Construction of the biggest sea water desalinationplant in Asia, developed by the TianjinDagang Xinquan Seawater Desalination Co.,Ltd, is in full swing. The daily water desalinationcapacity of the first phase of the projectis 100,000 tons, which is eventually to be increasedto 150,000 tons upon completion inJuly, 2009.

Situated in Marine Petrochemical Park of DagangDistrict of Tianjin, the project is investedby Hyflux Group from Singapore, with the totalinvestment amounting to RMB 750 millionyuan. The project is aimed to guarantee thewater supply for various industry projects in thepark, especially an under-construction projectof producing 1 million tons of ethylene.

As an early bird to desalt sea water, Tianjinboasts an advanced technology in sea waterdesalination. In as early as 1980s, Tianjinconstructed the first sea water desalinatingequipment in China. Now, the annual sea waterdesalinating capacity of Tianjin has reached5 million tons, with the desalting capacity ofprojects under construction amounting to 60million tons. The equipments will directly utilize1.4 billion tons of sea water.

With 153.3-kilometer-long coastal line and beingthe biggest industrial city in North China, Tianjinboasts a strong market demand for sea waterdesalination and comprehensive utilization ofsea water. Being short of fresh water supply, theaverage water resources per capita in Tianjin isonly 160 cubic meters. The shortage of water resourceshas become a bottleneck for social andeconomic development of Tianjin.

As the Municipal Government of Tianjin regardssea water desalination as an importantsupplement for city water supply, Tianjin hasbecome a model city for water desalinationin China. By 2010, the daily capacity of waterdesalting will have reached 500,000 cubicmeters, with the annual water desalting capacityexceeding 150 million tons and the annualamount of direct utilization of sea water beingover 4 billion cubic meters. By that time, thedaily water desalination capacity of China willhit 800,000 to one million cubic meters, withthe annual direct utilization of sea water being55 billion cubic meters.

The industrialization of seawater desalination ispaced up with the improvement of the technology.

The end of 2006 witnessed a successful launchof single-set equipment capable of producing10,000 tons of fresh water every day from seawater in the Binhai New Area of Tianjin. This isChina’s first patent 10,000-ton per day seawaterdesalination equipment.

A group of model projects of sea water desalinationwill have finished construction by 2010.In addition to the Dagang Xinquan seawaterdesalination project, the sea water desalinationproject of producing 200,000 tons of freshwater per day in Tanggu, projects of producing200,000 tons of fresh water respectively in BeijiangPower Plant and Dagang Power Plant areunder preparation.

According to officials in Tianjin Municipal Science& Technology Commission, the technologyof sea water desalination and utilizationin Tianjin tops China. “The industrial clusterof sea water desalination is forming, whichbrings the congregation of many enterprises ingeographical sense and improvement of innersystem of the industrial chain as well.”As scheduled, the year 2010 will witness theestablishment of a R&D center of key technologiesof China’s sea water desalination in Tianjin,which will then make Tianjin a model city of seawater desalination and a processing base ofset equipments with independent intellectualproperty rights.

Statistics show that there are currently 125countries in the world using sea water desalinationtechnology, producing fresh water ofabout 37.75 million tons per day, 80 percent ofwhich is for drinking. The total capacity of seawater desalination per day of China is about30,000 tons, taking up 1‰ of the generalamount of the world.