Water. Desalination + reuse
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/604344
REGIONS | 26 | Desalination & Water Reuse | November-December 2015 China ups desalination by a billion cubic metres a day 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 was used mainly for water- intensive industries including electricity and steel in the provinces of Tianjin, Hebei and Shandong. In south China, the plants' output was chiefly for civilian needs covering Zhejiang, Fujian and Hainan provinces. Of the finished desalination plants, 63% were intended 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. California Democrat bill rings cash for desalination California Democrat senator, Dianne Feinstein, has introduced legislation to allocate investment to water desalination, recycling and additional storage totalling US$ 1.3 billion over ten years. Feinstein's bill has identified 26 projects in the state that are capable of producing over 400 million m³ of water a year. It would also allocate US$ 50 million for desalination research. Feinstein said the bill called for steps toward the building of new reservoirs, or expanding existing reservoirs, noting the critical importance of storing water during wet years for use in dry years. "I'm hopeful the bill will serve as a template for the kinds of short-term and long-term solutions California needs to address this devastating drought," Feinstein said. Feinstein anticipated that the bill may be included in wider drought relief legislation that could benefit the entire West. California House Republicans have introduced a competing drought relief bill based on dam and reservoir building. ASIA PACIFIC Population growth in the Gold Coast region of Queensland, Australia, could lead to the reinstatement of a controversial, mothballed seawater desalination plant at Tugun from summer 2020. South east Queensland water supplier, Seqwater, said its planners had estimated that the 125 Ml/d Tugun plant could be needed back on line continuously during summer months from 2020 to meet growing demand. A population study by consultant KPMG for Gold Coast City Council found that the population more than doubled to 538,000 between 1990 and 2013 and could reach 904,000 by 2036. The controversial A$ 1.2 billion (US$ 840 million) Tugun plant was closed in 2009 and mothballed in 2010 after giving rise to numerous complaints. It has recently provided only 3 Ml/d to southeast Queensland's water grid costing up to A$ 15 million (US$ 10.5 million) a year to operate. About 170,000 people are temporarily getting drinking water at 44-80 Ml/d from Tugun's desalination plant while the Gold Coast's Mudgeeraba's treatment plant undergoes major repair. Water production costs at Tugun are higher than those of drinking water from the Hinze and Little Nerang dams which is treated at the Mudgeeraba plant. A Seqwater spokesman said the Tugun plant could be used as a peaking plant meeting the higher demand during the hot months as early as 2020. Bulk water prices to councils are locked in for the next three years, but water bills from 2020 onwards would have to reflect the higher costs of water. NORTH AMERICA MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA Saudi desalination up 10% Saudi Arabia's Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) upped its desalinated water output during the past year by 10% on the previous year to more than 1.1 billion m³. Minister of water and electricity and chairman of the SWCC, Abdullah Al-Hussayyen, said in his foreword to the corporation's annual report that the start of production at the first phase of the Ras Al-Khair plant would strengthen the corporation's ability to cover drinking water needs of all regions of the Kingdom. Al-Hussayyen praised the rapid development in the desalination industry which he attributed to unlimited support by the government. The minister went to say the implementation of scientific and technical developments and investment by Jubail Institute for Research and Desalination Technologies also played a significant part in the Saudi industry's development. SWCC governor, Abdul Rahman Al-Ibrahim, said the volume of desalinated water pumped from the eastern province stations totalled 550.1 million m³, and formed 49.7% of the total output, supplying the eastern region, Riyadh, Qassim, Sudair and Washem provinces. In the western region, the SWCC produced 557.5 million m³ – 50.3% of the total. Areas it supplied included Makkah, Jeddah and Madinah. Scilly mulls floating intake The Scilly Isles' council has submitted plans to the Marine Management Organisation for a new seawater intake for the islands' St Mary's desalination plant. A novel floating arrangement for the intake was designed to leave the seabed undisturbed to limit filter blockage by sediment. The council proposed the installation of a floating pump system, some 200 m from the shore at Pelistry Bay, to take water from the open sea after an onshore borehole source became contaminated with pyrite. The seawater intake would sit one metre below the water surface and will be connected to the desalination plant by a flexible pipe. EUROPE Surging population may spark mothballed plant return row