Feed water, fed through an inlet 6 into a desalting compartment 8, flows
around the end 4a of a anion-exchange membrane 4 surrounding an anode 2a.
The feed water enters into a portion defined between the anion-exchange
membrane 4 and a cation-exchange membrane 5, and flows around the end 5a
of the cation-exchange membrane 5 surrounding a cathode 3a. Then, the
water to be treated further flows around the ends 4b, 5b of ion-exchange
membranes 4, 5 surrounding an anode 2b and a cathode 3b, respectively, and
then flows out through a product water outlet 7. A part of product water
is supplied to the concentrated water circulating within the concentrating
compartment 30, 40. A part of the concentrated water flowing out of the
concentrating compartment 30, 40 is added to concentrated water
circulating within the concentrating compartment 10, 20. The diffusion of
silica from the concentrating compartment is restricted. As a result,
final product water containing extremely low silica concentration is
obtained.