An Abu Dhabi entrepreneur is going on a mission to replenish his country’s drinking water supply, hopefully pointing the way to addressing one of the world’s most pressing issues – water scarcity, writes Caline Malek.
Around 20% of the global population has to live with water scarcity, and this problem will affect nearly half of people worldwide by 2030, according to United Nations estimates. Rather than wait for their governments to deal with the issue, some Gulf residents have taken it upon themselves to act.
Among them is Abdulla Alshehi from Abu Dhabi, who is preparing to tow an iceberg from North Antarctica to his home country in the next couple of years.
“We are talking about a very big issue. Finding new water resources for humanity is the main driver behind this project,” says Alshehi, 41.
A SUSTAINABLE SOLUTION
The UAE – and the Gulf States at large –are among the countries that rely the most on desalination plants to meet their freshwater needs. However, this practice is not only cost-intensive but also environmentally harmful. Millions of gallons of brine water are dumped into the Arabian Gulf, causing its salinity to rise every year, so Alshehi believes such an option is not sustainable in the long run.
The UAE Iceberg Project plans to use water from the towed iceberg to replenish the Emirati water resources.
Alshehi started his research back in 2013, when he released Filling the Empty Quarter. The book details several projects related to water harvesting and water-saving mechanisms. Some of these include connecting rivers from Pakistan and India to the UAE through sub-sea pipelines.
MASSIVE POTENTIAL FOR THE REGION
Alshehi’s study led him to discover a similar project undertaken in 1975 by a French scientist and the government of Saudi Arabia. The aim was to tow an iceberg to the Red Sea as a new water resource for the kingdom.
As Alshehi explains, $100 million were allocated to the project at the time, but technical issues stood in its way, including weak towing ships and shallow waters in the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
“But for the UAE, these two problems are resolved because we currently have so many strong ships and sea barges which can help us perform the operation safely,” he says. “We will also dock the iceberg on the eastern coast of the UAE, so we will not need to bring it through the Strait of Hormuz.”
Although 30% of the iceberg is expected to melt during the nine-month journey, the remainder should still provide drinking water for up to one million people over five years, depending on its size, according to Alshehi.
“Our initial plan was to start a trial run to Perth in Western Australia or to Cape Town in South Africa. Next month, we will release the technology in the United Kingdom to control the iceberg melting rate to a minimum, which will ensure safety during the transit,” he adds.
NEXT STEPS
In parallel, Alshehi is raising funds for the company ahead of the project launch in June 2020. He expects the trial to cost up to $70 million, with up to $150 million needed for the UAE operation. Time is of the essence given the short window (from November to March) to ensure safe transit by sea.
“We hope to do the trial of three to four months by the end of 2022,” he says. “I will hopefully be on board for the actual operation.”
Alshehi views the project as a “mission accomplished” in resolving one of the world’s most crucial issues – water scarcity. He concludes:
“This could also apply to other countries in the future, as the demand for water is increasing with the population. I will be thankful to God to give me this chance to help humanity.”