In a world where the climate crisis accelerates the loss of essential resources and where river basins across the Northern Hemisphere experience historic reductions in hydrological resilience, the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region emerges as one of the most vulnerable epicenters: more than 70% of its aquifers are overexploited, and per-capita water availability is barely one-fifth of the national average. In this critical reality, the Hebei Jingtang Seawater Desalination Project Phase II is conceived as a transformative response that not only generates water but redefines the relationship between industry, territory, and water security. The initiative enters a market characterized by structural scarcity and a sustained increase in industrial demand, particularly from the steel, petrochemical, and energy sectors, where each available cubic meter can determine the operational continuity of strategic production chains for China’s economic growth. Replacing groundwater withdrawals with desalinated water represents a concrete opportunity to reduce more than 34 million m³/year of deep extraction, equivalent to the annual consumption of over 450,000 urban residents, while enabling a replicable model of water production in coastal regions under chronic stress.
The project is located in the port city of Tangshan, Hebei Province, with infrastructure distributed between the Shougang Jingtang steel plant and the Tangshan Port Development Zone, a logistics-industrial hub connected to the Bohai Gulf. This strategic location allows the integration of industrial waste heat as a thermal source and direct access to seawater to feed distillation and high-recovery reverse osmosis systems. Its purpose lies in the urgent need to mitigate the accelerated deterioration of northern China’s aquifer, curb subsidence associated with deep groundwater extraction, and ensure a secure resource for critical sectors, all supported by national policies on circular economy, urban water security, and energy transition.
The actors involved form a robust institutional architecture: Shougang Jingtang as operator and supplier of residual heat; Tangshan Port as a logistics node and distribution platform; national membrane and equipment manufacturers as technology providers; provincial environmental and water resource agencies as regulators; and independent organizations as technical auditors and external verifiers ensuring operational consistency. This coordination enables the project to directly align with Water Positive principles, providing an additional, traceable volume of water that did not exist in the baseline and relieving pressure on natural sources. Its operation strictly adheres to the principles of additionality, by generating new water supply without replacing pre-existing interventions, traceability, through SCADA systems and digital flow control from intake to distribution, and intentionality, as it is explicitly designed to reduce regional water deficits and support aquifer recovery. Altogether, the initiative not only produces water; it redefines the horizon of water resilience in northern China and opens the possibility of a new water economy based on innovation, circularity, and climate coherence.
The project’s second phase arises from the opportunity to convert steelmaking waste heat and continuous access to seawater into a strategic water source for a region whose deficit exceeds 1 billion m³ annually. Integrating low-temperature distillation with high-recovery reverse osmosis increases system energy efficiency and reduces electricity consumption by more than 30%, ensuring consistent water quality even under extreme variations in the Bohai Sea. In the short term, the project provides 85,000 m³/day of alternative water, reduces pressure on aquifers, and avoids new deep wells; in the medium and long term, it reduces operational disruptions, decreases emissions associated with deep pumping, and helps slow subsidence and saltwater intrusion, strengthening regional water resilience.
The project responds to a context where withdrawals exceed 120% of natural recharge, where industrial losses are significant, and where historical pollution limits the use of reclaimed water, alongside new regulatory requirements that limit groundwater extraction. These pressures are compounded by accelerated industrial growth, scarce perennial surface water, and decades of discharges that have degraded surface water quality, all within a framework that requires industries to reduce extraction by 20–40% in the next decade.
Implementation is made possible through coordination among experts in thermal integration, port operators capable of managing large volumes, national membrane manufacturers, research institutes, and a technical structurer ensuring methodological rigor. This model is replicable in coastal industrial hubs with available waste heat and high water demand, allowing companies to position themselves as leaders in innovation, ESG compliance, and the transition to Water Positive schemes, where alternative water generation replaces critical volumes extracted from natural sources.
The project is configured as a hybrid green/gray solution under the VWBA framework, combining low-temperature distillation powered by residual heat with high-recovery reverse osmosis and a digital layer of advanced control. The process begins with seawater intake structures designed to minimize marine organism entrainment, followed by a robust pretreatment train including mechanical screening, sand removal, dissolved air flotation, sand filtration, and cartridge filters. A fraction of the water feeds low-temperature thermal distillation units using surplus steam from the steel plant, while another fraction enters one- or two-stage reverse osmosis modules operated with high-efficiency energy recovery devices. Thermal integration maintains feedwater temperature within an optimal range, increasing membrane permeate flux and reducing specific energy consumption per cubic meter.
During the design phase, alternatives such as reverse osmosis without thermal support, traditional high-energy distillation technologies, and increased water transfers from other regional systems were evaluated. The selected solution proved the most suitable by combining lower energy footprint, high operational reliability under extreme winter conditions, with seawater temperatures dropping to –2°C, and a high degree of local content exceeding 90%. The installed capacity of 85,000 m³/day, scalable through modular production trains, results in over 30 million m³/year of alternative water capable of replacing critical groundwater extractions. This is next-generation gray infrastructure enhanced by digital supervision and optimized operational criteria, forming a hybrid solution that maximizes efficiency and traceability.
Technically and strategically, the intervention addresses simultaneous challenges: structural freshwater scarcity, excessive dependence on aquifers, vulnerability to climate variability, and increasingly strict regulations on groundwater use and discharges. The coastal location, stable residual heat availability, and presence of a high-demand industrial hub justify the selection of this technology over conventional alternatives. Selection criteria included energy efficiency, levelized cost of water, robustness under variable seawater quality, responsible brine management, alignment with Chinese discharge regulations, and compatibility with international standards such as ISO 14001. Alignment with the Water Positive framework and VWBA principles materializes in the generation of additional volumetric benefits, quantified groundwater extractions avoided, with continuous flow, energy, and discharge monitoring ensuring traceability and intentionality.
