Book 18, Question 110
Where Does Drinking Water Come From When Everything Is Frozen?
Even where everything is frozen, polar stations make their own drinking water! There is plenty of ice, but there are no taps. So crews melt clean ice and snow, or take water from the sea.
More fun facts
- At the South Pole, the station gets drinking water from a well inside the ice, called a Rodwell.
- Workers drill a hole into the ice and pump hot water down to melt the ice around it.
- The meltwater collects in a big underground pool that stays liquid as long as enough heat keeps flowing in.
- Pumps lift some of the water to the surface, where it is cleaned and stored for people to drink.
- In summer about 150 people need around 11,250 liters of water a day, and in winter about 40 people need around 4,600 liters.
- A Rodwell gives drinking water for about 15 years, then it is turned into a place to store wastewater.
- If the well ever stops working, a backup machine can melt shoveled snow to make water.
- When the water surface sinks to about 500 feet below the snow, pumping gets too hard, so a new Rodwell is made.
Sources: documents.ats.aq, usap.gov
Questions kids ask
How much water does a Rodwell give each year?
About 650,000 gallons of fresh water reach the South Pole station each year from its Rodwell and water treatment system.