Desalination an answer to China's water needs
Power generation for the mainland's growth will need lots of it and one way is to get it from the sea but this is not a cheap option
Desalination is viewed by some as a panacea for China's water shortage. It, however, consumes a lot of electricity, placing a strain on the country's power sector that ironically is being held back by its water shortage.
"Water shortage is definitely a serious issue in China," said Tim Luckock, a partner at British law firm Norton Rose, who is involved in the legal aspects of planned desalination plants in the mainland.
China's annual renewable water resource per capita was slightly over 2,000 cubic metres between 2003 and 2010, above the water stress level of 1,700 cubic metres when periodic or limited water shortages can be expected, said an HSBC report.
Three municipalities, Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin, and three provinces, Jiangsu, Hebei and Ningxia, are running deficits, withdrawing more water than can be replenished, said HSBC.
The cheapest way to ease China's water shortage is conventional waste water treatment, which cleans existing water, and there are many treatment plants in the mainland, Luckock said.
The other way is desalination, obtaining water from the ocean and removing the salt.