Research History and Functional Systems of Fog Water Harvesting

Water is among the top five global risks in terms of impacts translated through socio-economic and environmental challenges, influencing people's wellbeing. The situation is grim in water-scarce countries, which need to think and act beyond conventional water resources and tap unconventional water supplies to narrow the gap between water demand and supply. Among unconventional water resources, water embedded in fog is increasingly seen as a source of potable water in dry areas where fog is intense and prevalent. Although a low maintenance option and a green technology to supply freshwater, the potential to collect water from air through fog harvesting is by far under-explored. Based on the comprehensive analysis of fog water collection's research history since 1980, this study reveals that recent years have witnessed a sharp increase in research related to technological developments in fog collection systems. Also, there is an increased focus on associated policy and institutional aspects, economics, environmental dimensions, capacity building, community participation, and gender mainstreaming. In addition to research, fog water collection practice has also increased over time with emerging examples worldwide, notably from Canary Islands, Chile, Colombia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Israel, Morocco, Namibia, Oman, Peru, and South Africa. The functional systems of fog water collection demonstrate community engagement, women empowerment, enhanced capacity and training, and active participation of local institutions as the key drivers for effective fog collection systems to provide a sustainable supply of freshwater to the associated communities.

The importance of nanofiber hydrophobicity for effective fog water collection

This research shows the crucial role of hydrophobicity in fog water collection by polyamide (PA) nanofibers by comparing electrospun meshes from hydrophobic PA11 to those from hydrophilic PA6.

Gender and Community Mainstreaming in Fog Water Collection Systems

Fog water collection is an emerging opportunity to combat local water shortages in water-scarce areas where sustainable access to water is unreliable, but fog events are frequent. Since fog water systems are implemented within or near communities, they eliminate or decrease the need to travel far distances for the collection of water during times of scarcity. As a result, these systems decrease the physical and social burden of water collection on women and girls, who are the primary water gatherers in most traditional communities. This is an important outcome because women and girls are disproportionately affected by water scarcity and are not seen as equals in water management, access, or control. This paper illustrates how several fog water collection projects have shown, empirically, that the positive outcomes for women and girls may include the freeing of time for domestic and educational pursuits, improved health outcomes, and improved perceptions of self and others’ perceptions of women. These findings are important at a time when the world at large is addressing the Sustainable Development Agenda, where Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 necessitates safe water and sanitation for all and SDG 5 ensures gender equality to empower all women and girls.