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CloudFisher - Moroccan Fog Farmers Harvest Moisture From The Air
Fog-harvesting nets have been deployed by villagers in a semi-arid region of Morocco. CloudFisher is the invention of engineer Peter Trautwein of the German Water Foundation. The CloudFisher installation can harvest up to 600 liters per day, per net.
(Moroccan fog farmers)
The CloudFisher, a new development, uses atmospheric water vapour as a new source of drinking water. It is the world’s first production fog collector capable of withstanding wind speeds of up to 120 kph. The fog nets catch and harvest water droplets in the air. This pioneering technology can supply people in many countries with cheap and clean drinking water. The water obtained in this cost-effective way can also be used by farmers, for reforestation projects or in industry.The innovative fog collector is simple to install and maintain, requires no energy. All used materials are food-safe. The CloudFisher can supply hundreds of thousands of people with top-quality drinking water complying with the WHO drinking water standards. It can be used in all arid mountainous and coastal regions which have long periods of foggy weather.
The CloudFisher was developed by the German WaterFoundation. The steel frames and net holders were tested by the Foundation on Mount Boutmezguida in Morocco for a period of 18 months. Together with researchers from the Technical University of Munich, the Foundation tested different synthetic and stainless steel fabrics regarding their water yield.
SF writer Frank Herbert wrote about this same idea in his 1965 novel Dune. Most of the novel takes place on the planet Dune, which has no liquid surface water at all. In order to plant vegetation, special materials are used to create dew collectors, to gather even the tiniest amount of moisture.
"Each bush, each weed you see out there in the erg," she said, "how do you suppose it lives when we leave it? Each is planted most tenderly in its own little pit. The pits are filled with smooth ovals of chromoplastic. Light turns them white. You can see them glistening in the dawn if you look down from a high place. White reflects. But when Old Father Sun departs, the chromoplastic reverts to transparency in the dark. It cools with extreme rapidity. The surface condenses moisture out of the air. That moisture trickles down to keep our plants alive."
(Read more about Frank Herbert's dew collectors)
Fans of classic Lucas-created Star Wars will remind me to include a reference to the moisture vaporators of Tatooine.
(Moisture Vaporator from Star Wars)
Read more at the CloudFisher project website.
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