Shares in Modern Water rose 5% after it presented a bullish outlook in its half year report, despite posting a pre-tax loss of £2.1m.The firm said winning the world's first commercial contract to build a desalination plant using its patented osmosis technology in Oman had been "a major breakthrough for the company", bringing its technology to a multi-billion dollar marketplace.Gross revenue came in at £430,000, a massive increase on the £1,000 it made in the first half of 2010.It said accelerating sales in China of its water monitoring systems had boosted the company's fortunes."In the light of our strong and growing presence in China, we are announcing today the appointment of the first non-executive chairman of our China division," Modern Water said."Simon MacKinnon is a long-term resident of Shanghai with 25 years of China business leadership, Board and corporate governance experience."Exexutive chairman, Neil McDougall, said the second half of 2011 had started well with a continuing acceleration of sales from the firm's water monitoring and treatment systems. "Backed by a robust balance sheet, with £16.7m cash in hand, we look forward to reporting further strong progress at the end of the year," he said.