Between fire and water
Though many are optimistic about the development of seawater desalination in China, there are still many problems that need to be tackled.
For a long time, the MWR has been in charge of the country's fresh water while the State Oceanic Administration has been in charge of seawater. In addition, industry planning is the responsibility of the NDRC, while pipeline construction is under the control of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.
As the central government plans to support the seawater desalination industry, different organs will, without a doubt, be eager to get a slice of the cake, which will cause them to scramble for possible benefits.
Lan Weiguang, managing director and founder of Sinomem Technology Ltd., said he had already sensed the business opportunity early this year, but many factors have hindered progress. Competition between enterprises is nothing special, but "competition" between government departments is creating obstacles to promoting the industry at a faster pace, he said.
The price of fresh water has been growing in recent years, but the costs to distill seawater into fresh water are actually decreasing, added Lan.
Can spring be far behind?
When Yang Shanbao pointed out "the spring of seawater desalination has finally arrived," many people had their doubts after seeing how things had gone over the years.
However, Yang said with confidence that all problems will be solved after the two important government documents are officially released, which will help set up a market mechanism and a seawater coordination mechanism between different departments.
Lan Weiguang is happy to see the changes. He also suggested that, along with supportive policies to develop seawater desalination, the government should further consider the water recycling industry as well, since befouled water is easy to process into drinkable water at an even lower cost.
An unnamed executive at a power and desalination plant in Tianjin agreed on this point, and hopes the government will lay out more supportive policies such as giving subsidies to plants.
