The Undersea Aqueduct—A New Concept in Transportation

Growing imbalances between available water sources and growth areas requiring large volumes of high quality water lend a new urgency to the need for exploring alternatives for transporting freshwater across great distances. Environmental values and increased right-of-way and maintenance costs weigh against surface facilities. In coastal areas, where long distances separate supply sources from demand areas, water may be conveyed through a submerged offshore aqueduct. The aqueduct would provide a natural hydraulic head and other benefits over conventional facilities. Pipe materials, construction and maintenance methods, anchoring systems, and the ecologic considerations of such a system are explored.