Former Presidential Aspirant Alex Muliokela has offered a solution to the load shedding problem for Zambia – Just Pump water from Rivers into the so called Kariba dam.
A few years researchers studying groundwater reserves in Africa discovered the presence of large amounts of groundwater in the Africa.A geological map showed that Africa is floating above huge reserves of underground water, similar to the equivalent of 100 times the amount of fresh water resources on the surface.Zambia was one of the countries found to have big reservoirs.Others include countries like Botswana, Angola and the largest reserves of underground water exist in the driest regions of northern Africa, especially in Egypt, Sudan, Libya, and Algeria.
wow, this is the best comedian we have pa zed. kabova ashalila!!!! cant stop laughing.
Why not? Why can’t his idea work? Because it isn’t being announced from an american or british university?
He does have a point. Haven’t you seen water being pumped away from flooded areas in flood prone areas of Europe? He may look comical but don’t dismiss him offhand to defend your incompetent political leadership and their fake technocrats.
What is wrong with his proposal? Don’t mines pump water everyday from mines to avoid flooding? It may sound simple & comical but no one thought of it. If I can buy into his idea, what he means is if there are rivers nearby that do not flow into Kariba just lay pipelines to divert some of their waters into Kariba. After all the cry is that water levels are low at Kariba – so increase them by pumping in extra. How does TAZAMA supply INDENI with crude oil all the way from Tanzania? The question should be from which nearby rivers & at what cost? The cost is not an issue if the solution is long term.
The only problem I have is ZESCO explanation when Zambezi river & its tributaries Kafue & Kabompo are not dry & still flowing into Kariba? Why not reduce the outflow valve?
Haaaaaaaaaa. Imwe guys are you serious or you are joking also. what does a pump use for power? isnt it electricity or fuel. So you are using electricity to put pump water into a dam so that you generate electricity. And we know all electrical machines are less than 99% efficient, therefore when you are done with the whole cycle you would have lost energy through losses such as heat, noise(sound), electromagnetic losses etc. Just think, how much of these pumps and therefore electrical energy would you need to raise the water level by 1mm at kariba? the same logic applies if you use a fuel powered pump, the losses here are even more, because combustion engines are only about 20% efficient then couple this with the efficiency of the generators, turbines etc. The losses are more. infact why…
No, second place in the comedian contest!
Guess who came FIRST!
On the face of it, yes its a good idea but we are not going to use witchcraft to transport the water into the dam. Same thing with the green party’s proposal, it would work if at night we had low demand during the night but we don’t. We have a deficit throughout and all we would be doing is preserving the charge at more than 100% cost of power the same unit of power (You will lose energy pumping the water into the dam). Think of the Dam as a battery, the cost of recharging using water from underground or a river other than zambezi is a costly affair.
People will laugh but this guy has a point.We laughed when Kaunda talked of oil from grass till some white guy came up with bio fuels..Alas the we will laugh at Muliokela’s idea till some american comes and tells us he has invented a way of converting underground water to electricity…and then we will rush to get loans from the world bank to pay this american to help us!!!
Yaba! At least he is better than ECL. Muliokela is offering solutions!
At least he is offering what he believes is a solution to remedy the situation unlike Jameson who is blaming God while he remains in a drunken stupor.
You see the politicians know that you do not challenge nature because of your religiosity. However as you can see from Muliokela, challenging nature with technology is nothing new. We must begin to squeeze these politicians out of their incompetence by ensuring that we do away with what have been perceived to be no-go areas. There are even experiments underway now to create fuel from thin air (yes, air is being harvested and ‘cracked’ through some processes to create petrol). This, friends, is not witchcraft or the antichrist; this is technology and the will to do what can be done!
