Can icebergs solve Cape Town’s water crisis?
Marine salvage expert says plan to ‘capture’ Antarctic ice floe for meltwater is ‘doable’
A leading marine salvage expert is hoping to solve Cape Town’s ongoing water crisis by towing an iceberg from the Antarctic to provide water for the drought-stricken city.
South Africa has faced severe droughts every year since 2015 and has declared a national disaster in its southern and western regions. Cape Town’s four million residents have been warned that most of the city’s taps may run dry at some point next year if the crisis is not resolved.
But Zambia-born salvage expert Nick Sloane - who won international acclaim for refloating the Costa Concordia after the 114,500-ton cruise liner sank off the coast of Italy - has suggested that “capturing” just one of the many massive icebergs that drift close to South Africa each year could potentially provide about 150 million litres of water a day for a year.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
This is “considerably more than existing emergency plans, including desalination, that are being considered by the city’s authorities”, reports The Times. Sloane already has 80% of the $130m [£100m] seed capital he needs to begin a pilot project this year, the newspaper adds.
According to Sky News, Slaone plans to use a number of large tankers to guide the icebergs into the Benguela Current that flows along the west coast of southern Africa, “before a milling machine would cut into the ice”.
The salvage master told Reuters: “We want to show that if there is no other source to solve the water crisis, we have another idea no one else has thought of yet.”
He added: “Desalination plants require enormous funding before even a drop of water is produced, but the beauty of this model is that Antarctic water is pure, needs no treatment, costs nothing to acquire and the only cost is in delivering it. The engineers and scientists are all saying it sounds mad, but it’s doable.”
Sloane is planning to hold a conference later this month in a bid to sell the project to investors and Cape Town officials, who were not available for comment.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
'Cure for Trump amnesia might be his NY trial'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Tesla cuts prices in 'intensifying' EV war
Speed Read Electric vehicle giant has struggled in the face of weakening demand, competition from China and technical setbacks
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay: unwind at this picture-perfect resort
The Week Recommends The retreat that's ideal for recharging your batteries while experiencing life on an Indonesian island
By Yasemen Kaner-White Published
-
How the EU undermines its climate goals with animal farming subsidies
Under the radar Bloc's agricultural policy incentivises carbon-intensive animal farming over growing crops, despite aims to be carbon-neutral
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Chimpanzees are dying of human diseases
Under the radar Great apes are vulnerable to human pathogens thanks to genetic similarity, increased contact and no immunity
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Can the world really wean itself off coal?
Today's Big Question 'Record' global consumption is set to fall soon but growing demand in China and India could increase tensions
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
The microplastics hurricanes blowing across North America
Under the Radar New research confirms global pervasiveness of harmful microplastic pollution
By The Week Staff Published
-
What can Cop28 really achieve?
Today's Big Question Climate summit in UAE proves controversial as UN warns world is falling short of global warming targets
By The Week UK Published
-
A23a: why world's biggest iceberg is on the move
The Explainer The mass of ice is four times the size of New York and 'essentially' an island
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Libya floods: death toll set to rise with 10,000 reported missing
More than 6,000 people reported dead, with hundreds of bodies still washing ashore
By Arion McNicoll Published
-
Thousands feared dead in catastrophic Libya flooding
Speed Read A powerful Mediterranean storm pummeled Libya's northeast coast, wiping out entire neighborhoods
By Peter Weber Published