Patent ID: 8317992

Claim:
An apparatus for a saltwater desalinating system, the apparatus comprising: a plurality of internal modules wherein each of the internal modules is individually compressed so that it can be removed from or added to the apparatus and each of the internal modules comprises: a pair of rigid interior end plates located at opposing ends of the internal module; and a stack of membrane bounded compartments layered from one of the interior end plates to the other of the interior end plates; wherein the plurality of internal modules are compressively coupled to each other such that the rigid interior end plate of one internal module contacts the rigid interior end plate of an adjacent internal module; and a pair of end modules located on opposing ends of the plurality of internal modules, each of the end modules comprising: a rigid exterior end plate; a rigid interior end plate fluidly coupled to the rigid interior end plate of the internal module that is adjacent to the end module; a completion compartment located between the exterior and interior end plates; and a membrane located between and bounding both the interior end plate and the completion compartment.