Water 2018, 10(2), 215; https://doi.org/10.3390/w10020215
Economic Feasibility of Underwater Adduction of Rivers for Metropolises in Semiarid Coastal Environments: Case Studies
Daniel Albiero 1,*
, Marco Antônio Domingues da Silva 2, Rafaela Paula Melo 1, Angel Pontin Garcia 3, Aline Castro Praciano 1, Francisco Ronaldo Belem Fernandes 1, Leonardo de Almeida Monteiro 1, Carlos Alessandro Chioderoli 1, Alexsandro Oliveira da Silva 1 and José Antonio Delfino Barbosa Filho 1
, Marco Antônio Domingues da Silva 2, Rafaela Paula Melo 1, Angel Pontin Garcia 3, Aline Castro Praciano 1, Francisco Ronaldo Belem Fernandes 1, Leonardo de Almeida Monteiro 1, Carlos Alessandro Chioderoli 1, Alexsandro Oliveira da Silva 1 and José Antonio Delfino Barbosa Filho 1
1
Agricultural Engineering Department, Federal University of Ceará, 804 Block, Pici Campus, Fortaleza, Ceará 60455-900, Brazil
2
Macapa Pilots, Street Domingos Marreiro, 49, Umarizal, Belém, Pará 66066-210, Brazil
3
Agricultural Engineering College, State University of Campinas, Av. Candido Rondon, 501, Zeferino Vaz Campus, Campinas, São Paulo 13083-875, Brazil
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 27 November 2017 / Revised: 25 January 2018 / Accepted: 9 February 2018 / Published: 16 February 2018
Abstract
The supply of raw water to the inhabitants of metropolises is not a trivial problem, and involves many challenges, both in terms of the quantity and quality of this water. When these metropolises are located in semiarid regions, this challenge takes on enormous proportions, and in many situations, there are no sustainable solutions, especially in times of global climate change. One hypothesis to try to mitigate this problem in coastal cities is the underwater adduction of rivers. The objective of this paper was to make the abstraction of drinking water in the mouths of great rivers near semi-arid regions. This water would be led by a pipeline below the water level and would follow the route of the seacoast, where the energy to move the water would be supplied by an axial hydraulic pump embedded in the pipeline by water-cooled electric motors driven by the energy generated from offshore wind turbines. Estimates have been made for the four metropolises in semi-arid regions: Fortaleza-Brazil, Dalian-China, Tel Aviv-Israel, and Gaza-Palestine, where it was possible to calculate economic viability through the Present Worth Value, the internal rate of return, and payback. The results indicated that Fortaleza had economic viability under restrictions. Dalian proved the ideal result. Tel Aviv and Gaza both had great economic viability, but only if Egypt agreed to supply water from the Nile. This paper proved that the management of the water supply for human consumption through the underwater adduction of rivers could be achieved with real clearance for any deficits in the volume of water that due to global climate change are becoming more frequent. View Full-TextKeywords:
water supply; human consumption; water resource economics; water scarcity economics; hydraulic structure; semiarid region
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MDPI and ACS Style
Albiero, D.; Domingues da Silva, M.A.; Melo, R.P.; Pontin Garcia, A.; Castro Praciano, A.; Belem Fernandes, F.R.; de Almeida Monteiro, L.; Chioderoli, C.A.; Oliveira da Silva, A.; Delfino Barbosa Filho, J.A. Economic Feasibility of Underwater Adduction of Rivers for Metropolises in Semiarid Coastal Environments: Case Studies. Water 2018, 10, 215.
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