ABSTRACT This study aims to evaluate the environmental impact of brine discharge from the Chabahar desalination plant, assessing compliance with regulatory limits (+10% salinity, +3°C temperature within a 200‐m mixing zone) for various discharge scenarios. A three‐dimensional hydrodynamic model (MIKE 3 FM) was implemented, calibrated with HYCOM and ERA5 data and forced using bathymetry from GEBCO to simulate brine dispersion under multiple scenarios of discharge distance (0–1000 m), angle (0°, 15°, 45° and 75°) and point configuration. The results indicate that for the current plant capacity, a discharge distance of 400 m or more generally satisfies environmental criteria, whereas for a proposed upgrade to 0.5 million m 3 /day, compliance requires a discharge located at least 1000 m from the shore, specifically at a 75° angle to the coastline, to prevent excessive salinity and temperature increases in sensitive marine habitats.
Shahverdi et al. (Fri,) studied this question.