In Morocco, collecting fog to alleviate water shortages
While the country is hit by record temperatures and difficulties in accessing drinking water, the “Drinking Fog” project makes it possible to harvest water from clouds of fog. Thanks to nets and gutters, collectors nestled at altitude supply tribal villages in the south-west of the kingdom.
While the 50°C mark was crossed in mid-August and there “is already well below the water poverty line”, Morocco knows the hope of a democratized access to drinking water thanks to a “fog collection project”, announcement The New Arab.
Created by the Moroccan foundation Dar Si Hmad and the German NGO Wasserstiftung – Water Foundation, the “Drinking Fog” initiative, developed over the past twenty years, “now ensures the water supply of 1,600 people”, advances the English version of the pan-Arab daily Al-Araby Al-Jadid.
In the tribes of Aït Baamrane, in the south-west of the kingdom, daily life is made more extreme each year by a serious shortage of water. “Until recently, women sometimes had to walk three hours to fetch water from nearby springs,” highlights the site.
Harvest and redistribution
“And then the idea of collecting fog water came up.” Made up of nets and gutters, 31 collectors are now nestled more than 1,500 meters above sea level, on the mist-filled slopes of the Boutmezguida mountain, a few kilometers from the tribal villages.
The process can thus start, described The New Arab :The wind pushes the fog through the net, which picks up the water particles. These droplets cling to the mesh and grow larger as the fog builds up, and when they get too heavy, they form a trickle of water that is routed through pipes to a reservoir.
The harvest is then redistributed to local residents, who pay with a prepaid card. The latter allows each person to benefit from one cubic meter of water at the same price as in the other regions of the country. If there is a surplus of consumption above this defined threshold for basic needs, the price of water increases. The project also offers stable jobs to the men, who take care of the maintenance of the installations.
