Beijing is considering desalinated sea water for drinking water

Desalination of seawater was listed for the first time in the 2010 Water Report. Word came out of the "2010 Beijing Water Working Conference" that Beijing was considering adopting desalination technologies to replenish the water supplies in the capital. They have begun to study technologies associated with desalination, the associated costs and the route the water would take to get to Beijing.

Beijing is considering desalinated sea water for drinking water

The lowest cost for desalination is about 3 yuan per ton

Cheng Jing, director of the Beijing Water Authority, said that the water resource situation is still grim. Beijing will adopt a number of measures to ensure its water supply. One of the measures is to accelerate research into desalination. Reporters learned that many cities, including Tianjin and Qingdao in China, use desalinated water to deal with water shortages. The cost of domestic water desalination is relevant to actual water demand and the lowest cost is about 3 yuan per ton.

In addition to starting desalination research, Beijing will also focus on opening up other water resources in the surrounding areas to increase the current capacities by transforming and tapping the potential of existing equipment. Beijing will expand the use of recycled water this year; the annual usage will increased to 680 million cubic meters, from 650 million cubic meters in 2009.

Reporters learned that Beijing Water Authority is revising "Beijing's water conservation measures" to detail water-saving incentives. Units or individuals that steal water, fail to pay their water fees and waste water will be strictly punished by the law, and those that are guilty will be widely exposed in the press. In this regard, the relevant official in charge of the Beijing Water Authority said that the current "saving-water measures" in Beijing only proposed raising the price system for excess water usage and does not include any incentives and disincentives. After the revisions, the law will add rewards and will punish water usage infractions “but the specific contents are still under research."

Guo Gongzhuang water plant will be under construction this year

In addition, the Beijing Running Water Group said the gross usage of tap water in Beijing will remain high. The maximum daily water demand will reach 2.8 million cubic meters and the prospects for the supply to meet this demand are still grim.

According to statistical analysis, the current demand for urban water will increase 4 percent annually. It is also predicted that the urban water supply will be equal to that of this year. This gap between supply and demand can only be resolved by building a new water plant. Measures have been taken to ensure that construction on the Guo Gongzhuang water plant will begin within the year and construction of the 10th Water Plant will continue smoothly. After the completion of these two plants, the urban water supply will reach about 4 million cubic meters per day.