The Panama Canal relies on water from Gatun Lake to fill its locks and allow ships to pass through. However, each ship that passes through also releases millions of liters of fresh water into the ocean. To address this, engineers implemented water saving basins that recycle 60% of the water per chamber, using 7% less water than the existing locks. This system helps conserve the canal's fresh water supply, which is also an important source of drinking water for Panama's major cities.

1. which supplies the canal and its locks
each giant container vessel passing
through drives no less than 197 million
liters of water to the ocean
gradually emptying this indispensable
reserve of fresh water
water is key for the panama canal
because it's also the lake where
most of our population drinks water from
in the main cities
so we have to protect water save water
so we decided to implement the water
saving basins
what they do is all this gravity fed
with different elevations of water we're
able to recycle
60 of the water per chamber and uh
overall these locks use seven percent
less water
than the existing logs so it's just a
recycling system
was becoming one of the great leaders of
the panama canal a childhood dream
um this is a dream job for any engineer
it's uh this project like this doesn't
get built
every day and it's very unique the locks
the gates
everything the physical systems every
single day there was something to
resolve
now when you look back you're like wow
we overcome a lot but you learn
that's the beauty so it was more good
than bad
this technical prowess is also a
financial success for the canal
authority
every cargo ship passing through pays a
colossal sum
between five hundred thousand and one
million dollars
[Music]
in an era when 90 of global trade is
seabourn
the canal has become the economic heart
of panama and one of the world's leading
trade centers
but the country is already considering a
fourth set of even larger locks to
accommodate cargo ships over 400 meters
long
[Music]
the idea was prompted by china's plan to
open a canal in nicaragua
allowing through cargo ships carrying 25
000 containers
and in anticipation of the arctic routes
opening up as a result of climate change
water is a major concern for mankind and
engineers have come up with some
brilliant ways to divert it