Wastewater treatment plants play an important role in making sure all water goes to good use. But even treating sewage can create its own wastewater, called brine.
Researchers at the University of Arizona are looking to make sure even the byproduct from wastewater can be used.
Brine can also come from desalination plants, and chip manufacturing facilities like those at TSMC, though some have 100% capture capabilities.
Brine has very high amounts of minerals like sodium and magnesium, and is also a byproduct of desalination plants.
And putting it in the environment can have ecological consequences that can make seawater uninhabitable, pollute the air, and leak into groundwater.
Mervin Lim is a Ph.D. student conducting research at UA's WEST Center on a reclamation project that treats the brine through reverse osmosis.
“We are basically reclaiming up to 90% of the brine, and we still have 10% of very concentrated brine to get rid of. But in this case, we reduce the amount that we need to treat by tenfold, basically," Lim said.
Lim says the tech he is working on is decentralized, which means it can be small and purpose built for facilities or military bases, or could be scaled up for municipal treatment.
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