The Taunton River Desalination Plant will be the first desalination facility to be permitted in the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The plant is being designed to provide up to 5 mgd of water for
several cities in southeastern Massachusetts. This area of Massachusetts has suffered chronic water
shortages over the last several decades and existing freshwater surface and groundwater supplies are
overstressed.
The proposed facility will be located on the shores of the Taunton River in the town of Dighton,
Massachusetts. This lower reach of the river is tidally influenced. During the months of July to
November, salinity levels in the river typically exceed drinking water thresholds, thus desalination is
required. The remainder of the year, the river water will receive membrane based ultrafiltration
treatment. Because the facility will be the first desalination facility to be permitted in the
Commonwealth, the proposed project has received a significant amount of scrutiny as it has
proceeded through the planning and design phases. Both the regulatory and public interest
communities have had a number of concerns regarding the operation of the facility, particularly with
regard to potential effects of the intake structure on fisheries, and potential impacts of the freshwater
withdrawal and discharge of brine concentrate on salinity levels in the river.
The project team has addressed these concerns through design of an intake structure specifically
targeted to control against entrainment and impingement of aquatic organisms, through modeling of
the impact of the freshwater withdrawal on the movement of the salt wedge in the river, and through
design of a blended brine discharge program. In addition, the project team has developed a
comprehensive water quality, fisheries, and vegetation monitoring program to satisfy the
requirements of permit conditions.
Coordination with the regulators and public interest groups has been an important element of the
design and permitting effort. While some concerns remain to be addressed, this coordination and
communication has been critical in addressing fundamental concerns about the operation of the
proposed desalination facility on the Taunton River, a sensitive freshwater estuary. Includes 3 references, tables, figures.
| Edition : | Vol. - No. |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 6 MB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 14 |
| Published : | 06/17/2004 |
