Shanghai Tongjie pitches containerized desalination for island water projects

Shanghai Tongjie is highlighting a containerized seawater desalination approach for remote islands, arguing that factory-built systems can reduce on-site construction, speed deployment and improve reliability in harsh marine conditions. The company says island planners should match intake, pretreatment and operating design to local water sources, power access and logistics constraints.

Why it matters: - Remote islands need dependable freshwater systems that can work despite limited labor, rough supply chains and salt-heavy environments. - Containerized desalination can reduce on-island construction and shorten the path to potable water. - Matching the system to local feedwater and demand can lower energy use, maintenance burden and lifecycle cost.

What happened: - Shanghai Tongjie is presenting a containerized seawater desalination system for island deployment at technical conferences such as ISSD-WM. - The company frames the package as a way to bypass complex island civil construction while delivering potable water tailored to marine conditions. - The release says island planners should begin with raw water diagnostics before choosing treatment technology. - Shanghai Tongjie invites island project teams to provide raw water test reports, island coordinates, daily demand and power parameters to receive a customized process flow diagram, container layout drawing and lifecycle budget assessment.

The details: - Open-ocean seawater typically carries total dissolved solids of 32,000 to 42,000 mg/L and requires high-pressure reverse osmosis at 55 to 70 bar. - Beach wells and infiltration galleries can use natural sand filtration to lower turbidity and stabilize feedwater quality. - Brackish groundwater with 2,000 to 10,000 mg/L TDS can support a brackish water RO train at 15 to 25 bar, with energy consumption more than 50% lower than full seawater desalination. - Island water planning should separate potable drinking use, municipal domestic use, irrigation and construction demand. - For open-sea sources, the pretreatment train includes coagulation and flocculation, dissolved air flotation or dual-media filtration, microfiltration or ultrafiltration polishing and 5-micron cartridge filtration. - UF polishing is described as keeping SDI15 below 2.5 before high-pressure pumps. - Single-pass SWRO permeate is described as having 200 to 400 mg/L TDS, which the release says can meet general domestic needs. - For drinking water aligned with WHO guidelines, post-treatment can include calcite remineralization, pH adjustment and residual chlorination or UV disinfection. - A fully containerized SWRO system arrives with intake boosting pumps, filtration skids, chemical dosing stations, high-pressure pump units, membrane pressure vessels, CIP assemblies and electrical distribution pre-installed and pre-wired inside an ISO container. - On-site work is reduced to a level concrete foundation pad, raw water intake piping, permeate lines to storage tanks and main power cable termination. - Projects that would take six to nine months of on-site fabrication can be brought into service within days after the container is craned into place. - Marine durability is tied to multi-coat epoxy protection rated to ISO 12944 C5-M. - Low-pressure pre-treatment piping uses Schedule 80 UPVC, CPVC or FRP, while high-pressure seawater manifolds use duplex 2205 or super duplex 2507 stainless steel. - Heavy-duty dehumidifiers and air conditioning are used to protect switchgear and PLC components from condensation and salt mist. - The system uses PLCs for one-touch startup, automatic low-pressure flushing on shutdown and real-time monitoring of pressure, flow and conductivity. - 4G/5G or satellite IoT gateways send live data to cloud monitoring platforms for remote technical support. - The onboard consumables inventory includes replacement cartridge filters, antiscalant chemicals and O-ring seal kits to support operations during monsoon-related supply disruptions. - Standard 20-foot and 40-foot containers can move by cargo barge, landing craft or Ro-Ro vessel and unload with mobile cranes or truck winches. - Site civil work is limited to a reinforced concrete slab, raw water intake sumps and external power and distribution pipework.

Between the lines: - The pitch is less about a single desalination unit and more about an island deployment model built around factory integration, remote monitoring and corrosion resistance. - The emphasis on beach wells, UF pretreatment and automation suggests the company is targeting customers who want lower operating risk, not just maximum output. - The release also signals that island desalination projects can be standardized without ignoring local water chemistry and logistics constraints.

What's next: - Shanghai Tongjie says island project engineers can turn site-specific inputs into a customized process flow, layout and budget package. - The implied next step is a site survey and water testing phase before equipment specification and shipment. - The company positions the containerized system as ready for remote-island projects that need faster deployment and lower on-site buildout.