A new method to desalinate brackish water at a
lower cost has been developed and a facility using it is planned
for the Pearl River estuary in Guangdong
Province, according to Xinhua News Agency yesterday.
An official from Hangzhou Water Treatment
Technology Research and Development Center, under the auspices of
the State Oceanic Administration, said the plant will have a daily
processing capacity of 100,000 tons.
The center has signed a contract with a Guangdong
paper mill to build the plant jointly as a commercial project.
Using the new technology, the center's Zhu Shufei
said water from the facility would cost roughly the same as
standard supplies and much less than that of desalinated
seawater.
The process uses reverse-osmosis-based filtration
throughout, said Zhu.
Currently, people in coastal regions often have
brackish water supplies.
(Xinhua News Agency July 15, 2005)