrom the petrochemical effluent of Bandar Imam Petrochemical Company as an economic and cost-effective process. The market price of these two products was estimated based on the average price obtained from the Alibaba website (Alibaba, 2024), and the prices in other Asian markets.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLithium carbonate estimation has been based on the method proposed by An et al. (2012). The efficiency of this method (which is reported about 47% by Battaglia et al., 2022), is assumed to be 10%, regarding the margin of safety. In practice, the recovery of product water can range from 30% to 80% or more (MacNevin, 2009; WateReuse Association, 2011; Ghafoor et al., 2020; Ahmad et al., 2019). The production cost per unit and price per kilogram for the lithium carbonate deposition method are considered based on the contents of Bagastyo et al. (2021). Meanwhile, the average prices in the Asian markets are slightly more than 15 USD/kg (Optar Capital, 2023), which may be due to price fluctuations and a volatile economy. However, due to the different investigated prices of the product, the value of 13 USD/kg is utilized in the research process.\u0026nbsp;The benefit-to-cost ratio (B/C) as a useful meter providing insight into the benefits that may be obtained from a given investment, helps\u0026nbsp;to evaluate the profitability of a project. To provide a B/C for economic evaluation (Table 4), the information provided in Table 3 is taken into account.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp skip=\"true\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTable 4.\u003c/strong\u003e The cost and income of salt production by producing 1 m\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e of desalinated water \u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003ctable dir=\"rtl\" border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"662\"\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 251px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePCDW (Production cost (USD/kg/m\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e of desalinated water)\u003csup\u003e1\u003c/sup\u003e) - (C)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 195px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGross income (USD/kg/m\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e of desalinated water) - (B)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 216px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMaterial to be removed\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 251px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e0.37\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 195px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e0.46\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 216px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCaustic Soda\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e(Sodium Hydroxide)- NaOH\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 251px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e0.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 195px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e0.18\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 216px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChlorine (Gas)- Cl\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 251px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e1.89\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 195px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e7.93\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 216px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLithium Carbonate- Li\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eCO\u003csub\u003e3\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 251px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e2.21\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 195px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e2.47\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 216px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSodium Chloride- NaCl\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 251px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e0.03\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 195px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e0.14\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 216px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMagnesium Chloride- MgCl\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 251px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e0.30\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 195px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e0.20\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 216px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCalcium Chloride- CaCl\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 251px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 195px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 216px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePotassium Chloride- KCl\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 251px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e1.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 195px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e0.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 216px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDesalinated Water (by-product)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 251px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e2.32\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 195px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"RTL\"\u003e\u003cspan dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 216px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOverhead Costs\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 251px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e0.58\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 195px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"RTL\"\u003e\u003cspan dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 216px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMobilization Costs\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 251px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e8.70\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 195px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e11.38\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 216px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp dir=\"LTR\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSum\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003csup\u003e1\u003c/sup\u003e Reference: Al-Mutaz and Wagiala (1988); Cross \u0026amp; Associates Limited (1993); An et al. (2012); Bagastyo et al. (2021)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs for the relationships