Patent ID: 7731847

Claim:
A submersible reverse osmosis desalination apparatus for removing salt from sea water producing potable water, comprising: a plurality of desalination units, each unit comprising: a power means for converting sea current to power at a depth of less than 1200 feet, a filtration means for filtering sea water via reverse osmosis filtration producing the potable water, the filtration means held in a containing means and connected to and powered by the power means, a securing means for securing the power means and the filtration means to and ocean floor, said securing means comprising a buoyancy means for providing positive buoyancy and an anchor means holding the securing means in a static position relative to the ocean floor, a maintenance means for hoisting the connected filtration means and the power means from the ocean floor to a surface and lowering the connected filtration means and the power means from the surface to the ocean floor, and a locking means for locking the connected filtration means and the power means to said securing means; a transfer means for transferring desalinated water from the apparatus to shore and delivering electricity to each desalination unit of the plurality of desalination units to power monitoring equipment, and to provide air supply to pre-filtration air blower of each unit; and a flexible connecting means for connecting each filtration means of the plurality of desalination units to the transfer means, wherein the maintenance means raises and lowers the connected filtration means and the power means of a first desalination unit of the plurality of desalination units without interrupting the flow of the desalinated water in the transfer means or the desalination of water by other desalination units of the plurality of desalination units.