Environmental impact of waste and effluents from Lebanese thermal power stations on the Mediterranean Sea

Thermal power stations need water for cooling and are often built near the sea. In Lebanon, six thermal power stations are situated on the coast and burn heavy fuel and use Mediterranean sea water in their cooling systems. Four of them use a desalination procedure to provide demineralised water necessary for turbines, which is discharged into the sea after use. Two types of effluent are discharged into the Mediterranean, water at a temperature about 15 degrees higher than the aquatic environment, and the discharges of chemical products from the desalination of sea water and toxic metals resulting from the corrosion of the installations. The effect of the thermal and chemical pollution on the sea are, outlined. With the aim of investigating the impact of the effluent discharge from Lebanese power station into the sea, and for identifying the environmental problems on the aquatic surroundings, a study is carried out on the cooling circuit water of North Hraichet power station. A chemical speciation is performed on the cooling circuit water at a number of points in the power station for determining the different metal contents of the water