Damian Palin: Mining minerals from seawater

Translator: Timothy Covell Reviewer: Morton Bast

Translator: Joachim Mangilima Reviewer: Nelson Simfukwe

I collaborate with bacteria.

Ninashirikiana na bacteria

And I'm about to show you

ninataka nikuonyeshe

some stop-motion footage that I made recently

kipande cha video ambacho nimetengeneza hivi karibuni

where you'll see bacteria accumulating minerals

ndani yake utaweza kuona bacteria wakikusanya madini

from their environment

kutoka katika mazingira yao

over the period of an hour.

ndani ya zaidi ya saa moja

So what you're seeing here

Kwa hiyo unachokiona hapa

is the bacteria metabolizing,

ni bacteria wakiwa wanameng'enya

and as they do so

wakati wanafanya hivyo

they create an electrical charge.

wanatengeneza chaji za umeme.

And this attracts metals

na inavuta metali

from their local environment.

kutoka katika mazingira ya karibu

And these metals accumulate as minerals

metali hizi zinajikusanya kama madini

on the surface of the bacteria.

katika uso wa wa bacteria

One of the most pervasive problems

Moja kati ya matatizo yaliyoenea sana

in the world today for people

duniani katikati ya watu

is inadequate access

ni upungufu

to clean drinking water.

wa maji safi na salama ya kunywa

And the desalination process

mchakato wa kuchukua maji

is one where we take out salts.

na kutoa chumvi ndani yake

We can use it for drinking and agriculture.

ili yaweze kutumika kwa ajili ya kunywa na kilimo

Removing the salts from water --

Kutoa chumvi katika maji

particularly seawater --

na hasa maji ya bahari

through reverse osmosis

kupitia mfumo wa kinyume wa osmosis

is a critical technique

na njia muhimu

for countries who do not have access to clean drinking water

kwa ajili ya nchi ambazo zina upungufu wa maji safi na salama ya kunywa

around the globe.

duniani kote

So seawater reverse osmosis

Kwa hiyo utoaji wa chumvi katika maji ya bahari

is a membrane-filtration technology.

ni teknolojia ya kuchuja kwa kutumia utando

We take the water from the sea

Tunachukua maji kutoka baharini

and we apply pressure.

na tunayagandamiza katika msukumo mkubwa

And this pressure forces the seawater

na mgandamizo huu unayalazimisha maji

through a membrane.

kupita katika utando

This takes energy,

Hii inahitaji nguvu

producing clean water.

kutengeneza maji ya kunywa

But we're also left with a concentrated salt solution, or brine.

Lakini hii inaacha nyuma chumvi kali

But the process is very expensive

Mchakato huu ni wa gharama sana

and it's cost-prohibitive for many countries around the globe.

gharama ambayo ni kubwa sana kwa nchi nyingi duniani

And also, the brine that's produced

Na pia chumvi inayobaki

is oftentimes just pumped back out into the sea.

mara nyingi hurudishwa tena baharini

And this is detrimental to the local ecology

na hali hii si nzuri kwa mazingira

of the sea area that it's pumped back out into.

ya eneo la baharini chumvi inapotupwa

So I work in Singapore at the moment,

Kwa hiyo nafanya kazi Singapore kwa sasa

and this is a place that's really a leading place

Na hili ni eneo ambalo linaongoza

for desalination technology.

kwa utoaji wa chumvi katika maji ya baharini

And Singapore proposes by 2060

Na Singapore inapendekeza kuwa mpaka mwaka 2060

to produce [900] million liters per day

kutengeneza lita millioni 900 kwa siku

of desalinated water.

za maji yaliyotolewa chumvi

But this will produce an equally massive amount

Lakini hii itasababisha kiasi kama hicho cha ukubwa

of desalination brine.

cha chumvi

And this is where my collaboration with bacteria comes into play.

Na hapa ndipo ushirikiano wangu na Bacteria unapofanya kazi

So what we're doing at the moment

Kwa hiyo tunachofanya kwa sasa

is we're accumulating metals

ni tunakusanya metali

like calcium, potassium and magnesium

kama Kalsiamu,Potassiamu na Magnesiamu

from out of desalination brine.

kutoka katika chumvi inayobaki baada ya maji kutolewa chumvi

And this, in terms of magnesium

Na hii, kwa Magnesiamu

and the amount of water that I just mentioned,

na kiasi cha maji ambacho nimekitaja

equates to a $4.5 billion

ina thamani ya Dola za Marekani,Billioni 4.5

mining industry for Singapore --

kwa mfumo wa madini wa Singapore

a place that doesn't have any natural resources.

Sehemu ambayo haina rasilimali zozozte

So I'd like you to image a mining industry

Kwa hiyo ningependa uwaze kuhusu viwanda vya madini

in a way that one hasn't existed before;

katika njia ambayo haijawahi kutokea kabla

imagine a mining industry

Fikiria viwanda vya madini

that doesn't mean defiling the Earth;

ambavyo haviharibu mazingira

imagine bacteria helping us do this

Fikiria bacteria wakiwa wanatusaidia kufanya hivi

by accumulating and precipitating

kwa kukusanya na kumeng'enya

and sedimenting minerals

madini

out of desalination brine.

kutoka katika chumvi iliyobaki baada ya maji kutolewa chumvi

And what you can see here

Na utakachokmiona hapa

is the beginning of an industry in a test tube,

ni mwanzo wa viwanda

a mining industry that is in harmony with nature.

,viwanda vya madini ambavyo vitaendana na mazingira

Thank you.

Asante Sana

(Applause)

(Makofi)