Injecting Water Underneath Venice to Help It Float

That the iconic Italian city of Venice is in danger of being submerged in the Adriatic Sea is known to everyone, but there are also other major problem plaguing the city: the global sea level rise and subsidence (the process by which the sediment on which the city is built is being compacted).

This happens because water molecules between the sediments' pores are being slowly released. The grains of sand can then move closer together, and the overall thickness of the layers decreases. The effect is that the city's foundations are sinking, while global warming drives sea levels up.

A recently proposed solution to this issue is injecting large amounts of water in the sediments beneath the city. The addition of water molecules will make it easier for the weight of Venice to be redistributed, thus reducing the pressure being placed on the soils beneath, Wired reports.

A new study indicates that a ring of 12 injection wells, strategically placed around the city, could deal with subsidence after only 10 years of continuous water injection. That represents the equivalent of 150 million cubic meters of seawater, which would raise the city by 25 to 30 centimeters.