Brackish water

Brackish water has more dissolved salts than freshwater but less than seawater. It occurs in estuaries, coastal wetlands, and other places where fresh and saline waters mix.

Salinity: The concentration of dissolved salts in water. Brackish water is defined by salinity between freshwater and seawater.
Tidal mixing: The movement and blending of water driven by the periodic rise and fall of tides. Tides carry seawater inland and mix it with river water.
Brackish water desalination: The removal of dissolved salts from water whose salinity is below that of seawater. Its lower salinity can make treatment less energy-intensive than seawater desalination.
Osmoregulation: The regulation of water and dissolved-ion balance in an organism. Brackish habitats challenge organisms to balance internal fluids against changing salinity.
Freshwater: Water with very low concentrations of dissolved salts. It forms the low-salinity end of the range that distinguishes brackish water.
River discharge: The volume of water flowing from a river into a receiving body per unit time. River flow dilutes seawater and shifts brackish zones toward the coast.
Brackish water aquaculture: The farming of aquatic organisms in water with salinity between freshwater and seawater. Some farmed fish and shrimp thrive in brackish ponds and coastal waters.
Euryhaline organism: An organism able to tolerate a broad range of environmental salinities. Such organisms can persist as brackish conditions fluctuate with tides and river flow.
Seawater: The saline water that fills the world's oceans and seas. Its higher salt concentration marks the upper end of brackish water's range.
Salt wedge: A tongue of dense seawater that travels upstream beneath river water in an estuary. It creates a layered form of brackish conditions when mixing is weak.

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