Patent ID: 7081205

Claim:
A system for desalinating water to yield desalinated water and a concentrate, the system comprising: a first sea-going vessel being positioned on the surface of a body of seawater; a membrane-based water desalination system installed on the first sea-going vessel, the membrane-based water desalination system capable of removing salt from seawater to yield desalinated water; a water intake system installed aboard the first sea-going vessel and comprising a first conduit for transporting seawater from the body of seawater to the membrane-based water desalination system; a mixing system for mixing the concentrate with the seawater to yield diluted concentrate, the mixing system being installed aboard the first sea-going vessel in communication with the membrane-based water desalination system and comprising a mixing tank comprising a series of baffles and a mixing barrier having a plurality of apertures, an inlet for introducing the concentrate into the mixing tank, an inlet for introducing seawater into the mixing tank, and an outlet for discharging the diluted concentrate from the mixing tank; a concentrate discharge system installed aboard the first sea-going vessel and comprising an inlet for receiving the diluted concentrate and a discharge port for discharging the diluted concentrate from the first sea-going vessel into the body of seawater; and a desalinated water transfer system installed aboard the first sea-going vessel and comprising a second conduit fluidly connecting the membrane-based water desalination system to a means for delivering desalinated water from the first sea-going vessel to a land-based distribution system, the second conduit capable of transporting desalinated water from the membrane-based water desalination system to the means for delivering desalinated water from the first sea-going vessel to the land-based distribution system.