Tapping Clouds
BY AWAKE! CORRESPONDENT IN SOUTH AMERICA
RESEARCHERS working in Chile have successfully adapted an ancient Arab technique that draws out water from fog. “Olive trees in the deserts of Oman,” explains the newsletter Health InterAmerica, “have been nourished for centuries from fog water which collects on the leaves and drips into small tanks built at the foot of the trees.” Instead of olive trees, the researchers put up large nets in mountainous desert areas that are regularly covered with fog blown in from the ocean. The nets, which look like giant volleyball nets, catch water droplets from the fog. These drip into a gutter that empties into a pipeline, which transports the water to a storage tank.
Chungungo, a tiny village that sits in Chile’s north coastal desert, has proved that the system works. Fourteen years ago, says IDRC Reports, a magazine published by Canada’s International Development Research Centre, Chungungo’s inhabitants had no local source of fresh water. Trucks brought in 1,300 gallons [5,000 L] a day, and each family had to get by on 1 to 4 gallons [3-14 L] a day. Today, however, thanks to the 75 fog-collecting nets installed in the mountains above the village, an amazing 2,900 gallons [11,000 L] of water is flowing into Chungungo, providing each villager with 8 gallons [30 L] of water a day. Researcher Dr. Robert Schemenauer, a cloud physicist, says that the fog-catchment system has given a boost to the villagers’ health. “Everyone is eating vegetables and fruits from their own gardens and orchards.”
Fog water is not only healthy but inexpensive as well. An average installation, says Dr. Schemenauer, costs about $75,000 (U.S.) compared with the millions of dollars needed to build a dam. Researchers say that though many other arid places around the world could benefit from this system, international agencies have been slow to recognize this alternative approach to water supply.
[Pictures on page 23]
Left: Nets on mountaintop that gather water droplets from fog
Below: A close-up of the net
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Photos: IDRC