China ups daily desalt capacity by a billion cubic metres

China built 112 seawater desalination plants in 2014, with a total output of 927 Ml/d the State Oceanic Administration revealed recently in a report on seawater use during last year.

The desalination plants were mainly located in costal cities and islands in nine coastal provincial-level regions where shortage of fresh water was severe.

In north China, the desalted water is used mainly for water-intensive industries including electricity and steel in the provinces of Tianjin, Hebei and Shandong, while in south China, the plants’ output is chiefly for civilian needs covering Zhejiang, Fujian and Hainan provinces.

Of the finished desalination plants, 63% are for industrial purposes, while the rest were constructed to meet household water demand, said the report.

In 2014, seawater cooling technology was applied in industries including nuclear and thermal power generation and petrochemicals, covering China’s eleven coastal provincial- level regions.