Abstract
The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, calling for access to safe water and sanitation for all by the year 2030 supports the efforts in water-scarce countries and regions to go beyond conventional resources and tap unconventional water supplies to narrow the water demand-supply gap. Among the unconventional water resources, the potential to collect water from the air, such as fog harvesting, is by far the most under-explored. Fog water collection is a passive, low maintenance, and sustainable option that can supply fresh drinking water to communities where fog events are common. Because of the relatively simple design of fog collection systems, their operation and maintenance are minimal and the associated cost likewise; although, in certain cases, some financially constrained communities would need initial subsidies. Despite technology development and demonstrated benefits, there are certain challenges to fog harvesting, including lack of supportive policies, limited functional local institutions, inexpert communities, gender inequality, and perceived high costs without undertaking comprehensive economic analyses. By addressing such challenges, there is an opportunity to provide potable water in areas where fog intensity and duration are sufficient, and where the competition for clean water is intensifying because water resources are at a far distance or provided by expensive sources.
Highlights
Freshwater scarcity has increased over time [1,2] and is expected to further intensify [3,4], due to: uneven distribution of water resources and population densities; increasing demand for water due to population growth and mobility; changing diets; impacts of social change and economic growth on consumption preferences and lifestyles; and, changing climate and rainfall patterns [5,6]
Water-scarce countries, regions, and communities should increasingly consider alternate, unconventional water resources in order to narrow the water demand-supply gap [8], as water scarcity forms a risk to the global economy [9] and water is increasingly considered as an instrument for international cooperation to achieve sustainable development [10]
The number, size, and type of fog collectors to be installed in a specific location depends on the fog characteristics, such as fog thickness, duration and frequency of occurrence, as well as the climate and topography of the area, water demand, and financial and human capacity of the associated community to run and maintain the fog collection system
Summary
Freshwater scarcity has increased over time [1,2] and is expected to further intensify [3,4], due to: uneven distribution of water resources and population densities; increasing demand for water due to population growth and mobility; changing diets; impacts of social change and economic growth on consumption preferences and lifestyles; and, changing climate and rainfall patterns [5,6]. The number, size, and type of fog collectors to be installed in a specific location depends on the fog characteristics, such as fog thickness, duration and frequency of occurrence, as well as the climate and topography of the area, water demand, and financial and human capacity of the associated community to run and maintain the fog collection system. The information on trade-offs of policy and institutions, economics, education and capacity building, community participation, and gender equity aspects of fog water collection is scattered and fragmented. These aspects are the focus of this paper
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