UAE millionaire planning to use icebergs for fresh water

The United Arab Emirates inventor and entrepreneur Abdulla Alshehi is reportedly planning to drag an iceberg from the Antarctic Sea to his country in order to solve its water shortage problem, reports Daily Mail.

Based on Alshehi's plan, an iceberg that contains over 20 billion gallons of water will eventually be towed to the Fujairah coast of the UAE after a test-run, according to the report.

Photo taken on December 5, 2015 shows an iceberg floating in the Antarctic Sea. [Photo: IC]

One iceberg is expected to provide one million people with a steady supply of fresh drinking water for up to 5 years. But the ambitious plan comes at a high price: as much as 150 million U.S. dollars, as well as 60 to 80 million U.S. dollars for a trial run.

Despite the cost, Alshehi believes it would be cheaper and also more environmentally friendly to drag an iceberg to his country than to desalinate sea water. Although they're made from seawater, salt is pushed out of ice as water freezes, which is why an iceberg can be used for drinking water.

The UAE is the one of the world's driest countries due to its extremely arid climate.