海洋深層水 (以下, 深層水) の清浄性の評価の一部として, 懸濁物質の量と質に着目し高知県海洋深層水研究所で取水している深度320mの深層水と深度5mの表層水について, 2005年7月から月1回の調査を16ヶ月実施した.本研究では孔径0.45μm HAミリポア濾紙に捕集された懸濁物質を主対象とした.同一時期の採取試料の懸濁物質量は常に深層水で表層水よりも少なく平均では表層水の14%以下で, 深層水と表層水ともに懸濁物質量の季節的な変動は確認できなかった.深層水の懸濁物質量の変動範囲は0.195～0.993mg/L (平均0.550mg/L) と1mg/L以下であった.濾紙に捕集した懸濁物質粒子の走査型電子顕微鏡観察により, 深層水の粒子は表層水に比べ小型であるが有機物集塊並びに有機物由来と思われる膜状物や完全なプランクトン藻類細胞は極めて少なかった.しかし深層水の懸濁物質から表層水の4%以下の微量のクロロフィルaが検出されプランクトン藻類のシードストック存在の可能性が示唆された.

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Deep Ocean Water(DOW)is sea water from at least 200m below the sea surface and has such characteristics as being clean and rich in mineral components compared to surface seawater. Recently, DOW has been considered for application in many fields(agriculture, fisheries, and health industries such as cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and nutrition). Here we studied the property of DOW and its effects on physiological functions. Since DOW has characteristic properties, we classified it as functional water and assessed its properties by measuring pH, electronic conductivity(EC), dissolved oxygen(DO), oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) and residual chloride. As for the effects of DOW on physiological functions, we discussed the relationship between DOW and reactive oxygen species(ROS), which have potentially deleterious effects on biological systems due to damage to proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids, and are generally considered to be toxic to living organisms. Since DOW is rich in mineral components(not only major minerals but also trace minerals), it is utilized as drinking water. We examined the effects of DOW on physiological functions of mice. Sera from mice orally given DOW showed increased superoxide scavenging activity. This result suggested that DOW may induce a biological substance to augment superoxide scavenging activity. Furthermore, we discussed the heat-retention effect of DOW in relation to energy metabolism.

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The five biggest problems in the 21st century are those on population, energy, food, freshwater and earth environment. The key to solving these problems must be the ocean, which has potential resources of water, elements and energy. Deep ocean water (DOW) is particularly promising, because DOW is cold, clean, nutrient-rich and stable in water quality. When DOW is used with warmer surface ocean water, energy can be generated through Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC). Among various trials, only the author's group has been successful and new technologies including Uehara Cycle has been developed. To elevate the thermal conversion rate, Integrated Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (I-OTEC) was proposed. I-OTEC is a cascade use of OTEC combined with various techniques such as desalination of seawater, hydrogen production, collection of Lithium, production of mineral water, formation of fishing ground and air conditioning. The real plant was deployed at Institute of Ocean Energy, Saga University (IOES) and combinations of each technique have been tested. The prospective sites for I-OTEC were distributed to 96 nations or districts. If I-OTEC is applied in 2% of these sites, 200-108 kw of electric power and 400 × 200 × 10⁸ t/year of freshwater may be generated.

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