Patent ID: 7476323

Claim:
An apparatus for desalinating seawater to yield desalinated water and a concentrate, the apparatus comprising: a floating structure located at a position on the surface of a body of seawater; a water desalination system installed on the floating structure, the desalination system capable of producing between 5,000 and 450,000 cubic meters of desalinated water per day; a water intake system installed on the floating structure and comprising a device for taking up seawater from the body of seawater into the water desalination system; means for transporting the desalinated water from the floating structure to a land-based water distribution system; and a concentrate discharge system installed on the floating structure and comprising a device for discharging the concentrate into the body of seawater, wherein the device for discharging the concentrate into the seawater comprises at least one means selected from the group consisting of (a) means for dispersing the concentrate during discharge from the concentrate discharge system and (b) means for diluting the concentrate with water from the body of seawater before entering the body of seawater, and wherein the device for discharging the concentrate into the seawater comprises at least one discharge port comprising a grate comprising divergently oriented apertures.