Seawater recruited to tackle drought
By Fu Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-10-19 06:04

Billions of dollars are to be pumped into desalinating seawater to tackle increasingly severe water shortages in coastal regions.

According to a new national plan, annual desalinated seawater will reach 100 billion cubic metres by 2020, 26 times Beijing's current annual water consumption.

A senior National Development and Reform Commission official yesterday told China Daily that the government has already finished plans for the desalination project, which will cost up to 56 billion yuan ((US$6.9 billion) to implement.

Treated seawater is expected to make up 16 to 24 per cent of the water supply in coastal areas in 2010. By 2020, up to 37 per cent of water used in the regions will come from the sea.

"Refreshing seawater has been written into national strategies to cope with China's water crisis, along with diverting water from south to north, digging reservoirs and improving efficiency," said a department director on the condition of not being named.

According to the director, the National Bureau of Oceanography and the Ministry of Finance have teamed up to find low-tax solutions to attract investors at home and abroad into the business.

"The lion's share of the investment will come from investors and the government will earmark money to improve relevant technologies," he said.

Financial support will be offered to people living on about 400 islands to help them utilize treated seawater as a daily necessity, the official added.

Cities including Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, and Shandong and Zhejiang provinces are likely to utilize processed seawater because of their huge water consumption.

One industry expert said that the high cost of desalination is still a problem, even though equipment is now about 50 per cent cheaper than 10 years ago.

The unnamed official said the government will consider raising bills on water from conventional sources to encourage the use of desalinated seawater, which is usually more expensive.

China currently has 10 seawater desalination plants in coastal cities and more are to be built in Shandong, Tianjin, Zhejiang with a daily capacity of 100,000 to 200,000 tons each, according to reports.

China has one of the world's most serious water shortages.

More than 400 of over 600 Chinese cities are short of water and Beijing is one of the most seriously affected.

People in rural arid areas, as well as those in many coastal cities, also have to endure acute water shortages.

"Using more seawater in coastal areas will help relieve shortages in other areas as we won't need to divert so much," said the official.

According to the International Desalination Association, desalinated seawater has become an important part of world fresh water production and its use is vital in solving the world's water resource problems.

Desalination is also of great importance to developing countries like China.

Worldwide, more than 100 million people now rely on desalinated seawater for drinking water.

(China Daily 10/19/2005 page3)