How AquaDams can help in the British Petroleum disaster
in the Gulf of Mexico
Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge
AquaDams are water-filled tubes that come in various
heights and lengths. Multiple AquaDams can be connected
to form miles of protection. The on site water is used to fill
the AquaDam, using small pumps. A 3’ high AquaDam,
100’ long, can be installed in less than 30 minutes.
AquaDams use the weight of the contained water to supply
the mass and weight needed to seal the bottom of the
AquaDam against the soils beneath it. This creates a waterand oil-tight barrier, called a cofferdam.
AquaDams are used at construction sites to dewater behind
( http://www.waterstructures.com/Construction/pictorials.html ).
1. AquaDams used as on-shore barriers to prevent
contaminated oily water from entering wetlands and
low-lying coastal areas.
Different sized AquaDams can be used, ranging from
1’ to 16’ high units, any length can be achieved using
connection collars. AquaDam placement must be carefully
considered when installing in a tidal zone. Installing too
low in the tidal zone will cause the AquaDam to fail. The
lower part of the tidal zone cannot be protected because the
AquaDam will simply not be tall enough during high tidal
events. Differently sized AquaDams are rated for different
amounts of water retention. The highest of high tides,
including wave action, must be below the water retention
height of the AquaDam.
Mostly 3’ and 4’ high AquaDams would be used to
protect marshes and wetlands, with larger AquaDams being
used to block off drainage canals of the wetlands. The
AquaDam will simply install over the top of wetland
vegetation. This may damage the stem of the plant, but the
roots and bulbs will stay intact, ready for regeneration once
the AquaDam is removed. AquaDams have been used with
great success in many national parks, including the Ottawa
National Park, which I’m providing pictures of (
http://www.waterstructures.com/Construction/Ottawa-
). Unrolling
the AquaDam simply pushes down the vegetation in front
of it. Laborers with machetes can help in this process.
OH%20Wildlife%20Refuge%20part%202/ottowa-9-13-042.html
Thousands of feet of AquaDam can be installed in one
day. No heavy equipment is needed, only lightweight
portable gas-powered water pumps. AquaDams can be
floated into place during high tide, eliminating the need for
lifting equipment. AquaDams are better at protecting
wetlands than floating oil booms, which don’t work in the
presence of wind/wave action, or rapid movement of the
water column in the tidal zone. AquaDams are completely
different than floating styrofoam filled booms.
Sand berms pushed up by heavy equipment leave a
massive footprint that will be seen for decades to come.
AquaDams leave virtually no permanent footprint, and soil
isn’t disturbed during installation, making AquaDams the
environmentally superior, environmentally friendly option.
AquaDams can also be drained, relocated, and refilled for
reuse. The only fill material used is the on-site water.
Earthen or sandbag fills can become contaminated and may
need be decontaminated or hauled offsite to an
environmentally approved disposal site, costing a lot more
money than an AquaDam, and requiring heavy equipment.
AquaDams can be removed and disposed of if
contaminated, or brought back to a facility to be
decontaminated by washing for reuse.
2. What to do about oil-contaminated wetlands?
AquaDams can be used to isolate the area from the
greater wetlands area, to minimize further damage from oil
contaminates. Then, there’s three main courses of action to
clean or remediate the contaminated area. AquaDams
philosophy is to use the on site water to do the work.
a. No action, everything dies, may take decades to
recover by itself.
b. Oil recovery through isolation and water column
agitation to resuspend oil off plant stems so it can be
skimmed and recovered.
A watertight cofferdam can be made by using AquaDams
to surround and seal the contaminated area. The
contaminated area will be sealed and the oily water will not
drain off at low tide, creating a pool of standing water. The
standing water around the stems can be agitated so the oil
will release from the stems and float on top of the water
column, and can then be skimmed off similar to harvesting
cranberrys. This will take longer than a tidal cycle, so it’s
imperative that site is isolated from tidal action. Then you
can do the remediation without worrying about the area
being re-contaminated at the next high tide.
c. Isolate contaminated wetlands, drain, dry, and
burn.
AquaDams are used to cofferdam/isolate contaminated
areas so that the area dries out and then can be burnt, much
like a rice field. The burning process will eliminate the oil
plus all the contaminated vegetation (stems, leaves, etc).
Wetlands vegetation consists mainly of bulb-type plants,
which won’t be affected by the burning and will come back
immediately. All the bulbs are underneath a thick mud
layer. Get rid of the stems and the oil, and plant life will
regenerate itself. Of course, the burn cannot touch the
AquaDam.
AquaDams in use at Ottawa National Park can be seen on
my website:
http://www.waterstructures.com/Construction/OttawaOH%20Wildlife%20Refuge/ott1.html
http://www.waterstructures.com/Construction/OttawaOH%20Wildlife%20Refuge%20part%202/ottowa-9-13-042.html
The AquaDams were used to turn a million year old
mudflat into green vegetation in just 90 days. Water depth
control over the site is the key to germinating new life.
Terrestrial plant life will not start in standing water. Control
of the water depth is everything. AquaDams makes this
control possible.
d. AquaDams are great at storing contaminated
water safely in wetlands. On site storage is the key.
Thousands of locations throughout the wetlands of the Gulf
are needed to attack the problem successfully.
It’s not practical to have skimmer boats everywhere, every
day. A small portable pump sitting on top of an AquaDam,
with a long hose can transfer the skimmed water into a
AquaDam storage unit on site. Then a transport vessel will
only be needed once the storage unit is full. There could be
10,000 storage units placed in the Gulf coast wetlands to
store contaminated water. Trying to remove the skimmed
oil from the site on a daily basis just isn’t practical, there’s
too many sites to be serviced daily. Each tidal event will
recontaminate any areas previously cleaned. Store the oily
water on site until a transfer vessel routine can be worked
out. Any sized AquaDam can be used for liquid storage.