between the values presented in Table 4 and Table 3, the benefit (the 2\u003csup\u003end\u003c/sup\u003e column in Table 4), which is regared as Gross income (USD/kg/m\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e of desalinated water), is calculated by multiplying the 4\u003csup\u003eth\u003c/sup\u003e column (Average market price (USD/kg)) and 5\u003csup\u003eth\u003c/sup\u003e column (Salt production by 1 m\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e\u003cspan dir=\"RTL\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/span\u003edesalinated water production (kg/m\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e) of Table 3. In the same way, the cost so called PCDW (Production cost (USD/kg/m\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e of desalinated water)\u003csup\u003e1\u003c/sup\u003e) in Table 4, is the product of 3\u003csup\u003eth\u003c/sup\u003e column (Production cost (USD/kg)) by and 5\u003csup\u003eth\u003c/sup\u003e column (Salt production by 1 m\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e\u003cspan dir=\"RTL\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/span\u003edesalinated water production (kg/m\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e) of Table 3.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUtilizing the estimations presented bin Table 4, the net income obtained from the wastewater treatment of the seawater\u003cspan dir=\"RTL\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/span\u003edesalination plant for each cubic meter of desalinated water is obtained equal to 1.31 and the\u003cspan dir=\"RTL\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/span\u003eaverage cost per cubic meter of desalination, regardless of the method and\u003cspan dir=\"RTL\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/span\u003eplace of implementation is equal to 1 USD. In which overhead costs include costs of personnel training, quality control and laboratory tests, computers and controlling devices, personnels work in central offices indirectly or directly relate to project, preparation of final data book, operational manual, as-bult, shop drawing, costs of utility bills, tax, insurance, etc. which is estimated about 40% of direct costs. Mobilization costs include cost of construction of office buildings, dormitory, clinic, access roads, fencing around the site, service personnel, etc. which is about 10% of direct costs\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs depicted in Table 4; by using existing technologies, it is possible to spend 1 USD per cubic meter of desalinated water and get about 1.31 USD of net income (income after deducting expenses). Therefore, the estimated B/C ratiois a quite satisfactory value,\u0026nbsp;indicating that the expected benefits of an investment outweigh the corresponding costs. In other words, this B/C ratio, means that the expected benefits are 1.31 times the associated costs, making it an economically viable investment. In the current case, the desalinated water production will be an efficient and profitable process. This way, as the by-product of the desalination process, free desalinated water, may significantly contribute to approaching the sustainability goals by water scarcity reduction. Besides, this process with a relatively high B/C ratio, provides an economic incentive for different stakeholders including governments and the private sector.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eImplementing eco environmentally friendly sustainable desalinated water production in near sea coast developing countries faces various technical and logistical challenges. These challenges include the need to integrate renewable energy sources like solar and geothermal power to make desalination processes sustainable\u0026nbsp;(Kaleekkal and John, 2022). Additionally, the high energy consumption of desalination plants, especially those reliant on the electricity grid, leads to significant energy costs and inefficiencies\u0026nbsp;(Bdour et al., 2022). Moreover, the true cost of desalinated water production in terms of environmental, economic, and social factors can almost double when externality costs are considered, highlighting the financial burden of sustainable desalination technologies\u0026nbsp;(Saleh and Mezher, 2021). Addressing these challenges requires a comprehensive analysis of technical-thermal performance, continuous research, and development efforts, and the synergistic integration of renewable energy sources to enhance the feasibility and market penetration of environmentally friendly desalination technologies in developing countries\u0026nbsp;(Saleh and Mezher, 2021;\u0026nbsp;Shokri and Fard, 2022; Kaleekkal and John, 2022).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChallenges in implementing eco-friendly desalinated water production in developing countries include membrane development, process design optimization, energy efficiency, improper brine disposal, and economic feasibility (Kaleekkal and John, 2022; Bdour et al., 2022). Additionally, technical-thermal performance enhancement, cost factors, and technological advancements to reduce water production costs, market penetration, and minimizing energy consumption for sustainable water production (Shokri and Fard, 2022; 2023). High energy consumption, environmental impacts, and initial infrastructure costs can be mitigated through innovative technologies and renewable energy sources (Dawouda et al., 2020). Solar desalination offers sustainable water production in developing countries, addressing challenges like low-cost, maintenance-free systems, and eco-friendly practices to combat water scarcity and environmental impact (Bhagwati et al., 2023).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eResidual brine discharge from desalination plants may significantly impact the environment including changes in GHG emissions, temperature, salinity, oxygen levels, and overall stress on local aquatic ecosystems (Ariono et al., 2016; Ghernaout, 2020; Bonnail et al., 2023), emphasizing the requirement of accurate analysis and management. The discharge of brine, which is typically returned to the ocean, can lead to negative effects on marine life (marine water quality deterioration, reduced marine species, and economic losses) due to its high salinity and potentially harmful elements picked up during the desalination process (Gao et al., 2014). High salinity, residual chemicals, and heavy metals affect coastal biology and chemistry, water quality, and marine organisms, altering species composition, and causing potential harm to sensitive organisms, benthic fauna, and coral reefs (Yasmina et al., 2016; Fern\u0026aacute;ndez-Torquemada et al., 2019). Besides the aesthetic issues (colorization of water bodies due to brine discharge), which affects visual appeal and recreational use (Parshakova and Ivantsov, 2022), residual brine discharge may cause wetland degradation, water contamination, and infrastructure issues (such as encrustation and corrosion), emphasizing the need for sustainable brine harvest for mitigation (Ene et al., 2018).