On July 10, the first phase of the Tangshan seaport desalination project, undertaken by Shanghai Electric Water Engineering Co., Ltd., successfully completed the water intake, marking the 50,000 tons/day desalination project under construction officially entered the commissioning stage, laying the foundation for freshwater extraction.

The Tangshan seaport desalination project is a positive response to the national policy on groundwater use restriction, aiming to solve the water shortage in Tangshan Seaport Economic Development Zone and its surrounding areas and seeking comprehensive use of seawater resources. It is selected as a key construction project in Hebei Province to provide a demonstration effect in the Bohai Bay region. The project adopts the process of “air flotation - horizontal sand filtration - reverse osmosis” and applies Shanghai Electric’s large horizontal sand filtration device and advanced reverse osmosis membrane separation system. A digital O&M platform has greatly enhanced Shanghai Electric's capability in the construction and operation and maintenance of large-scale membrane desalination projects. After the project goes into operation, it will make up for Shanghai Electric's deficiency in seawater desalination, and rapidly improve its performance in large-scale membrane desalination, enabling the Group to remain a domestic leader in the industry.

Since the resumption of the project in March, members of the project team withstood the impact of unfavorable factors such as COVID-19 resurgence, shortage of personnel and continuous rainfall to ensure the smooth completion of the water intake; they vigorously dispatched resources, strictly adhered to the project schedule and implemented meticulous management. At 9:00 a.m. on July 10, in the presence of the owner, the supervisor and the project staff, the warm water from the condenser of Datang International Wangtan Power Plant poured into the air floatation tank as the valve of the external water supply pipe slowly opened.

It is reported that, after the successful water intake, the individual commissioning of air flotation, sand filtration and reverse osmosis devices and the integrated commissioning of the whole system will be carried out to ensure the output of qualified fresh water in late July to meet the water demand of the surrounding areas.