Mmmm… Sea Water To Quench Your Thirst
A crew of former crab fishermen from Alaska has found a new livelihood in warmer and less dangerous waters off Hawaii, harvesting water from 3,000 feet (915 meters) below the surface to use in everything from beer to face creams. The crew was hired by Deep Ocean Hawaii, a Honolulu-based company that is desalinating deep seawater aboard a vessel off Oahu and then marketing it as an ingredient free of impurities. The company projects that it can become a US$50-million business in two years, eventually pumping 500,000 gallons (1.8 milion liters) of fresh deep seawater a day. It also hopes to develop its shipboard technology as an emergency source for drinking water.
In just a few years, deep seawater already has become Hawaii’s biggest foreign export, with four other businesses shipping US$37-million worth of bottled seawater a year, mostly for sale in Japan for up to US$5 a bottle. The benefits and purity of any bottled water over treated tap water have been debated for years as the bottled water industry has expanded globally, but desalinated Hawaii deep seawater offers a special appeal. Independent research confirms that deep seawater is more pristine and isolated from chemicals and other human-caused impurities found near the surface of the ocean. There’s nothing better than making money off free resources!
