Clearinghouse

Fog collection is an innovative, 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. Fog is composed of enormous numbers of tiny water droplets. The wind blown droplets can be collected by a plastic mesh. Typical fog harvesting in a well selected desert environment would be 5 liters of water per square meter of mesh per day.

Development
FogQuest

Benefits

• Water is potable
• No energy consumption required
• Maintenance is minimal
• Productive in areas where it may not have rained in ten years

Drawbacks

• Not suitable for cities
• Requires considerable effort to develop, i.e. collectors, piping, storage reservoir

Ideal Situation
Community initiative and support

Capital: Dependent on project size – individual household or whole community.

• Guatemala
• 
  
• Eritrea
• 
  
• Chile
• 
  
• Venezuela
• 
  
• Yemen
• 
  
• Israel
• 
  
• Nepal

Related web sites:

• Wikipedia – Fog Collection
• 
  
• NEWAH – Fog Water Collection
• 
  
• OPUR (International Organisation for Dew Utilization)

References:

• Schemenauer, R.S., P. Cereceda and P. Osses, (2005). "Fog Quest Fog Water Collection Manual."
• 
  
• Schemenauer, R.S. and P. Cereceda, (1994). "A proposed standard fog collector for use in high elevation regions."
• 
  
• Schemenauer, R.S. and P. Cereceda, (1994). "The role of wind in rainwater catchment and fog collection."
• 
  
• Schemenauer, R.S. and P. Cereceda, (1993). "The quality of fog water collected for domestic and agricultural use in Chile."

Fog Quest
Dr. Robert Schemenauer
Kamloops, BC, Canada
Tel: 250-374-1745, Fax: 250-374-1746
Email: info [at] fogquest [dot] org