The largest functioning fog collection project in the world

The largest functioning fog collection project in the world, our system has brought positive transformations to the communities, particularly the women, and the environment.

Being the host to a revolutionary step in fog-collection technology, the CloudFisher designed by engineer Peter Trautwein, volunteer to the Wasserstiftung Foundation, and CEO of Aqualonis, have proven to be highly effective after an extended experimental period carried at our site Boutmezguida.

Social Context of the Project:

Scarce water, compromised wells, and climate change-induced droughts have destabilized traditional Amazigh communities and have created added burdens on women.

Traditional water-management in this region was predicated on parsimonious water use; people used to hand-dig wells and build cisterns for rainwater catchment to meet their needs. Modern techniques for finding water using drilling machines to reach water stored deep in aquifers cause pollution, are expensive, and are unsustainable. Given the increasing cycles of drought, the scarcity of rain, and low aquifer recharge rates, fog has become an excellent, reliable, sustainable, and supplemental water resource that relieves pressure on aquifers and wells.

The communities of the region, like many other geographically similar areas, are suffering from great anxiety concerning the lack of water and the recurrence of droughts. Rural poor families in Aït Baâmrane live in ecologically fragile zones where water is scarce, topsoil is eroded, and drought is on the rise. Vulnerable populations and fragile zones overlap, producing added burdens on the residents.

Women, in particular, were devoting 3.5 hours daily to the chore of fetching water. Given the lack of rainfall (

Taxonomy

• Water from Air