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June 2nd, 2018: Stupas
In many parts of the world the people get the water they need to survive from melting winter snow pack and glaciers high on
the mountains. But some mountains like in South America and the Himalayas have a dry side that never see enough winter
moisture to sustain the villages through the summer.
Voilà, Stupas, home made glaciers.
| High in the Himalayas in northern India, at a remote village near Phyang Monastery in Ladakh, stands two gigantic ice cones. They were built last winter by piping water from glaciers and streams high up in the mountains, and allowing the water to freeze in the cold winter nights. All throughout spring, the sun slowly melted the cones providing a steady supply of water for the villagers to irrigate their fields of barley, apples, and other crops. These ice cones are called ice stupas, because of their distinct shape resembling the mound-like Buddhist shrine. If everything goes as planned, there will be fifty more of these ice stupas everywhere in Ladakh providing farmers with tens of millions of liters of water to irrigate their crops with it. |
| Wangchuk’s solution is very simple and elegant that requires no pumps or power to work. An underground pipe brings water from high up the mountains, usually 60 meters or more, to lower altitude where it is allowed to spray out into the freezing winter air by the pressure of gravity alone. The water instantly freezes before it falls to the ground, slowly forming a huge ice cone roughly 30 to 50 meters tall. The cone shape also has the advantage of having a low surface area in comparison to its volume, exposing very little of the ice to direct sunlight, and thus delaying its melting. |
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Gravdigr Saturday Jun 2 04:26 AM
That's cool.
Griff Saturday Jun 2 09:42 AM
cold sir
Diaphone Jim Saturday Jun 2 12:12 PM
"...high up the mountains, usually 60 meters or more,"
What is that supposed to be?
Great idea. I love passive systems, like this and siphons, true gifts from nature.
xoxoxoBruce Saturday Jun 2 01:33 PM
I believe that's 60 meters above the stupas.
lumberjim Saturday Jun 2 02:50 PM
it'll be neat when thing begin to grow around them
Diaphone Jim Saturday Jun 2 04:57 PM
6000 meters in distance might work.
Since they are already "high in the Himalayas" 6000 meters in elevation seems too much.
xoxoxoBruce Saturday Jun 2 08:56 PM
60 meters would give enough head to shoot the water high in the air.
captainhook455 Saturday Jun 2 09:13 PM
It must have taken millions of years for a pipe to form in the rock at the locations needed. Thats awesome.
xoxoxoBruce Saturday Jun 2 09:17 PM
No, they are using plastic pipe.
Diaphone Jim Sunday Jun 3 12:46 PM
My problem with the description above: "An underground pipe brings water from high up the mountains, usually 60 meters or more," turns out not to be the 60 meters, but "from high up in the mountains."
The top of the pipe is indeed only 60 m, giving enough head (behave yourselves) for a possible 60 m stupa, but the distance may be less than a mile away.
http://icestupa.org/about
xoxoxoBruce Sunday Jun 3 05:00 PM
Don't forget the village is also high up in the mountains.
Gravdigr Monday Jun 4 05:36 PM
The villagers may be high, too.
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