Little or no ground preparation is required. Here is a link to
our price list for AquaDams:
( http://www.waterstructures.com/Pricing/standard_pricing.html ).
3. Towing/Containing/Storing oily water in the Gulf of
Mexico.
It’s not practical to separate the oil from the water
immediately. Containment is first, processing comes
months or years later.
a. There are hundreds of ships in the Gulf of Mexico,
but many do not have the capability to store oily water,
which is mostly contaminated water. Instead, they drag
booms around. Oil/water containment tubes can turn any
vessel into a super-tanker for storage. Any size vessel can
pull containment/storage tubes (millions of gallons of
capacity) slowly through the waters of the Gulf.
Underwater Containment/storage Tow-Tubes have
an attachment point that keeps the mouth of the tube open.
Shrimp boats can tow the skin of a double open-ended tube
through the water, so that the water coming into the tube
can also exit the tube, keeping it at its maximum diameter
as it reaches the predetermined depth to capture underwater
oily plumes (mostly water). Tubes are an inexpensive and
economical way to capture the oil before it spreads out and
reaches the surface.
Tow-Tube Construction
Tow-Tube in action
As the oily water enters the mouth of the tube, the
clean water is forced out the end of the tube. The oily water
inside the tube has now displaced the clean water; both
ends will be cinched using a free-floating cinch rope that is
long enough to reach the top of the water column, or back
to the vessel pulling the tube. By pulling on the cinch
ropes, the two ends of the tube will collapse, sealing off the
toxic oily water contained within the tube. Each end can
slowly be brought to the surface and tied together.
Over time, the oil will separate from the water, rising to
both ends of the containment tube, so that at a later date,
the tubes contents can be processed and/or recovered. The
excess water will be returned to the ocean.
b. An optional skimmer mouth attachment turns
the large volume tube into a surface skimmer. The
attachment is 4” high, so only the top 4” of water is
collected into the tube, which, when full, can be stored and
processed at a later date. Each tube, at a low speed, can be
towed. This would be used for collecting the floating oil on
top of the water column.
Skimmer Attachment, Tow-Tube sold separately
These Tow-Tubes can also be adapted for use with any
onsite skimming vessels. Any vessel can now be turned
into a skimmer, and of course after the oily water is
collected, it will be contained and ready for processing at a
later date.
Tow-Tubes Price List
Gallons per:
Diameter (ft) x Length (ft), mil
(thickness), Material (Woven or Poly)
Gallons
per 1 ft
Gallons per Gallons per
100 ft
Specified
Length
Selling Price
4'x2500' Poly tube
95
9,550
238,762
$7,700.00
4'x2500' Woven tube
95
9,550
238,762
$5,637.49
4'x2500' Combo
95
9,550
238,762
$15,137.49
5.6'x2500' Poly tube
182
18,230
455,745
$7,700.00
5.6'x2500' Woven tube
182
18,230
455,745
$6,645.83
5.6'x2500', combo
unknown mil
182
18,230
455,745
$16,145.83
7.6'x2500’, 14 mil, Poly
343
34,287
857,180
$7,700.00
9.8'x1800’, 8 mil, Poly
570
57,200
1,000,000
$7,700.00
9.8'x900’, 16 mil, Poly
570
57,200
500,000
$10,700.00
13.25'x1200', 1 ply Woven tube
1000
100,000
1,000,000
$10,165.99
13.75x1200’, 8 mil, Poly
1100
112,000
1,340,000
$10,700.00
13.25'x1200' combo
1000
100,000
1,000,000
$19,665.99
19'x1200’, 5mil, Poly
2000
210,000
2,570,000
$10,700.00
18.5'x1200', 1 ply Woven
2000
203,000
2,430,000
$12,832.99
18.5'x1200', combo
2000
203,000
2,430,000
$23,332.99
26.5'x2000', 1 ply Woven
4000
413,000
8,270,000
$24,888.32
26.5'x2000', 2 ply Woven
4000
413,000
8,270,000
$41,776.64
Any length tube is available, Two one-hundred foot long cinch ropes
included. You supply the rest.
Vertical Riser Tube, 26’ diameter, 1-3 miles long
c. 26 ft diameter vertical riser tube, 1-3 miles long
can be placed with one opening at the surface,
and the other end placed directly over and above the
wellhead. The bottom end of the tube can be weighted
and/or tied off to Deep Horizon wreckage/sunken
barge/cement weight/nearby rock formations in at least 4
locations to keep the opening above the wellhead. The
pressure from the wellhead will shoot the oil/gas straight up
into an isolated water column created by the riser tube. Due
to ocean currents, the tube may not be strictly vertical, so
the tube may have to be miles longer to compensate for
tube deflection caused by ocean currents. The end of the
tube at the waters surface will have a metal flange several
feet long, 16ga stainless steel surrounding the mouth of the
tube, with attachment points for floats.
Pumps will pump the oily water from the interior of the
riser tube into floating storage tubes, barges, or tankers, as
detailed above. Oily water is then stored for later
processing. Processing vessels separate the oil from the
water, pumping the water back into the gulf, and the oil
into nearby tanker ships for transport to refineries.
Diameter (ft) x Length (ft), mil
(thickness), Material (Woven or Poly)
Gallons
per 1 ft
Gallons per Gallons per
100 ft
Specified
Length
Selling Price
26.5'x5280' (1 mile), 1 ply Woven
4000
41,3000
$73,665.19
21,800,000
Surface Skimmer Attachment to fit opening of Tow-Tube:
$35/ft, comes in various widths to match various
Tow-Tubes