Quantifiable benefits include the annual replacement of tens of millions of cubic meters of groundwater with consistently high-quality desalinated water, improved operational security for industry through a resource not subject to droughts, and stable physicochemical parameters that facilitate downstream processes. Environmentally, the system reduces indirect emissions from deep pumping, partially valorizes brine through magnesium and bromide recovery, and limits salinity dispersion through diffusers that maintain increases below 5%. Socially, it preserves freshwater for urban and agricultural priority uses and generates skilled employment in operations, maintenance, and technical services.
Operational risks include critical equipment failures, membrane fouling and scaling, corrosion in high-pressure lines, seawater quality fluctuations during storms or extreme events, and intermittent power or steam supply interruptions. Environmentally, risks relate to potential salinity increases in the discharge zone, localized water column alterations, improper chemical handling, and negative social perceptions of desalination. Mitigation measures include redundancy in pumps and treatment trains, membrane CIP systems, corrosion-resistant materials, preventive and predictive maintenance plans, multiport low-velocity marine outfalls, and secure chemical containment facilities.
Long-term climate resilience is ensured through oversized critical components, the ability to modulate production based on energy availability, intake structures designed for multiple sea levels and wave conditions, and real-time monitoring systems that adjust parameters during storms, exceptional tides, or algal bloom events. Emergency protocols address contamination near the intake, prolonged energy interruptions, or outfall failures, activating controlled plant shutdowns, safe diversion of flows, and immediate regulatory notification.
Regarding scalability and replicability, the model applies to other coastal industrial hubs in China and similar regions worldwide, provided that adequate seawater quality, concentrated water demand, and regulatory frameworks recognizing desalination as a priority source are present. Competitiveness relies on stable unit costs, lower carbon footprint relative to long-distance transfers, and high operational reliability. Expansion is supported by public-private partnerships, agreements with energy-intensive industries seeking long-term supply security, collaboration with research centers, and participation of ESG-aligned financial actors.
The project is implemented in clearly defined phases, including diagnosis, design, construction, commissioning, validation, and continuous operation, following VWBA criteria to ensure rigorous traceability and measurement. The initial diagnostic phase establishes the hydrological, energy, and regulatory baseline through seawater intake characterization, oceanographic conditions, and industrial demand analysis, forming the reference point for benefit evaluation. Based on this, the technical design is developed, sizing pretreatment units, distillation modules, reverse osmosis systems, auxiliary equipment, and monitoring architecture with flowmeters, multiparameter probes, and IoT sensors integrated into a centralized SCADA.
Construction is executed through local EPC contracts, installing treatment trains, outfalls, and waste-heat connections, with full instrumentation calibration to ensure accurate measurement. Commissioning is carried out gradually, adjusting flows, pressures, and reactants until stabilizing key KPIs: recovery, specific energy consumption, permeate quality, and discharge behavior.
Technical validation compares real results with baseline and design values, documenting water produced, groundwater extractions avoided, energy used, and environmental compliance, all structured into verifiable balances. Operation is governed by clear allocation of responsibilities among the technical operator, industrial beneficiaries, regulators, and external verifiers, supported by a maintenance program including inspections, membrane replacement, pump checks, and sensor calibration.
The measurement system uses real-time data on flow, energy, and water quality, complemented by laboratory analysis. Physical and digital traceability is ensured through georeferenced SCADA that records historical datasets, activates alarms for deviations, and generates automated reports aligned with VWBA. Continuous improvement relies on periodic KPI reviews, scenario comparisons (with/without project), and implementation of operational and technological adjustments, ensuring sustained hydrological and environmental benefits.
The Hebei Jingtang Desalination Project Phase II is conceived as strategic infrastructure that transforms Bohai Sea water into a stable, traceable industrial supply, reducing pressure on critically overexploited aquifers. Its hybrid design combines low-temperature distillation powered by steel residual heat with high-recovery reverse osmosis, supported by robust pretreatment ensuring operational continuity under extreme marine variability. The plant produces approximately 85,000 m³/day, more than 30 million m³/year, with quality parameters suited for high-demand industrial processes, complying with national regulations, discharge requirements, and standards such as ISO 14001, ISO 50001, and VWBA 2.0.
The solution responds to severe water stress in northern China, where historical dependence on deep pumping has generated increasing risks of subsidence, saltwater intrusion, rising costs, and drought vulnerability. Desalination provides an autonomous, non-seasonal source that replaces critical extraction volumes and strengthens regional resilience. Results include direct reduction of groundwater extraction, improved water balance stability, lower emissions through residual heat use, and controlled brine management limiting bay impacts.
Strategically, the project reinforces Water Positive roadmaps by generating verifiable alternative water in a high-stress basin, providing tangible ESG benefits, enhanced social license to operate, and alignment with SDGs, SBTi for Water, Agenda 2030, and ESRS E3. It also acts as a long-term water security mechanism for industry, reducing operational and financial risks associated with supply shortages. Its modular technology, use of available thermal resources, and coordination among industry, authorities, and research centers make it replicable in other coastal industrial hubs with similar conditions.
Overall, the intervention significantly contributes to the Hai River basin’s water balance, strengthens regional climate resilience, generates technical employment, and demonstrates that industrial activity in water-stressed regions can be sustained through regenerative, efficient, and traceable solutions.
