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According to UNICEF, over two billion people live in an area with water scarcity. Climate change, data centers, and other factors are impacting the amount of drinkable water available. However, for the last ten years the women of Morocco have been implementing a water collecting technology that could be useful in other dry areas.

For centuries, the people of Aït Baamrane in Morocco relied on rain and groundwater from wells for drinking and irrigation. It is reported that women of the town would walk four hours to fetch 50-gallon drums of water to carry back. However, intense drought and desertification have made the region even more difficult to live in. Now, they primarily rely on “fog harvesting” for water, with technique showing remarkable success since they started in 2010.

The women-led NGO Dar Si Hmad built what is now the world’s largest operational fog-water harvesting system. This not only has successfully provided an average of 6,300 liters of potable water for more than 400 people in five villages in the area, but significantly reduced the time and physical cost of carrying water.

How fog harvesting works

Fog harvesting is the collection of water droplets from wind-driven fog. While Morocco is a dry area, it does have fog near its mountains and coastal regions. The fog collection system is typically constructed in the form of a mesh net set up and pulled taut between two posts. The net is spread out at an angle that’s perpendicular to the direction of the wind carrying the fog. Freshwater droplets are formed as the fog passes through the net, dripping into a gutter that leads to a storage tank.

The fog-water collected in this particular system goes through a thorough UV, sand, and cartridge filtering process. The system is also solar powered, making it environmentally sound and cheaper than other methods. Since the collected water is pure from the sky, it is free of most contaminants and pollutants.

Fog harvesting expanding

Fog-harvesting/fog-catching has since expanded to other areas of the world. Movimiento Peruanos Sin Agua (Movement of Peruvians without Water) haven’t just built fog-catching nets in Peru, but in rural communities in Colombia, Bolivia, and Mexico. Fog-collectors in Spain collect droplets and water to help offset dry vegetation wildfires on the Canary Islands. Chilean fog harvesters are looking into expansion to help provide water for the poorest communities and dry urban areas.

Other water collecting methods are being tested

Scientists are also trying to find other methods to quickly and effectively draw water from the atmosphere. Researchers at MIT have developed a salt-based hydrogel that collects moisture from water vapor at night between glass panels. These panels create condensation of pure water when they are heated by sunlight. There is also research going into a sonic device that can quickly “shake water out of the atmosphere.”

While scientists are in the midst of finding ways to obtain and conserve water in our future, there are steps people can take today. In terms of water conservation in the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency has some resources that can help. Like collecting fog, collecting folks willing to pitch in can do wonders for the community.