Advanced seawater treatment plant cuts energy use

A new desalination system that can produce more than 60,000 liters of fresh water a day has recently been put into operation on Guishan, an island in the Zhuhai special economic zone, Guangdong province.

According to a statement from the Guangzhou Institute of Advanced Technology, an affiliate of the Chinese Academy of Science, the desalination system is the first on the Chinese mainland to use waste heat from diesel generators to produce fresh water.

The water it produces is sufficient to meet the daily needs of 150 to 300 people, the statement said. And lab tests have shown that the water it makes fully meets national safety standards and is potable without any further treatment.