\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eProper planning and monitoring are crucial to minimize these impacts, with considerations such as selective discharge locations (away from sensitive habitats, coral reefs, areas with high biodiversity, and\u0026nbsp;shallow coastal zones), maximizing mixing with ambient seawater, and implementing environmental monitoring programs to assess brine plume distribution over time while monitoring biota (Aljohani et al., 2022). Additionally, the dispersion patterns of brine discharges need to be carefully analyzed to understand their economic potentials, environmental implications, and geotechnical challenges, especially in areas where saline water discharges can lead to wetland degradation and water contamination (Fern\u0026aacute;ndez-Torquemada et al., 2019). In addition to using innovative technologies like forward osmosis, pressure retarded osmosis, or zero-liquid discharge systems to minimize brine production and improve efficiency, brine recovery, such as extracting valuable minerals or using it for industrial processes may reduce the volume of discharged brine. However, a holistic approach, considering local conditions and ecosystem dynamics, is essential for effective mitigation of the environmental impacts of brine discharge.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOverall, developing environmentally friendly and sustainable desalination water production encounters barriers like excessive energy usage, disposal of brine, environmental repercussions, and expenses. Maintaining a balance between cost, water security, and gaining public approval is crucial. Successful execution requires cooperation among scientists, engineers, and decision-makers.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"4. Conclusion","content":"\u003cp\u003eHypersaline brine production imposes significant environmental stress due to the unsustainable discharge strategies of the desalination plants. Sustainable desalination as the basic necessity is based on appropriate brine management and sustainable power supply (Singh et al., 2020). Brine production is projected to excessively increase as desalination capacity grows aiming to address water scarcity (Kadi et al., 2023). The rising cost of conventional water supplies driven by climatic variabilities, overexploitation, and water scarcity, has positioned desalination as a top choice for boosting water availability (Bello et al., 2021; Backer et al., 2022; Kadi et al., 2023). Increasing awareness about the strategic importance of water for national security has made the issue of desalination be most important part of the water-food-energy nexus (Torabi Pellet-Kaleh and Rajabi Hashjin, 2017).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis study may provide a platform to support decision-makers in promoting desalination procedures and cost reduction. From now on, a huge step must be taken to optimize the use of the available resources (funds, water, and energy resources) with less environmental damage. In addition to income generation (commercially profitable), salt removal from wastewater prevents environmental problems. Considering the adverse environmental impact and danger of brine discharge for water resources (due to the presence of Na, Mg, K, and Ca salts, heavy metals, etc.), the attention in this research has been focused on finding an environmentally friendly solution to produce desalinated water with economic efficiency. As there was a knowledge gap in the monetary data of the governing variables of the economic analysis\u0026nbsp;of potassium sulfate or potassium chloride, they are not taken into account in the proposed methodology. However, considering the importance of these materials\u0026apos; application in various industries such as agriculture, it is recommended to examine their extraction in future studies.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp skip=\"true\"\u003eThe paper\u0026rsquo;s contribution is based on the management attitude alteration and processing of wastewater produced in desalination plants, which can be turned into an eco-environmentally friendly process. Harvest of several high-value by-products from one site ultimately that if some dimensions are ignored in the economic estimation, or if the price of the product fluctuates due to changes in the supply and demand market, the overall economic efficiency of this method will be low risky, or in other words the variety of products makes it hard to become unprofitable. \u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp skip=\"true\"\u003eAmong the main advantages of the proposed system is its ability to remove the excess concentration of sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, lithium, chlorine, and sulfate ions, caused by the desalination process. As a subsequent, compared to the original raw water, the effluent may have an even lower ion concentration. However, due to the lack of removal of uranium, phosphates, nitrates, etc., the system does not recirculate the effluent. This limitation prevents potential issues by reintroducing the effluent into the original system, as it avoids disruptions and maintains water quality.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp skip=\"true\"\u003eThe proposed methodology requires a remarkable land area, which imposes an economic burden, however, it is developed based on the simplest technologies with low requirement of skilled staff and experts. Thus, the land issue in successive precipitation pond systems for harvesting the main salts (NaCl, MgCl\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e, KCl, CaCl\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e, Li\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eCO\u003csub\u003e3\u003c/sub\u003e, NaOH, and Cl\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e) is crucial. It should be noted that it is commonly accessible in different developed or developing countries, especially those with arid and semi-arid climates such as Middle Eastern areas. Highlighting that among all the other methods of removing salt from the solution, the need for a sufficient area to create enough evaporation surface of the ponds is an important limiting factor of this method (Morillo et al., 2014; Ariono et al., 2016), it can be mentioned that approximately 250 ha is required for a system with a production capacity of 1 MCM/yr of desalinated water (Refer to Table A1 in Appendix). From a climatic point of view, this method is not suitable for rainy areas due to rainwater entering the evaporation ponds and preventing it from reaching the supersaturation state. Areas with a low number of sunny days per year or low temperatures (due to insufficient evaporation), as well as areas where the land near the coast is expensive, are the regions where this method has no economic justification.