It is becoming increasingly clear that the world is headed towards a major fresh water shortage crisis. Already many today a suffering terribly because of this. Freshwater shortages do not only affect life directly, but also it is the cause of many related sicknesses and diseases. So crucial is this resource that it is predicted to cause "Water Wars" in the future as nations come in conflict over the control of strategic water supplies.
At a surface glance, it doesn’t appear that the world is running out of water as over 70% of the world is actually water. The problem comes when it is realized that more than 99% of this water is not readily available for consumption because it is in the form of brackish and salty ocean water (97%), and ice caps and glaciers (+2%). This leaves less than 1% for human use and consumption yet this supply still requires some form of industry to make it available as most of it is underground. Furthermore, groundwater is also considered to soon become insufficient as it is being used up more than it is being replenished naturally.
The solution to this problem would be the large-scale conversion of salty water into freshwater but because this is a process that would require tremendous infrastructure and energy resources it is not widely used today. The ideal solution to this problem would be to find a simple, almost natural process and interestingly enough the Holy Cities of the NJK can significantly help resolve this problem.
HC Freshwater Catchments Distribution Methods Buoyant Pipelines
The total material cost for the pipeline is estimated calculated to be about
per NJK citizen. This is a cost to the NJK that is expected to become lower as it will be seen that capable countries who will receiving this type of aid freely supply the needed raw materials.
Ultimately the origin of all fresh water is from the evaporation-precipitation cycle. When the precipitation, which is mostly evaporated ocean water that has been separated from its salt content,
falls back onto the earth in locations where it can later be used by humans (i.e., rivers, lakes, ground) it replenishes a regions freshwater supply. In some locations of the world, artificial catchment areas are purposely built to collect the precipitation. Here is where the NJK’s Holy Cities can contribute. As it was mentioned earlier, for safety reasons, each HC is designed to be able to readily drain its excess waters. This not only includes water that falls on streets and walkways but also on areas covered by soil. Because an HC has a
m
( ft)
clearance from the sea surface, this water can be easily drained directly back onto the ocean, but this water can also be channeled through pipes and not only be reused by the HC population but also be a supply of freshwater for other people who are in need of it. This means that each HC can have up to about
of its total area function as a catchment area. That equals about
km2
( mi2)
per HC for a total of
km2
( mi2) for the
HC’s! Now with the average annual precipitation for all of the HC’s being
cm/yr
( in/yr),
these catchment can on average provide
liters
(
gallons)
of fresh water a day.
The only problem that needs to be solved will be the distribution of this water resource to the areas of the world that need it. This is partly solved by the fact that the HC’s are located throughout the globe (see the
HC locations maps),
but because not all of the HC’s will all receive the same amount of rainfall and because the world areas of need may not necessarily be near where an HC is located, a system of distribution will have to be put in place.
Two possible systems can potentially be used for this distribution. One would be a large fleet of ships or "water tankers." For this method to be practical it would require that the tankers be as large as the largest tanker ever built- the
Seawise Giant
[L: 458 m (1,504 ft); W: 69 m (226 ft); H: 30 m (98 ft) ~capacity 544,000 m3 (19.2 million ft3)]. It then would require
of these ships to make a supply delivery every
days. A resource of energy to fuel the ships would also be needed probably as well as offshore/onshore infrastructures for deliveries such as ports or offshore terminals.
The other method would be a global network of underwater pipelines. These pipelines would be laid from the
coastal HC’s to the nearest shore where they would then be connected to an overland water pipeline distribution system. For distribution, pipelines are much more efficient than physical transportation
means as it is seen in the Oil & Gas industry. Based initially on the range of the water depths below each HC, these pipelines would be laid on average at depths of at least
m
( ft),
with ranges being between (at least)
m
( ft) and
m
( ft).
So far, an undersea (natural gas) pipelines as deep
m
( ft) have been deemed feasible (see
here).
The deepest undersea pipeline today (the
Russia-[Black Sea]-Turkey Blue Stream NG pipeline) is laid as deep as
m
( ft) and has a length of
km
( mi). A water pipeline should be feasible at greater depth and with absolutely no environmental or security risks.
Based on the above mentioned information, it can be seen that the pipeline system of distribution would be much more efficient and practical than the water tanker deliveries. The following tables give (1) the dimensions of the pipelines from the HC’s to the shores and (2) the projected material (polyethylene) that would be needed for the entire network including
main overland pipelines, each estimated to be on average
km
( mi)
in length.
Metric
Imperial
If the global laying of a of pipelines on the ocean floor seems too much of a challenge, a much simpler variant of this method would be to use submerged but buoyant pipelines. The pipelines would be sunk to a depth of about
m
( ft)
where they would be out of the way of passing ships. (The SeaWise Giant vessel mentioned above has a extreme draft depth of 24.61 m (81 ft)). The buoyancy of the pipes would also be adjustable as need be by flooding or emptying a surrounding flooding pipeline with seawater. Here are some current estimate data about for this buoyant pipeline.
In order to accurately maintain the straightness and depth of the pipe and to correct any lateral drifts,
GPS
modules would be place all along the length of the pipeline for positional readings. Compress air nozzles also along the length of the pipeline would provide the boosting power needed to adjust the pipeline lateral position.
Calculations have shown that this method would reduce the infrastructure component lengths by nearly
m
( ft)
per pipeline for a total of
km
( mi)
for the global network. The greatest saving, of course, would be in the engineering and mechanical equipement needed for laying the pipelines on the oceanfloor at an average depth of
m
( ft).
Also, as it should be evident, as water is not a hazardous substance, these buoyant water pipelines would pose no hazard at all, and also, no environmental risk in the case of a structural stress leaks.
UN Environment Programme UNEP's Vital Water Information and Data
www.unep.org
World Water Council An International Multi-Stakeholder Platform for a Water Secure World
worldwatercouncil.org