Cape Town’s Iceberg Dream – an Alaskan‑inspired, Antarctic‑size, Southern‑African‑Aquifer Plan!
Picture this: a giant, clumsy block of ice, scooped from the frozen South Pole, then dragged on the ocean’s back muscles all the way to Cape Town. The goal? Drip water, not methane, into the tap‑facing residents’ homes.
Why the City Needs a Giant Chill Factor
- Back in 2018 Cape Town was on the brink of turning off the very pipes that delivered water to its South African market.
- Residents had to queue at standpipes for a daily ration—“Now that’s a river of disappointment.
- Thanks to an early‑season rain crash two weeks later, the city held on, only to get the “I’ll be back” promise from the next year’s drought.
Enter Nick Sloane, the Ice‑Chasing Maverick
“It’s wild” Nick whatever, my nameless saviour of aquatic growth, admits, but you’ll be blown away once you read the refinement. He proposes a textile curtain that flaps around the iceberg like a cozy sweater, slowing the thaw a tad. Triple‑dadship with a supertanker + two tugboats is the plan’s grease to get those 1,200‑mile currents to 2,000 kilometres of shipping odyssey.
The Iceberg Specs (Feet or Metric, Who Cares?)
- Length: ~1 km (playful “a whole block” of ice)
- Width: 500 m (like a frozen widebread)
- Depth: 250 m (take a hydrologist’s dream)
- Surface: The kind of frosty, flat‑top table that tourists might slip on.
So, How Will the Water Really Be Delivered?
The ice will melt at a very careful pace—think controlled doom. A web of channels will funnel the meltwater out, while a mundane‑looking milling machine turns it into an ice slurry. That trickery will produce ~150 million litres of prime potable water every single day for a full year.
Bottom Line: “Purest Freshwater on Earth” or just a NEW Exhibit?
In Nick Sloane’s cheeky jargon, it’s as glorious as a mountain‑range of pure water, ready for the church‑front of Cape Town’s drowning crisis. Whether it’s a comedy or a serious solution, one thing’s for sure: A 100‑kilo‑meter-thick iceberg is no longer just a place on a map but a hometown superhero in disguise.
Icebergs, Imagine, and Impossible‑Scale Water Projects
Picture an enormous iceberg drifting just off Danco Island in Antarctica—not your typical ice block, but a giant, glacial slab that could potentially solve a water crisis in Cape Town.
Meet the Dreamer
Enter Ken Sloane, a 56‑year‑old, Zambian‑South African entrepreneur with a history of turning the fantastical into reality. He famously refloated the wreck of the Costa Concordia cruise ship in 2012, a feat that was one of the biggest and most complex salvage operations in maritime history.
Why Ice? Why Now?
- Icebergs contain purest freshwater on Earth.
- Tens of thousands break off each year—Mother Nature’s crafty way of nudging humanity, saying “this is here.”
Sloane estimates an $100 million haul to move the iceberg—potentially a three‑month journey—and another $50‑60 million to harvest the meltwater for a year. He compares it to Russia’s smaller iceberg projects (half‑a‑million tons) versus the 100 million tons he aims to transport.
Options on the Table
While Cape Town explores desalination and strict water usage regulations, the question remains: Will the city support an iceberg expedition? According to Cape Town’s deputy mayor, Ian Neilson, groundwater and desalination might be cheaper or at least equivalent.
Adding to the uncertainty, there’s the practical puzzle of channeling melted water into the city’s distribution system. Even if the iceberg arrives intact, can it actually yield the promised water volume when it finally melts?
Where the Iceberg Will Dwell
The plan: tow the iceberg about 150 km north to South Africa’s St. Helena Bay, leveraging the cold Benguela Current, holding temperatures near freezing. The iceberg would anchor in an old submarine channel, melt gradually, and the water would be pumped into tankers and shipped to Cape Town.
The expected outcome? It would address roughly 20–30 % of Cape Town’s annual water needs—helpful, but not a complete cure.
Experts Weigh In
Olav Orheim, a seasoned Norwegian glaciologist, calls the idea “crazy” yet not impossible. He explains:
“We’ve never towed an iceberg that big before—yes, the first attempt—so there’s a big knowledge gap in ocean currents and iceberg stability. But after 40 years of research, the risk is manageable, and the reward could be massive.”
Supporting that view, Sloane believes the iceberg’s journey would be the first of its kind to supply drinking water by towing ice—a bold leap that could change the game.
In Closing
The story is part water‑supply innovation, part daring adventure. Whether Cape Town will take the plunge remains to be seen, but the idea has sparked debate, curiosity, and the kind of creative thinking that turns the world’s biggest challenges into new possibilities.
Water Vision & Sloane Join Forces to Tackle Drought
Wolfgang Foerg’s Bold Vision
Swiss water tech giant Water Vision’s chief executive, Wolfgang Foerg, sees a bright future for their new project—especially as droughts become the new norm. He’s convinced that this collaboration could be the game‑changer we’re all hoping for.
“Ready, Set, Spring!”
When asked about the rollout, Foerg didn’t hesitate. “If they give us the green light now, we’ll be up and running by Easter 2019!” he declared, with a playful grin that made the room chuckle. His mission is simple: deliver water solutions faster than you can say “spring fever.”
- Speed: Pilot units by next Easter.
- Scale: Ready to expand as droughts intensify.
- Impact: Smoother water supply for communities everywhere.
With this duo’s ingenuity and Foerg’s confidence, the water industry might just have found the refresh button it needed.
