It sounds like something out of science fiction.

Scientists have figured out a way to collect water in places where there isn’t any at all.

Or, there isn’t any in or under the ground, at least.

In the depths of some of the world’s most parched deserts, Chilean scientists have figured out a way to collect water that can then be supplied to locals in the super-dry regions.

How?

By harvesting fog, of course!

In Chile’s Atacama Desert it hardly ever rains, and as such, water is scarce. The city of Alto Hospicio suffers from a problematic water supply, meaning that the essential liquid – which many of us in wetter regions consider an abundant resource that will come out whenever we run the tap – is often in a state of shortage.

There are around 10,000 people living in the area, however less than 2% of their settlements have any connected water supply, with their only source of water being that delivered by trucks.

So researchers from Chile’s Universidad Mayor worked on a solution.

Since fog affects even the driest of places, they erected fog collectors in the desert, as their statement describes:

“Fog collectors typically consist of a mesh suspended between two posts. The mesh serves as an interception surface to catch moisture. Droplets collate on the mesh and fall into a gutter leading to water storage tanks. It’s a passive system that requires no external energy.”

Such a cheap solution has also proven to be highly effective, with up to 10 liters per square meter could be collected every day.

According to the researchers, this is enough to help out the city with its water needs.

By harvesting fog in this region, in which there is no water underground and it almost never rains, the researchers were able to prove that in even the driest of places, water was in fact abundant. The only thing missing until now was the ability to extract it.

And that could be a gamechanger for these drought-struck locations, as Universidad Mayor’s Dr Virginia Carter Gamberini – who led on the study which was recently published in Frontiers in Environmental Science – explained in the statement:

“This research represents a notable shift in the perception of fog water use—from a rural, rather small-scale solution to a practical water resource for cities. Our findings demonstrate that fog can serve as a complementary urban water supply in drylands where climate change exacerbates water shortages.

The collection and use of water, especially from non-conventional sources such as fog water, represents a key opportunity to improve the quality of life of inhabitants.”

Not only could this water be used for domestic reasons, it could also support agriculture and irrigation, relieving the pressure on the region’s already stretched water supplies.

And the findings proved just how significant this project could be if it were rolled out en masse.

In fact, the article explains, 17,000 square meters of fog collecting mesh could meet the area’s weekly water demand of 300,000 liters, whilst smaller amounts of the mesh could help the region to supplement their water supply – something that could be vital in the continuing climate crisis, as Professor Carter Gamberini continued:

“We hope to encourage policymakers to integrate this renewable source into national water strategies. This could enhance urban resilience to climate change and rapid urbanization while improving access to clean water.”

As our deserts (and wider settlements across the world) continue to contend with record droughts, fog harvesting could be an important and natural method going forward, to supply our communities with the water that we need to sustain life.

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