Dayna
Higashiyama
Higashiyama
February 29,
2016
English 214
Harvesting
Water from Fog
Finding
a sustainable yet affordable way to conserve and find alternative routes to
collect fresh water has been difficult. My inquiry question that I hope to
answer is how can California find a sustainable way to preserve our water
source with different solutions? Different inventions have been brought up,
currently being tried, used or discarded because it costs too much money. Prior
to researching new alternative inventions or ideas, I knew very little on ways
to create or harvest water besides the catching of rainwater. That intrigued me
to learn more on this fast growing problem that citizens throughout California
and other states have to worry about. Evidently, one invention that has been created
and now being put to use is the harvesting of fog. When I first saw their ad to
promote this new idea to harvest fog, I was confused, but then realized how
efficient this was. With further research I found an article written by the
company that created the “Optimal Design of Permeable Fiber Network Structure
for Fog Water” (Langmuir). The question that constantly came to mind was
whether or not other processes would have to be use to remove salt, filter and
whether or not the water can be used for human and/or agriculture purposes. In
the short video they stated that the water collected and harvested can be used
for agriculture and human use because “fog has naturally desalinated by the
sun” (Hashem Al- Ghaili Video). By watching that short film
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and
reading an article page on the harvesting of fog, it has opened more
opportunities to decrease the drought.
During
the beginning of the little chip, it starts with showing the mesh surface that
catches the fog and has words explaining what the mesh is. The mesh is made up
of “combined hydrodynamic and surface wettability model to predict the overall
fog-collection efficiency of the meshes” (Langmuir), condenses fog into water
to allow the process of catching fog to begin. What caught my attention was the
little music that was put in the background. It made me want to know more kept
a happy, light tone to this new invention of harvesting fog. At first, I never
knew it was possible to collect and harvest fog, but after this short clip and
short but informative article, I found out that this invention has been
happening for a few years. The video also stated that this system is “placed on
hilltops in areas with persistent fog and heavy winds ”(Hashem Al- Ghaili
Video). That brings a question to mind whether the Bay Area would be considered
a place where they can put these woven meshes or near beaches that are
constantly covered with fog and wind. I also liked the fact that they
demonstrated how the mesh collected water, where it drained too and what the
water can be used for, human and agricultural use. With agricultural and animal
water usage not limited at all, most of our water is wasted during their
process. This will help them stop depleting our water that is used for human
consumption and decrease our drought. By being able to process water that is
already naturally de salted by the sun, this will save money tremendously and
provide clean, fresh, harvested water faster. A couple statistics were also
shown in the short clip, one of them says that
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the mesh woven a certain way, it
increased “the fog-collecting efficiency by 500%” (Hashem Al- Ghaili Video.)
That means with the increase of fog- collecting, there would be an increase of
water that is produced and distributed for human and agriculture use alone. By
watching this short video on the harvesting of fog, it is inspiring and
extremely informative to viewers. This could potentially change the way of life
and could be a sustainable and inexpensive route to provide water for millions.
With all of this information, I was
beginning to become curious on how big this mesh and how much the cylinders
could hold water. The video stated that one single cylinder that is “4 m (13ft)
long by 10 m (33ft) high net alone can collect 250 L (66 gal) a day.” That is
enough water for a family to use in their household daily, including drinkable,
washing dishes and showering. With that amount of water caught daily, large
amounts of families and business could be supplied with fresh water. We would
lessen the amount of water pulled from rivers in different states or countries.
Also, our aqueducts would stop being overly depleted then they can naturally be
filled up again with water by rainfall. Wild life can begin to migrate to their
original homes with huge amounts of water, plants and game to eat. The video
also shows huge towers that can be built high in the air to increase the amount
of fog to be caught and harvested. They call it the “fog- harvesting towers” (Hashem
Al- Ghaili Video), which are also build out of mesh and other building supplies
that are needed to ensure the towers are sturdy and reliable. The video
demonstrates how they are build one of the towers, not as high as the ones they
want to consider building. They are light, durable and easily assembled with a
handful of workers. Once the small tower is built, they are quickly attached to
their systems and
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begin
the process of harvesting fog. This invention has opened many doors to help
find a reliable, affordable, and sustainable route to preserve our water along
with a way to create more water for citizens. At the end of the short video, it
states that countries have actually been practicing and using fog harvesting to
provide clean water to people. They show a little girl drinking clean water
from a hose that comes from the towers that are collecting fog. Those countries
that are listed are “Yemen, Morocco, Chile, Eritrea, and Ethiopia” (Hashem Al-
Ghaili Video) The counties that are currently practicing and using fog-
harvesting to have clean drinking. water have been able to supply thousands of
people with water and they could potentially spread this idea to other
countries, such as the United States. If the United States decided to start
harvesting fog, we would have more water to use and save in case of another
drought. Places that we could put these towers are the Bay Area, Washington,
Oregon, just to name a few. Each individual state could have their own network
for providing water to their residents, allowing them to decrease and
ultimately stop draining lakes, rivers and other countries water supply. The
emotional aspect of seeing that little girl is sad and happy. You do not
understand how much clean water is not assessable for millions of people in
different countries because of how fortunate we are to always have access. With
that being said, we take advantage of always having access to clean, fresh
water while millions have unsafe drinking water. You also have a happy feeling
knowing that drinking clean water saves one life and hopefully thousands of
other children, teen, and young adults will be changed forever. Another emotion
that I felt while watching the little girl and others drink fog harvested water
was hope. Hope in a sense that if the United States decided to find different
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alternative
yet sustainable routes to find more ways to create water, we could potential
help man kind in the long run. Looking at it in the big picture, water would be
accessible for all across not only the United States, but across the world to
those who do not have access to clean water. A huge problem that billions of
people face daily would be resolved and the death of thousands that do not have
food or water would decrease tremendously. One of our biggest problems in the
United States and around the world could be solved easily.
To
conclude, watching this short video has helped clarify a different but also
find sustainable route countries, including the United States can help fix our
drought. Inevitably, the California drought will continue to grow because and
we will continue to deplete our natural resources if we do not find different
alternatives to produce, collect and/or harvest water for human and agriculture
use. I include agriculture use because that is where most of our water goes to
because there is no limitations or regulations for companies to abide by. Not
only can states be involved with this process of harvesting fog, but so can
communities and individuals. Some communities and houses are naturally covered
in fog which makes it easy for them to begin the process of harvesting of fog.
They can buy or make their own mesh and system that catches fog then runs off
into their own cylinders which they can use for their household. It may sound
easier said than done, but I believe that if states and communities come
together, we can make this happen. We can become efficient and rely on
ourselves to find ways to catch and harvest our water. In the end, some states
do not have consistent heavy fog and high winds, which is needed to begin the
process of harvesting fog. One question that I thought of is how is it possible
to
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catch
fog harvested water for states such as the Mid-West of the United States to
receive fog harvested water? The solution could be potentially be transporting
water from states that are constantly covered in fog and high winds. Another
solution could be to harvest rain water as well. I hope to find an answer to
find a way to end our California drought with different sustainable
alternatives that are inexpensive. In the future, I hope that each state finds
a solution to produce their own water for their population and stop draining
our natural resources.
Citations:
(2013).
Retrieved March 01, 2016, from
https://www.facebook.com/ScienceNaturePage/videos/782538405211753/
Optimal
Design of Permeable Fiber Network Structures for Fog Harvesting. (n.d.).
Retrieved March 01, 2016, from http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/la402409f
(Pg13269-13277)
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