NationStates Jolt Archive


Revalian Utilities Technology Breakthrough

11-10-2003, 03:46
The Revalian-based Poseidon Hydroutilities Corporation, which currently supplies 27% of the water needs for Revalia and other QuaFTA members, believes it has discovered a simpler (and more cost-effective) way than iceberg-melting to supply water.

Teaming up with the Revalian-headquartered Augusta Waste Systems, Inc. for this new project, PHU Corp. will build a ยค20 billion ($10 billion USD) 2000ft. x 2000ft. platform five miles off the shore of Revalia. This platform will be constructed out of steel-reinforced concrete, and will rest four feet below sea level. The floor of this platform will be painted black, and a ceiling will be constructed overhead consisting of 1ft.-thick by 5ft.-wide by 5ft. long glass blocks. Walls will keep the sea from coming in uncontrolled, and water will be admitted at a semi-regular rate.

To help the greenhouse heating effect, a 50ft. ring surrounding the chamber will be continually filled with organic compost up to 30 feet deep. As temperatures in compost that deep regularly exceed 300 degrees Fahrenheit, metallic rings in the evaporation chamber walls and reaching out to the compost will help conduct this heat into the chamber. Augustan Waste Systems, Inc., helping to finance this project, will be granted ownership rights to the ultra-fertile compost produced, and granted reduced waste storage costs.
This evaporation chamber will suck relatively dry air from the outside, and at temperatures exceeding 250 degrees Celsius, the saltwater will evaporate and be blown into a condensation chamber to the side of the evaporation chamber, enough water to provide for Revalia and much of QuaFTA. To prevent salt buildup, mechanized salt-harvesters will move along tracks in the ceiling, chipping off the salt crust and mixing it with surrounding saltwater in an interior chamber. The liquified solution of 50% salt will be pumped out to a nearby salt purification facility and be sold on QuaFTA and international markets.

The high-quality water, being harvested using free thermal energy and mechanization, will be incredibly cheap-about $.04 a cubic meter. It's pure enough for human consumption, allowing low-income nations a simple and inexpensive way to increase the health of their citizens, as well as freeing up more native water for agricultural and industrial purposes, which require lower-grade water.

The salt produced will be available in different grades-unrefined sea salt, which can be refined for trace minerals off-site by chemical corporations. Magnesium, some metals and even uranium can be obtained by refinement. Unrefined sea salt goes for $20 a pound. Refined sea salt, used for culinary purposes, goes for only $40 a pound.

Nations with waste storage problems will find this facility an inexpensive, earth-friendly option to dump their pre-sorted organic waste, with costs as low as $20 USD per ton of waste.

With prices this low, you'd be CRAZY not to patronize Poseidon Hydroutilities and Augustan Waste.