Toray Industries Inc. announced that it has received a reverse osmosis (RO) membrane order for the Tseung Kwan O Desalination Plant in Hong Kong — Hong Kong’s first large desalination plant using RO membrane.
The plant will have a daily freshwater production capacity of 135,000 cubic meters (35.7 million gallons daily). It will account for around 5% of Hong Kong's potable water demand. The facility is scheduled to go online in end 2023. There are plans to boost daily capacity to 270,000 cubic meters.
Hong Kong currently sources 20 to 40% of water from impounding reservoirs and 60 to 80% from Dongjiang River in Guangzhou, China. Challenges to maintaining a stable water supply include rising water demand owing to population and economic growth and extreme weather conditions and severe drought because of climate change. Another factor is that rapid development of the Pearl River Delta has increased water supply stress on the Dongjiang River.
Hong Kong’s Water Supplies Department has tackled these challenges by tightening water management measures in recent years. The project to set up a desalination plant is part of the strategy to diversify the territory’s water sources and make it less vulnerable to climate change.
Toray will help maintain Hong Kong’s infrastructure by supplying the Tseung Kwan O Desalination Plant with products and technical services.
Over the years, Toray has expanded its RO membrane production, sales, and technical support to assist water treatment plants around the globe. Applications extend from desalination and wastewater reclamation to industrial usage.
The plant is expected to begin operations around the end of 2023.
