Seawater to Drink and for Iron Ore
Since 2004 one of the largest and most important freight harbors in North-East China has boasted a state-of-the-art extension. Iron ore imported from Australia arrives here to supply China's flourishing steel industry.
Over a thousand m3 of water are needed here every day to ensure that 200,000 tons of iron ore can be unloaded dust-free, and to supply the workers at the harbor with drinking water and water for washing, etc. The rinse water must be drinking water quality, due to the purity of the raw material. Chinese experts from the ProMinent group (headquartered in Heidelberg, Germany) planned, designed and constructed a complete solution for water treatment. The harbor operators are able to extract high quality drinking water exceeding the WHO standard from the salty Pacific bay. This ecologically and commercially sound solution means that the harbor does not need to be connected to the public drinking water network, thus avoiding a costly and complex undertaking.
The seawater treatment in Dalian’s iron ore harbor is essentially based on the principle of reverse osmosis. This tried and tested desalination technique works under pressure and with special membranes. No chemicals are required. The Dalian project was nonetheless a particular challenge for the experts in water treatment. The scope and complexity of this task embraced all phases, from planning to designing and constructing of all the necessary generators up to their around the clock operation.
The water passes through sand and activated carbon filters with integrated fully automatic backwashing and chemical pre-treatment 
before the reverse osmosis process. Energy is recovered to reduce overall consumption. A part of the drinking water prepared in this way is bottled. To ensure that it is free of bacteria in the long term, it is disinfected with ozone and passed through a second reverse osmosis unit.
Seven ProMinent technicians operate the water generator by using a control system that integrates all parts of the generator. The water treatment generator at the new iron ore harbor in Dalian has been running like clockwork 24 hours a day for the past six months.