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp skip=\"true\"\u003eWith the use of existing technologies, it is possible to spend 1 USD per cubic meter of desalinated water and get about 1.31 USD of net income (income after deducting expenses). Regarding the B/C ratio greater than one (i.e. B/C=1.31), this satisfactory value ensures the efficiency of the proposed methodology. It is noteworthy that this value can fluctuate due to the volatile economy in some developing countries, however, there is yet a potential room for improvement. To come up with more universally applicable approaches, a bright path for further exploration encompasses a deeper analysis of the different economic aspects of the desalination process. The focus of the study is on proposing an efficient method of desalination in different regions, especially developing countries in arid and semi-arid climates, having usable lands, with some modifications, the results can be utilized in any other region worldwide. This way, free desalinated water, as the by-product of the process, may significantly contribute to reducing water scarcity and approaching the sustainability goals. \u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003eDeclaration of Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp skip=\"true\"\u003eThe authors take full responsibility for the content of the publication.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEthical Approval\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot applicable.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eConsent to Participate\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot applicable.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eConsent to Publish\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot applicable.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAuthor Contributions\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMohsen Abdesharif E.: Conceptualization, Analysis, Data Curation, Resources, Validation, Writing \u0026ndash; Review \u0026amp; Editing. Leila Ebrahimi: Investigation, Validation, Writing \u0026ndash; Review \u0026amp; Editing. Elham Ebrahimi Sarindizaj: Conceptualization, Analysis, Resources, Visualization, Validation, Writing \u0026ndash; Review \u0026amp; Editing. Davood Reza Arab: Investigation, Validation, Writing.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFunding\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCompeting Interests\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eData Availability\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll data and models generated during the study are available from the corresponding author by request.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAbd-ur-Rehman, H. M., \u0026amp; Al-Sulaiman, F. A. (2016). 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The essential metals for humans: a brief overview. \u003cem\u003eJournal of inorganic biochemistry\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003e195\u003c/em\u003e, 120-129.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"water-resources-management","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"warm","sideBox":"Learn more about [Water Resources Management](https://www.springer.com/journal/11269)","snPcode":"11269","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/11269/3","title":"Water Resources Management","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Desalination, Economic Analysis, Salt Recovery, Commercial Production, Salt Extraction","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6148690/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6148690/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThe seawater desalination is one of the prevalent methods to supply the freshwater demand. The discharge of saline wastewater from desalination facilities, known as brine, is a significant environmental challenge in the desalination process. This brine has the potential to be used as a raw material with the primary objective of the salt production process, subsequently augmenting desalinated water produced within this process. This paper provides a theoretical design of cost-effective sustainable desalination, by proposing a cost-effective process of harvesting high-value products including sodium chloride, magnesium chloride, calcium chloride, lithium carbonate, sodium hydroxide, and chlorine gas as the main commercial products, besides the desalinated water as a by-product. According to the results, regarding the economic analysis of the proposed methodology for brine discharge management, the B/C ratio of the entire process is about 1.31, demonstrating significant economic efficiency and desirability. The proposed platform can achieve a considerable economic gain and introduces the simplest technologies available to be used in every developing country especially in arid and semi-arid climates, aiming to produce eco-environmentally friendly desalinated water. This way, free desalinated water, the by-product of the process, may contribute to reducing water scarcity and approaching the sustainability goals.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Eco Environmentally Friendly Sustainable Desalinated Water Production: Turning a Challenge into an Opportunity","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-04-15 09:30:14","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6148690/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Major revisions","date":"2026-02-25T06:16:34+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"Water Resources Management","date":"2025-11-14T15:31:46+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"","date":"2025-03-29T03:26:15+00:00","index":0,"fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-03-27T14:08:02+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-03-05T00:21:07+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Water Resources Management","date":"2025-03-04T04:20:04+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"water-resources-management","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"warm","sideBox":"Learn more about [Water Resources Management](https://www.springer.com/journal/11269)","snPcode":"11269","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/11269/3","title":"Water Resources Management","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"51acb8f9-8bfc-4770-a0f8-1980fc0f99c3","owner":[],"postedDate":"April 15th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-05-05T12:14:26+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-04-15 09:30:14","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-6148690","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-6148690","identity":"rs-6148690","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}