Water Humidity Collectors; New Methods in Alternative and Sustainable Water Supply

Air humidity is one of the sources of water and one of the components of the hydrological cycle. All the water vapor caused by the radiation of the sun’s energy does not turn into precipitation, but a part of it does not turn into precipitation due to its kamali low density and is scattered in the space in a visible or invisible form. The important issue is how to actualize this environmental potential. In order to collect water from the fog, small droplets that cannot rain must fall into the trap. This can be done in different ways, including the use of mesh nets and when the fog passes through them. The materials of these nets, along with environmental factors such as the frequency of fog and wind speed, have a significant effect on the volume of water collected. In this research, two types of fog water collection systems made of metal mesh curtain and polypropylene mesh with dimensions of 1*1 meter and each with three repetitions were designed and installed in the Vishki mountain village of Eshkevarat, Roudsar city, which had many foggy days. A one-year data review recorded 76 fogging incidents. In these events, the average performance of metal mesh and polypropylene mesh collectors was 6.14 and 6.48 (L m^-2 day^-1), respectively, which did not show a significant difference in the type of water absorbing nets. The average water collected for each square meter of metal net collectors was 466 (L year^-1) and polypropylene net 492 (L year^-1), which doubles the hope of developing this method in susceptible areas. The highest amount of water collected was in the months of May and August and the lowest was in the months of February and January. The benefit-cost ratio in this project for metal and polypropylene collectors was calculated as 1.77 and 1.96, respectively. Undoubtedly, fog harvesting is useful when access to other sources of water supply, including underground water sources and base water flow, is low and the people of the region feel the need for it.