Residents in Beijing will get access to desalinated seawater from Caofeidian Port in Hebei province as early as 2019, the Beijing Times reported on Monday.

The purified seawater will account for 30 percent of the capital's total water consumption.

The project was initiated three years ago by the Beijing Enterprises Water Group Ltd, and has been designed to deal with the chronic water shortage in Beijing.

Because of its location, Caofeidian Port has high quality seawater, according to Wang Xiaoshui, an official at the Beijing Enterprises Water Group Ltd. A pilot program to desalinate water from the port was launched in 2013, under which a total of 50,000 tons of purified seawater can be processed every day, Wang added.

Once the project is completed, the daily output of cleaned seawater will reach one million tons, all of which will be channeled directly to water plants in Beijing through pipelines. The cost of construction for the project is 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion).

The price of desalinated seawater will reach eight yuan per ton, after processing and transport costs are accounted for.