Heavy metal accumulation in the vicinity of a desalination plant

The brine effluent produced by a flash distillation desalination plant contains elevated levels of some heavy metals. The effluent produced from such a plant operating in Jersey during the summer months leads to increased metal concentrations in limpets and some Fucus species. This is most evident with copper which remains at elevated levels during the winter period of plant inactivity, probably due to the copper coating retained on boulders and pebbles on the upper shore.