DesalData Weekly - October 28th, 2015
Posted 28 October, 2015 by Mandy
In Jakarta, the Indonesian megalopolis of Java, city officials are planning to develop five seawater desalination projects in the Thousand Island archipelago that is just north of the city. The Thousand Islands, also known as Kepulauan Seribu, consists of a string of 128 small islands in the Jakarta Bay, which are surrounded by clear, calm waters and white-sand beaches. Of these islands, 13 are fully developed for public use, and among them, Karya, Kelapa, Harapan, Tidung, and Untung Jawa will become home to new plants.1 The construction will be completed by next year.
Thousand Islands Regent, Budi Utomo, has said that upgraded electricity networks have been installed to support the upcoming seawater desalination facilities. Currently, the region relies on brackish water reverse osmosis facilities that filter groundwater into drinking water, which consume less electrical energy per cubic metre of fresh water produced. Three other brackish water reverse osmosis facilities (BWRO) are no longer operational and in urgent need of repair, having caused severe water deficits in Pari and Lancang islands.1 The new network will support the energy needs of the seawater RO plants and will help overcome water scarcity by alleviating the stress on local groundwater sources.
In Chennai, India, the funding process for the city’s third desalination plant is nearly complete. Located in Nemelli, the plant will use reverse osmosis to produce 150 million litres of water a day—contributing to Chennai Metrowater’s current distribution of 550 million litres of water to the region on alternate days.2 According to the Times of India, water conservation experts have lamented city officials’ water management—which has eroded the city’s water-holding capacity.3 T.K. Rankumar, a water resource management expert, has suggested that the government should have restored lakes “to create a decentralized system of supply for local populations”—by relying on catchment areas capable of retaining rainfall for distribution. Meanwhile, others have suggested the intensive power usage of the plant will be catastrophic for the energy-deficient region. The plant’s power use is equivalent to what 373 “basic households” consume per month.4
China’s state-controlled metallurgy and engineering firm, Sinosteel Equipment and Engineering Co., has signed an agreement to develop the Cerro Blanco project with the White Mountain Titanium Corporation.5 The terms of the agreement indicate the project will include the construction of an ancillary desalination plant; and, more broadly, the cooperation of the two organizations for the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction of the rutile concentrator plant. 6
1 “Jakarta to Develop Seawater Desalination Program on Five Islands,” Jakarta Post, October 22, 2015, <http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/22/jakarta-develop-seawater-desalination-program-five-islands.html> accessed October 26, 2015.
2 K. Lakshmi, “German Team to Finalize Funding for Desalination Plant,” The Hindu, September 20, 2015, <http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/german-team-to-finalise-funding-for-desalination-plant/article7670276.ece> accessed September 22, 2015.
3 “Chennai to Get New Desalination Plant,” Times of India, October 26, 2015, <http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Chennai-to-get-new-desalination-plant/articleshow/49531312.cms> accessed October 26, 2015.
4 Ibid.
5 “Miner Ties up with Chinese Steel Firm in a Desalination Deal,” Desalination & Water Reuse Quarterly, October 21, 2015, <http://www.desalination.biz/news/news_story.asp?id=8213&channel=0&title=Miner+ties+up+with+Chinese+steel+firm+in+desalination+deal> accessed October 27, 2015.
6 “White Mountain Signs Non-Binding MOU with Sinosteel for Cerro Blanco Project and Desalination Plant,” October 12, 2015, PR Newswire, <http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/white-mountain-signs-non-binding-mou-with-sinosteel-for-cerro-blanco-project-and-desalination-plant-300158280.html> accessed October 27, 2015.