I believe most guys blogging on this site are not engineers. That proposal by this comedian is not possible. You will need more power to pump water than what you will realise because naurally all machines have efficiency of less than 1. Its like someone proposing to you a business plan where you buy maize from congo at a cost of K150 per bag and sell it to FRA at an imposed price of K75 per bag. When zesco tells you that they are generating 300MegaWatts, just know that the rate at which potential energy of water behind the dam is converted to kinetic energy is some big figure above 300MegaWatts !!! The difference goes into losses in (friction of moving parts+Ohmic or resistance losses in cables+core losses in generators+stored reactive power in inductors, capacitors and fly wheels+…
*I believe most guys blogging on this site are not engineers. That proposal by this comedian is not possible. You will need more power to pump water than what you will realize because naturally all machines have efficiency of less than 1. Its like someone proposing to you a business plan where you buy maize from congo at a cost of K150 per bag and sell it to FRA at an imposed price of K75 per bag. When zesco tells you that they are generating 300MegaWatts, just know that the rate at which potential energy of water behind the dam is converted to kinetic energy is some big figure above 300MegaWatts !!! The difference goes into losses in (friction of moving parts+Ohmic or resistance losses in cables+core losses in generators+stored reactive power in inductors, capacitors and fly wheels+…
LOL!!! Which rivers are you referring to iwe weshilu we because the dam itself is on the Zambezi river which has low water inflows and what powers means are you going to use to pump water from “other” rivers? I now believe that some bloggers here surely are as dull as their leaders in the opposition.
Right now serious minds are researching on long terms solutions to avert the dependence of hydro and here we have clowns all in the name of politics, silly.
Indeed Zambians have never experienced challenges no wonder they roam the streets aimless expecting manner from heaven. Work and work smart and hard if you want to get the best of God’s abundance.
What serious minds when all you are resorting to is Eurobonds and admiration for Zimbabwe’s use of the U.S. dollar? Let’s move away from partisan postures lest we sound really mediocre.
Alex Muliokela has a point. The report done by researchers from the British Geological Survey and University College of London is there for anyone to google. The largest groundwater volumes are found in Southern Province with more than 20 litres per second of productivity while the rest of the country has no less than 5 litres per second. Muliokela’s point is that if we have this much water underground, why can’t Zambia sink water pumps that will pump the ground water and feed into the so called Kariba Dam and fill it to the maximum? And LT don’t call him a former candidate. The man has a political party and is in line to contest in 2016 so what former?
Cubans are making rain and will be collecting that “rain” water in reservoirs. Here we are with plenty of (1) underground water & (2) water from existing rivers. Surely, do we need God to show us how to do it? Sometimes we are actually being more useless that the word useless itself. Or is it lack of leadership!
Alex nevers Edith Eric akainde Peter miyanda Elias tilyengi etc all operates at the same level.
He may have a point but may not be workable in short term. pumping water from one river to the other may be creating one problem in order solve another. Also such a project may not be accomplished as we are remaining with few months before the rain season starts.
Temporarily pumping water from one river to another for a short duration as needed sounds like a viable solution. Let the nonsense of our fellow bloggers commence now. Everything on LT becomes political.
Muliokela’s IQ is beyond measure. He is a think tank of all times.
LT please stop this comedy or at least employ a science/engineering editor. The law of conservation of energy in physics states that the total energy of an isolated system remains constant. Energy can be neither created nor be destroyed, but it transforms from one form to another, for instance chemical energy can be converted to kinetic energy in the explosion of a stick of dynamite. That is to say, no system without an external energy supply can deliver an unlimited amount of energy to its surroundings. (Source: Wikipedia) Energy can only be converted from one form to another & during this process there will be engineering losses through such phenomena as heat & friction! And there in this natural law is the expose’ of the sheer stupidity/laziness to research being purveyed on this…
CONTD:What benefit do you get from using energy to from 700m blew surface only to generate less energy from a 150m drop in height at Kariba not even talking about the massive infrastructure required. QUIXOTIC,HUGE, FINANCIAL AND ENERGY LOSSES. Go read a book or if your are too lazy consult a hydrogeologist about aquifers and a Power Electrical Engineer about power generation and efficiency of machines!
CONTD: blog site. I feel ashamed to be Zambian because I ‘ve read this kind of stupidity even in The Post newspaper, which is supposed to have editors of all sorts. I read one letter in the Post in which the author suggested pumping back water from the bottom of Kariba back into the lake to ‘re-produce” electricity. Before we even consider the cost of those massive pumps and pipes to pump to 12million cubic metre per day up the 150m Kariba wall. What about the friction losses, thermodynamic losses in these diesel engines/pumps. We would actually spend far more energy (fuel) pumping the water back up the wall than we would generate just by applying the natural law of conservation/interconvertibility of energy/matter (now add to that, corruption & incompetence, cadre-risation of…
thanks quest. i was almost giving up on this blog site. i couldnt imagine the caliber of bloggers here is so low. Ninshi? kwena nadabwa lelo.
