D9.1 Report on environmental impacts from brine discharge October 2020 Draft Deliverable 9.1 Report on environmental impacts from brine discharge Related Work Package WP9 – Subtask 9.2.2 Deliverable lead University of Aberdeen (ABDN) Author(s) Sergio Carlos Garcia Gomez, Taxonomist Contact [email protected] [email protected] Reviewer Frithjof Kuepper Grant Agreement Number 730390 Instrument Horizon 2020 Framework Programme Start date 1.6.2017 Duration 48 months Type of Delivery (R, DEM, DEC, Other)1 R Dissemination Level (PU, CO, Cl)2 PU Date last update 9 October 2020 Website www.zerobrine.eu Name of researcher(s) with roles Eleni Avramidi, Honorary Research Fellow, School of Biological Sciences (ABDN) Prof. Frithjof Kuepper, Chair in Marine Biodiversity, School of Biological Sciences (ABDN) 1 R=Document, report; DEM=Demonstrator, pilot, prototype; DEC=website, patent fillings, videos, etc.; OTHER=other 2 PU=Public, CO=Confidential, only for members of the consortium (including the Commission Services), CI=Classified ZERO BRINE – Industrial Wastewater – Resource Recovery – Circular Economy 1 Revision Date Description Author(s) no 0.1 30 May 2020 First draft Prof. Frithjof Kuepper (ABDN) Eleni Avramidi (ABDN) Sergio Carlos Garcia Gomez, Taxonomist 0.2 14 Oct. 2020 Second draft Prof. Frithjof Kuepper (ABDN) The chapters “Executive summary” Eleni Avramidi (ABDN) and “Conclusions” have been Sergio Carlos Garcia Gomez, included. The comments of the Taxonomist internal review have been incorporated. The ZERO BRINE project has received funding from the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 programme, Grant Agreement no. 730390. The opinions expressed in this document reflect only the author’s view and in no way reflect the European Commission’s opinions. The European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains. ZERO BRINE – Industrial Wastewater – Resource Recovery – Circular Economy 2 Executive summary Seawater desalination plants may potentially affect the aquatic biological communities in the coastal environment due to the brine discharge. “Benthic macroinvertebrates” is the key biological indicator examined in this investigation for the assessment of the influence of brine discharge on benthic fauna, supported by data about macroalgal indicators and physicochemical and hydromorphological conditions. Benthic macroinvertebrates have an important role in sediment processes and predator– prey relationships and they usually have well-defined responses to environmental changes, especially those stressors that influence the sediment structure and its chemistry and quality. They are officially included among biological quality elements in the European umbrella regulations for water systems, namely the Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC (WFD) and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive 2008/56/EC (MSFD). The investigated area includes three sites, one in the vicinity of the EVIDES DWP1 in the Britanniehaven area, one in the vicinity of EVIDES DWP2 in the Hartelkanaal area, and one in Hartelkanaal in the Elbeweg area that is designated as reference site. In total, 4 seasonal sampling surveys were scheduled, namely in September 2019, January 2020, July 2020 and April 2021. The survey planned for April 2020 was cancelled due to the Covid-19 outbreak and postponed for April 2021. A total of 6 sampling stations have been established for benthic macroinvertebrates analysis. Biological quality descriptors (abundance A, species richness S, and Shannon’s diversity H), biological quality indices (AMBI, BOPA), and statistics analysis tools will be applied after the completion of the surveys to objectively assess the effect of brine release on benthic fauna and the ecological status of the investigated areas. The approach will be in line with the guidelines of the WFD and the MSFD. ZERO BRINE – Industrial Wastewater – Resource Recovery – Circular Economy 3 Contents Executive summary ........................................................................................................... 3 Abbreviations ................................................................................................................... 5 List of figures .................................................................................................................... 6 List of tables ..................................................................................................................... 6 1 Overview of the project .............................................................................................. 7 2 Objectives .................................................................................................................. 7 3 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 8 4 Methods ................................................................................................................... 10 4.1 Study area .................................................................................................................... 10 4.2 Field and laboratory work ............................................................................................. 11 5 Results and Discussion .............................................................................................. 13 5.1 Historical data ............................................................................................................... 13 5.2 Water and sediment physical and chemical parameters ................................................. 14 5.3 Algae ............................................................................................................................ 15 5.4 Benthic macroinvertebrates .......................................................................................... 16 5.4.1 Community composition ................................................................................................. 16 5.4.2 Biotic indices .................................................................................................................... 20 6 Conclusions .............................................................................................................. 21 7 Bibliography ............................................................................................................. 22 ZERO BRINE – Industrial Wastewater – Resource Recovery – Circular Economy 4 Abbreviations AMBI AZTI Marine Biotic Index BOPA Benthic opportunistic polychaeta amphipoda index DWP Demineralized Water Plant EQR Ecological Quality Ratio ES Ecological Status ICPR International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine MSFD Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) POC Particulate Organic Carbon RAP Rhine Action Programme RBD River Basin District RBMP River Basin Management Plan SAC Special Areas of Conservation of Natura 2000 Network SPA Special Protection Areas of Natura 2000 Network SWB Surface Water Body TBT Tri-butyl tin WFD Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC ZERO BRINE – Industrial Wastewater – Resource Recovery – Circular Economy 5 List of figures Figure 1 Topography of the Rotterdam waterway in 1740 and 2020 ..................................................... 8 Figure 2 Distribution of activities in the Port of Rotterdam (Source: PoR) ............................................. 9 Figure 3 Sampling sites .......................................................................................................................... 11 Figure 4 Location of sampling stations .................................................................................................. 12 Figure 5 Existing monitoring stations in the broader area as reported in the RBMP of the Rhine river basin district (2015) ............................................................................................................................... 14 List of tables Table 1: Main characteristics of the sampled stations .......................................................................... 13 Table 2: Values of the water physical and chemical parameters measurements at sampling stations 15 Table 3: Values of the sediment physical and chemical parameters measurements at sampling station ............................................................................................................................................................... 15 Table 4: Benthic macrofauna results at sampling stations in the 1st sampling survey ........................ 17 Table 5: Benthic macrofauna results at sampling station in the second sampling survey ................... 18 Table 6: AMBI values and classification (Borja et al. 2000, 2003) ......................................................... 20 Table 7: BOPA values and classification ................................................................................................ 20 ZERO BRINE – Industrial Wastewater – Resource Recovery – Circular Economy 6 1 Overview of the project The ZERO BRINE project aims to facilitate the implementation of the Circular Economy package and the SPIRE roadmap in various process industries by developing necessary concepts, technological solutions and business models to redesign the value and supply chains of minerals and water while dealing with present organic compounds in a way that allows their subsequent recovery. These resources will be recovered from saline impaired effluents (brines) generated by the process industry while eliminating wastewater discharges