In many places around the world, getting fresh water is not as simple as turning on the faucet. In fact, in rural areas around the world, limited access to fresh water supplies force inhabitants to walk miles to fetch water. This hike not only entails long walks and the carrying of heavy water-laden receptacles, but in many rural developing countries, the groundwater may also be contaminated or in short supply. However, in areas where fog or low-lying cloud cover is frequent enough, there is a low-tech solution that could provide clean drinking water to communities. A recent installation in Venda, South Africa - part of the fog harvesting research project by The University of South Africa, has proven the technology successful by supplying approximately 300 litres of water per day on average to the community of Tshanowa. The system is relatively simple. According to Professor Jana Oliver of UNISA School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences: "Each collection system consists of three six-meter-high (twenty feet) wooden poles, mounted nine meters (thirty feet) apart. Steel cables stretch horizontally between the poles and anchor the structure. A double layer of 30 percent shade cloth is then draped over the cables and fixed to the poles on each side. This forms a fog collection screen of about 70 square meters (750 square feet), with a gutter attached to its lower end. The technology behind fog collection is extremely simple, during foggy conditions, the tiny fog particles are blown against the screen and deposited on it. As the drops become larger, they trickle downwards and drop into the gutter. From there, the water is channeled through a filter to a pipe that leads to a water collection tank."
Due to the simplicity of construction and also the technology behind the concept, this seems to be a solution that would work very well in areas with little access to suitable or existing infrastructure.
A similar project by Imke Hoehler called Dropnet also uses the same technology as the UNISA but has redesigned the system to be smaller and more portable. Whereas the UNISA project is a built-in-place installation, the Dropnet can function as a re-deployable system.UNISA project seen on NatGeo News Watch and The University of South Africa.
Dropnet project found on Designboom.
In 1965, Frank Herbert published the novel Dune which would go on to be called the world's best-selling science fiction novel of all time. In it, Herbert describes a desert world in which it's inhabitants struggle to survive in an inhospitable environment where water, in any form, is an extremely valuable resource. To spit on the ground while greeting someone is considered a highly respectful act and water is distilled from the dead. Such is the value of water that any form is carefully considered and conserved. The population has adapted to live in this harsh dystopian world. In 1965, this novel explored an environmental concept relegated to deserts that seem foreign to much of the worlds population, but today the real-world impact of water use and conservation is becoming a harsh reality.
The country of Kenya, on the east coast of Africa is in the midst of a two year drought. Traditionally, there are two rainy seasons, the long and the short which, in the past, have provided much of the regions water during approximately six to eight months of the year. However, the drought has reduced the rains from an average of 4-5 times per week to one rain every three weeks. The evident impact is immediate. Without rain, little grass can grow throughout the country and because of this, the soil cannot be held in place, and the result is large swaths of dirt where once fertile soil existed. The dust is everywhere and can be seen in the atmosphere. The national parks, which make up much of the regions income through safari tourism, are experiencing mass dying-off of animals which cannot survive on such little water and vegetation. The desertification of the region is compounded by lakes which are drying up not only due to the drought, but also by large-scale irrigation practices for a growing wildflower industry. Water collection and conservation, which has long been practiced, is now becoming a critical factor in all development.
Using the novel Dune as a precedent, Andrew Kudliss of the firm Matsys has proposed, Sietch Nevada, an ecologically engineered desert environment "that makes the storage, use, and collection of water essential to the form and performance of urban life." Using the desert landscape of the American southwest, the project is an underground community of canals living space, and urban development tht connects the land above with the deep aquifers below. Cellular in structure and planning, the proposal mimics natural water erosion created landscape but also allows the cells to form the community organization.
Seen on BLDG BLOG. Sietch Nevada images via Matsys.
In many places around the world, getting fresh water is not as simple as turning on the faucet. In fact, in rural areas around the world, limited access to fresh water supplies force inhabitants to walk miles to fetch water. This hike not only entails long walks and the carrying of heavy water-laden receptacles, but in many rural developing countries, the groundwater may also be contaminated or in short supply. However, in areas where fog or low-lying cloud cover is frequent enough, there is a low-tech solution that could provide clean drinking water to communities. A recent installation in Venda, South Africa - part of the fog harvesting research project by The University of South Africa, has proven the technology successful by supplying approximately 300 litres of water per day on average to the community of Tshanowa. The system is relatively simple. According to Professor Jana Oliver of UNISA School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences: 
A similar project by Imke Hoehler called Dropnet also uses the same technology as the UNISA but has redesigned the system to be smaller and more portable. Whereas the UNISA project is a built-in-place installation, the Dropnet can function as a re-deployable system.