Before you give undue attention to this quest take a look at what Elon Musk, himself an African, is doing with his Tesla brand. It is not about regurgitating what the textbooks have stipulated and what the laws have rigidly laid into place. Were it so, Henry Ford would have been burned at the stake for creating coaches without horses. Indeed now I understand why this country is full of educated recitations that know nothing but impossibilities. Pathetic!
awe ba kalok, this case is not about regurgitation. it is about simple laws of nature. proposal yaba muliokela can only work if you are dealing with overefficient machines. there are no two ways about it. Just accept your ignorance in engineering matters and we shall forget about it and not make a big deal out of it. stop grasping for straws bwana. Your arguement is weak and sinking fast like a stone tied to an anvil. Ati elon musk an african. you mean an african citizen tefyo?
@ Kalok For sure you are a comedian like kALAKI of The Post. Africa floating on a huge resevoir of underground water! What nonsense! Which geological map? My foot! Kariba needs to discharge 12 million cubic metres per day to generate electricity at full capacity now it doing 33% so it would require 8 million cubic metres of freshwater per day tomeet the shortfall. Which aquifer in the world let alone Zmbia will give you that sort of yield? And what will happen to the surrounding community, farmers etc whose water source are shallow well and boreholes. The most prolific aquifer is Zambia is the Konkola mine aqifer which only yields 300 000 cubic metres per day and is pumped from 700m below surface. What benefit do you get from using energy to from 700m blew surface only to generate less…
Yip – call me what you want but we really need to do a sit-down before you can draw conclusions on my comedic potential (might earn me something in any case). Let me leave you with a thought: the sand people are busy innovating how to think outside the box with their sand (Elon Musk, anyone? – Intel?); the Copper people outside Africa are busy devising how best their copper will work directly or indirectly (Chile – did I hear Chile?); the oil people outside Africa are busy building success out of the boon of their oil (Middle East anyone? No, no, not IS – that is a small part of a bigger, external story); in short, where others run to the books AND the drawing board, we elect to hit our fact-giving books so hard we almost fall off the radar when it comes to innovating what we are…
… bringing out! It is about getting ourselves OUT of the box, folks and it starts with a ridiculous idea like Muliokelas, if you really want to call it ridiculous. Now, let me turn to Chris Rock and Trevor Noah for some brilliance…
CONTD: parastatals/ZESCO & we end up with absolute madness! The most prolific underground aquifer in Zambia is at konkola Mine, where water is pumped from 720m below surface & discharged into the Kafue river. The average 300 000m3 pumped per day out of konkola is (a paltry 2.5%) peanuts, compared to the average 12 million cubic metres per day discharged at Kariba to generate electricity. As if that is not enough the Kafue discharges it water into the Zambezi downstream of the Kariba dam. So depleting this aquifer will not benefit generation of electricity at Kariba at all. Simple geography! Besides what benefit do you get pumping water with electric pumps from a kilometre below ground and then discharging it at a paltry 150m to generate electricity! Uter Quixotic foolishness! We are…
parastatals/ZESCO & we end up with absolute madness! The most prolific underground aquifer in Zambia is at konkola Mine, where water is pumped from 720m below surface & discharged into the Kafue river. The average 300 000m3 pumped per day out of konkola is (a paltry 2.5%) peanuts, compared to the average 12 million cubic metres per day discharged at Kariba to generate electricity. As if that is not enough the Kafue discharges it water into the Zambezi downstream of the Kariba dam. So depleting this aquifer will not benefit generation of electricity at Kariba at all. Simple geography! Besides what benefit do you get pumping water with electric pumps from a kilometre below ground and then discharging it at a paltry 150m to generate electricity! Uter Quixotic foolishness! We are much…
Fellow Bloggers, please read through quest’s comments it is informative and not this badness being spilt out by most of you. You behave as if you have never been in grade 12 or form 5. It is such a shame to be associated with some of you
