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So why doesn’t Panama just pump the water used in the locks back into the lake so that it isn’t lost into the sea on every transit? It doesn’t seem that such a

So why doesn’t Panama just pump the water used in the locks back into the lake so that it isn’t lost into the sea on every transit? It doesn’t seem that such a solution would be profoundly technically difficult and it could definitely be done with sustainable power in the tropics. Occam’s razor. I know the new one has one that recovers something like 60 percent from the article in the bottom of this comment, but they didn’t retrofit the old one? I’ve never seen anyone give a straight answer on this one, so I’m genuinely curious if this is entirely a natural disaster or foreseeable but not economically viable or what? They also could use salt water for the downward leg to the sea as it won’t flow back to the lake, couldn’t they? I saw nothing about this anywhere. But it makes complete sense and would cut lake usage in half in both directions. I’m sure that a surcharge for such a system would be welcomed by ship owners at this point, because the economic impact is considerable. That wouldn’t have a negative environmental impact as you’d just be introducing brackish water to brackish or salt seas at the bottom. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/03/panama-canal-drought-hits-new-crisis-level-amid-severe-el-nino.html https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/03/panama-canal-drought-hits-ne...

slashdev 3y ago
It’s even simpler than that. Currently there are hydroelectric dams using the same water to generate electricity. All you have to do is not do that. The U.S. used a nuclear generator on a ship for that purpose back when they controlled the Canal Zone. Today I don’t see why they don’t just install a bunch of solar and use the hydroelectric as energy storage to smooth out the production.
pietjepuk88 3y ago
See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38255225 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38255225 for a back-of-the-envelope calculation of why it's intractable to pump the water back. And see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38256185 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38256185 for why the water saving basins are not as great as you would think (at least for the new locks). For the old locks, adding them would probably just add too much too the leveling time. And the construction would take those locks out of operation for at least a couple months, and they just cannot afford that. In the Netherlands there are locks with pumps for directly leveling, reducing/preventing salt intrusion, or "evening out" the loss of water with a separate pumping station (look up Krammersluizen and Kreekraksluizen). But we're talking a meter or 2 water level difference, not a whopping 26 meters. And those locks are generally not as big, and even then we tend to get rid of those systems where we can (Krammersluizen) as it's just too expensive to operate and maintain.
- happytiger 3y ago
  Extremely informative. Thank you very much for taking the time to educate me. I deeply appreciate it.
  - pietjepuk88 3y ago
    Locks are fun! (Can you tell I'm Dutch? ;) )
    - cozzyd 3y ago
      Now I finally understand the origin of the GIL.
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8note 3y ago
Locks are already quite efficient with water: https://youtu.be/SBvclVcesEE?feature=shared https://youtu.be/SBvclVcesEE?feature=shared
- happytiger 3y ago
  Great video. Thank you.

slashdev 3y ago

It’s even simpler than that. Currently there are hydroelectric dams using the same water to generate electricity. All you have to do is not do that. The U.S. used a nuclear generator on a ship for that purpose back when they controlled the Canal Zone. Today I don’t see why they don’t just install a bunch of solar and use the hydroelectric as energy storage to smooth out the production.

pietjepuk88 3y ago

See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38255225 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38255225 for a back-of-the-envelope calculation of why it's intractable to pump the water back. And see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38256185 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38256185 for why the water saving basins are not as great as you would think (at least for the new locks). For the old locks, adding them would probably just add too much too the leveling time. And the construction would take those locks out of operation for at least a couple months, and they just cannot afford that. In the Netherlands there are locks with pumps for directly leveling, reducing/preventing salt intrusion, or "evening out" the loss of water with a separate pumping station (look up Krammersluizen and Kreekraksluizen). But we're talking a meter or 2 water level difference, not a whopping 26 meters. And those locks are generally not as big, and even then we tend to get rid of those systems where we can (Krammersluizen) as it's just too expensive to operate and maintain.

happytiger 3y ago
Extremely informative. Thank you very much for taking the time to educate me. I deeply appreciate it.
- pietjepuk88 3y ago
  Locks are fun! (Can you tell I'm Dutch? ;) )
  - cozzyd 3y ago
    Now I finally understand the origin of the GIL.
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8note 3y ago

Locks are already quite efficient with water: https://youtu.be/SBvclVcesEE?feature=shared https://youtu.be/SBvclVcesEE?feature=shared

happytiger 3y ago
Great video. Thank you.