Toray Industries Inc has received orders to supply reverse osmosis (RO) membranes to seawater desalination plants in Qingdao (Shandong) and Caofeidian (Tangshan, Hebei) in China.
Scheduled to be operational within the year, the two plants together will produce a total of 150,000 m³/d of water.
The Qingdao plant, with a water production capacity of 100,000 m³/d is the largest RO desalination plant in China. It is currently under construction in Jiaozhou Bay by Befesa of Spain in joint venture with Qingdao City.
The water produced at this plant will provide drinking water to the 7.5 million residents of Qingdao City, who are suffering from water shortages. This will be the first time desalinated water will be fully used as drinking water in China.
Caofeidian Desalination Plant with a production capacity of 50,000 m³/d is scheduled to start operations in 2011. The plant is cofunded by Tangshan Caofeidian Infrastructure Investment Co Ltd and Aqualyng China Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Norway’s Aqualyng, and is being constructed by the Development Center of Water Treatment Technology.
The water quality produced at the plant will fully meet national drinking water standards. The water will be mainly used as industrial water at the Caofeidian industrial development zone with part of the production to be used as drinking water.