The availability of bulk water availabe for export has increased over the past years and there now appears to be three countries leading the way. These countries are New Zealand, United States of America and Iceland.
New Zealand
The New Zealand company, Aquazeal, has a substantial amount of pristine water available for export in bottles, containers or in bulk carriers. The water is ranks as some of the purest in the world.
Over the past 12 months, Aquazeal have put amassed a significant port-folio of New Zealand water derived from multiple water sources. As such the water can be loaded from a number of different ports within New Zealand.
Aquazeal also offers a unique option arrangement whereby a customer has the right to draw a pre-determined quantity of water over a agreed period. This is ideal for customers that what assurance that water will be available over the long-term and the price won’t escalate when the predicted pressure comes on global fresh water supply.
(see aquazeal.co.nz)
United States of America
A US company, S2C Global Systems, Inc. (OTCBB: STWG) recently acquired a 50% interest in Alaska Resource and Management, LLC.(ARM) the owner of a bulk water license for fresh water from Blue Lake located in Sitka, Alaska, and entered the bulk water export market.
ARM is selling the water freight on board Sitka, Alaska at global market rates. They report publicly that buyers from Asia, the Middle East and India are in discussions with ARM to secure these waters for themselves. Recently they announced that they were finalizing logistic details in order to provide a completed term sheet to government clients in Iraq and initiate a long term relationship with future Saudi Arabian business interests.
ARM certainly seem to be throwing considerable capital in trying to kickstart their bulk water export business.
(see s2cglobal.com)
Iceland
There are number of companies that purport to export fresh water from Iceland. Two such companies are:
Iceland Water International
Their spring originates in Vatnajokull national park in Iceland, the source area is in a protected land and fenced off zone in Fjardabyggd on the east cost of Iceland. According to their website, a stainless steel pipeline is used to direct the flow of the spring to the control room and then to the bottling plant, the community and the harbor. IWI have offices set up in the Boston, London, Dubai to factiliate exports.
Iceland Glacier Products
ICP’s water source is feed from the Snaefellsjokull glacier. As with the New Zealand water, it can be exported in 24,000 litre containers and bulk vessels.
Comparison
In a recent S2C press release, they identified a number of countries that might be interested in entering into a supply arrangement for bulk water. It is interesting to look at the relative advantages and disadvantages of sourcing water from each of the locations discussed above. Below are some factors that a purchaser would consider.
Cost
On the assumption that the FOB pricing is likely to be equivalent from each source, then the difference in landed cost of water is likely to be in direct proportion of the shipping distance. As a basis of comparison of shipping costs, the table below compares the shipping distances from the point of loading to the Port of Dubai.
| Yoyage | Kilometres | Increased shipping distance |
| Jackson’s Bay, New Zealand | 14,305 kms | |
| Sitka, Alaska | 18,246 kms | 28% |
| Fjardabyggd. Iceland | 20,954 kms* | 46% |
Political and financial risks
The differences in political and financial risks between New Zealand and the USA and Iceland are self-evident and are an extremely important consideration for any long-term supply arrangement.
Accessibility
It is likely that both the New Zealand and Alaskan ports will be accessible 12 months of the year, however there is only one point of loading for the Alaskan water. This makes year round access to the New Zealand better as there are multiple loading points, eliminating the risks around contamination of a single supply, loading congestion and equipment failure.
Summary
The actual amount of water that can be sold directly to customers is dependent on the markets that can be found for such water and the ability of customers to pay what is a premium over desalinated water. While there is a limited volume traded annually at present, perhaps no more than 1m tonnes per annum, it is expected that the traded volume will increase as the pressure on the world’s fresh water sources increase. It is widely acknowledged that acute water stress/crises is likely to occur on an ongoing basis as current aquifers and waterways become even more depleted through unsustainable use, the affects of climate change begin to bite and the worlds population continues to increase unabated. It also appears that New Zealand is emerging as the best source of bulk fresh water.
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