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FogQuest

by Rob Stephenson — last modified 2008-04-24 14:26

Description:

FogQuest is an innovative, international, non-governmental, non-profit organization, which implements and promotes the environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable use of fog, rain, and dew as sustainable water resources for people in arid regions of developing countries.

Problem Addressed:

In some parts of the developing world, rainfall is as little as one millimeter per year. People cannot collect enough rainwater to drink, there are no rivers or lakes, and long-distance transport of water is too expensive. Variable or decreasing amounts of precipitation, increasing population, and contamination of groundwater all put tremendous pressure on governments to find sustainable solutions to water supply issues. Fog is being used by FogQuest to produce large amounts of water for rural inhabitants in the most arid parts of our planet (video). There are 70 developing countries, in South and Central America, Africa and Asia, that can benefit from this technology and within each of those countries there are many possible locations where the technology might be applied. The number of individuals who could benefit from the potable water produced by the fog collectors is in the millions. The fog water is suitable for domestic, agricultural, and forestry uses.

Technology Solution:

Fog collectors are made of an inexpensive, durable plastic mesh. The mesh has fibers that efficiently collect the fog droplets and is woven to allow for rapid drainage of the collected water. The mesh is erected in vertical panels that are 4 meters high by 10 or 12 meters long. Depending on the location, each panel produces 150 to 750 liters of potable water per day during the fog season. The operational projects to date have used from 2 to 100 fog collectors. In the absence of significant rainfall, many regions still have surprising amounts of water available from fog. Fog collection has been shown to be a viable source of good quality water in many arid parts of the world. The high elevation fog is produced by wind driven clouds moving over hills. The water droplets in these clouds can be collected in enormous numbers by appropriate meshes and used to provide water to villages or for agriculture.