THERE IS SENSE IN WHAT ALEX HAS SAID AND IT IS DOEABLE. FOR THE INFORMATION OF THOSE WHO ARE IGNORANT AND DISPUTING WHAT ALEX HAS SAID, THEY SHOULD KNOW THAT IN LIBYA, DURING THE TIME OF GADAFFI, WHILE SEARCHING FOR OIL IN THE DESERT, THEY FOUND AN UNDERGROUNG LAKE. THE LEADER DIRECTED THAT THE WATER SHOULD BE PUMPED TO AREAS WHERE PEOPLE LIVE. THEY INVESTED BILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO MAKE HUGE PIPES TO PUMP THE WATER TO INHABITED AREAS. TODAY IN TRIPOLI AND OTHER TOWNS THEY ENJOY THIS FRESH WATER. ASK DR. GUY SCOTT, DURING THE 1991 CAMPAIGN THE MMD PROMISED THAT THEY WOULD LAY PIPES TO PUMP WATER FROM OUR LAKES IN LUAPULA TO KAFUE AND ZAMBEZI RIVERS. IN ADDITION YOU MAY WISH TO KNOW THAT THERE WAS AND THERE IS A PLAN TO LAY A PIPE LINE FROM CONGO RIVER TO COUNTRIES IN THE SOUTHERN REGION…
The water in Libya is NOT for power generation but for urban consumption in the coastal areas. It is pumped from aquifers 600m deep & further pumped for thousands of kilometres to the coast. Volume is approx 3 million cubic metres per day at great cost because the oil money they have/had under Gaddaffi. Karba alone need 12m cubic metres per day . They do not pump the water from 600m below ground onto the coast and only to let flow through a 150m dam to generate electricity. They have lots of energy in form of oil. You cannot make more energy by pumping water from 600m deep and letting the same water dive a turbine under a 150m head. You lose 75% of the initial power invested in pumping it from 600m and that is without frictinal losses, evaporation, leakages and inherent thermodynamic…
the man has a point. lets use solar en wind energy powered pumps to get that underground water.
Do you know how much power can generated using Solar. Leave engineering problems to Engineers and stop embarrassing your selves.
He meant using buckets to fill the dam!
Muliokela sound like he is the economic adviser for the UP and DOWN party……..very intelligent indeed ! He will soon come up with an idea of how to rear cattle in Cairo road without causing accidents so as to improve the economy of the country.
This is true. The Electricity Supply Board of Ireland does pump water out, after it has been discharged from the turbines and stored in dams for reuse for hydro.
The idea is perfect. Crude oil is being transported though pipe line for miles and miles. Water is transported through a pipe line from KWe are transporting oil from
Water is being transported through a pipe line from Kafue to Lusaka. Think about, Luapula has alot of water. Talk about lake Mweru and Bangweulu. Why can’t we do a pipe line tor transport this water to the Zambezi river in Northwestern and then it will fall through to Lake Kariba. Thereafter, we can actually tap it after the turbines and move some back to Mweru/Bangweulu while the rest flow to Mozambique via to the Indian ocean (Wasted) This man has a better point than some of our bloggers. Atleast he spent time thinking.
Ask yourself how much a barrel (164 litres) of oil costs/sells for at the end of the long pipeline (currently 40usd per barrel and was 120usd per barrel a few months back). In contrast how much will the 12 million litres of water piped/and pumped to Kariba sell for when it reaches the dam wall? And who will buy it? Broke Zimbabwe and mismanaged ZESCO? Silly nitwit!
Critics just admit that Muliokela has a point. First, he has offered a solution to the problem, which is brainstorming. All we need to do is further brainstorm on what can be done to make this a reality. Where the answer is yes, we move forward; where it is no, we stop. We should not allow fear of failure to outweigh our desire to succeed. We should be willing to fail and fail again, and make up our minds to become unstoppable, become no matter what persons! That’s how people managed to fly an aeroplane and came up with all these technologies. They did not get it right the first time, NO!
It may not only be for electricity generation but for consumption and domestic use as well. Why should our people lack water when we have all this underground water which can be pumped using solar…
Good idea but not economically viable. The energy we will need to pump the water will be more than the energy we will generate from that water
Comment:I think Mr Muliokela has a point on this one,let us not just receive advises from outside country,let us also here from what our fellows are saying
His excellency president Alex Muliokela is much better than Jameson Azagwa. Devilish chamba and chichimbwi kambwili combined.
He has a point. At first it sounds funny, like there he goes again, but when you sit down to think whats wrong with his idea. It can work in the interim…