Increased RO concentrate toxicity following application of antiscalants - acute toxicity tests with the amphipods Gammarus pulex and Gammarus roeseli.

In reverse osmosis, a frequently used technology in water desalination processes, wastewater (RO concentrate) is generated containing the retained solutes as well as so-called antiscalants (AS), i.e. chemical substances that are commonly applied to prevent membrane-blocking. In this study, a risk assessment of a possible discharge of concentrate into a small stream was conducted. The acute toxicity of two concentrates containing two different ASs and of concentrate without AS to the amphipods Gammarus pulex and Gammarus roeseli was studied. Mortality of gammarids exposed to the concentrate without AS was not different to the control, whereas concentrates including ASs caused mortality rates up to 100% at the highest test concentrations after 168 h. Resulting EC50-values were 36.2-39.4% (v/v) after 96 h and 26.6-58.0% (v/v) after 168 h. These results suggest that the ecotoxicological relevance of antiscalants is greater than currently assumed.