The advanced technology of DCC has made removing salt from seawater and groundwater a realistic option for increasing water supplies around the world. This advancement has a niche in meeting future water needs. However, DCC technology was specifically developed to addess current desalination environmental impacts.
The DCC process for desalination is specifically designed to address the detrimental impacts of water intake and brine disposal associated with outdated Reverse Osmosis.
Brine disposal at sea relies on dilution by ocean currents or additional water streams. These are ineffective methods of dispersing brine at sea. Without vigorous mechanical stirring, brine coalesces into marine "dead-zones" in the depths of nearby seas. These marine dead-zones are increasingly found in proximity to large scale reverse osmosis brine solute disposal locations, such as those recently found in the Red Sea.
Dead-zones are so named because they kill all living things within them, and they grow daily as the current desalination processes continue to produce and distribute the brine solute.
In the United States, due to a recent Federal Court ruling under the Clean Water Act, seawater intakes are no longer viable designs without reducing the intake of plankton, fish eggs and fish larvae by ninety percent. There are alternatives, including beach wells that eliminate this concern, but they require more energy and entail higher operating costs while limiting output.
The DCC process eliminates the air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions that are associated with now obsolete desalination processes. It furthermore eliminates massive green house gas emissions commonly associated with the salt products.
Fish, birds and other aquatic life numbers can be seriously impacted when water from lakes, rivers and groundwater is diverted for human use. Increased volumes of water obtained through desalination of seawater will enable restoration of riparian values. However, restoration of these riparian values must be weighed against the destructive impact Reverse Osmosis Desalination Plants has on a marine ecosystem.
The unintended consequences of current Desalination Processes takes a heavy toll on oceanic biodiversity. The outdated process of current desalination technology may cause the loss of many living creatures in our oceans.