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Fog as a Fresh-Water Resource: Overview and Perspectives

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Abstract

The collection of fog water is a simple and sustainable technology to obtain fresh water for afforestation, gardening, and as a drinking water source for human and animal consumption. In regions where fresh water is sparse and fog frequently occurs, it is feasible to set up a passive mesh system for fog water collection. The mesh is directly exposed to the atmosphere, and the foggy air is pushed through the mesh by the wind. Fog droplets are deposited on the mesh, combine to form larger droplets, and run down passing into a storage tank. Fog water collection rates vary dramatically from site to site but yearly averages from 3 to 10 l m−2 of mesh per day are typical of operational projects. The scope of this article is to review fog collection projects worldwide, to analyze factors of success, and to evaluate the prospects of this technology.

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Acknowledgments

The authors express their gratitude to the many funding agencies, NGOs, and individual persons throughout the world, who all support fog collection projects, too many to be mentioned here individually. Two anonymous reviewers helped us to improve this manuscript, to whom the authors are indebted.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Climatology Working Group, University of Münster, Robert-Koch-Str. 26, 48149, Münster, Germany

    Otto Klemm

  2. FogQuest: Sustainable Water Solutions, 448 Monarch Place, Kamloops, BC, V2E 2B2, Canada

    Robert S. Schemenauer

  3. Alimón e.V, Akazienweg 3, 41372, Niederkrüchten, Germany

    Anne Lummerich

  4. Atacama Desert Center, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Pilar Cereceda & Pablo Osses

  5. Department of Geography, University of La Laguna, 38071, La Laguna, Canary Islands, Spain

    Victoria Marzol

  6. Laboratory of Meteorology-Climatology, Mixed Unit CEAM-UVEG, The CEAM Foundation, Paterna, Valencia, Spain

    David Corell & José A. Valiente

  7. Department of Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

    Johan van Heerden

  8. Munich Re Foundation, Königinstr. 107, 80791, Munich, Germany

    Dirk Reinhard

  9. Vision Eritrea, Teshome Irgetu St 3/5, PO Box 5571, Asmara, Eritrea

    Tseggai Gherezghiher & Gebregiorgis Mussie Fessehaye

  10. Department of Environmental Science, University of South Africa, Florida, South Africa

    Jana Olivier

  11. Institut für Textil- und Verfahrenstechnik, Körschtalstraße 26, 73770, Denkendorf, Germany

    Jamal Sarsour

  12. Water Foundation, Lechnerstr. 23, Ebenhausen, 82067, Munich, Germany

    Ernst Frost

  13. Laboratory of Meteorology-Climatology, Mixed Unit CEAM-UVEG, Geography Department, University of Valencia, 46010, Valencia, Spain

    María J. Estrela

  14. University of Bern, National Centre of Competence in Research, Wildhainweg 3, POBox 8232, 3001, Berne, Switzerland

    Gebregiorgis Mussie Fessehaye

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  1. Otto Klemm
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  15. José A. Valiente
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  16. Gebregiorgis Mussie Fessehaye
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Correspondence to Otto Klemm.

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Klemm, O., Schemenauer, R.S., Lummerich, A. et al. Fog as a Fresh-Water Resource: Overview and Perspectives. AMBIO 41, 221–234 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-012-0247-8

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