THEORITICAL BACKGROUND

Among the various unconventional water resources, the potential to recover water from

air is by far the most under-explored. As part of the natural global water cycle, at any given time,

the amount of water in the atmosphere is 12900kmᵌ, which represents 0.001% of total water and

0.04% of freshwater existing in the planet (The Water Cycle, 2018). Under specific conditions, the

air at ground level may contain fog, which refers to the presence of suspended liquid water

droplets with diameters typically from 1 to 50 µm (Ritter et.al 2015). Fog originates from

accumulation and suspension of these tiny droplets of water in the air, creating masses of humid

air over land or sea. As an important source of water in desert environments, fog collection is

achieved by collision of suspended droplets on vertical mesh, where they coalesce, after which

the water runs down into a collecting drain and a tank or distribution system (Abdul-Wahab,

2008). Although its water yielding potential is largely ignored by water provision authorities, it

was used extensively in more ancient times (Nelson-Esch, 1977). During more recent times, a

number of projects were initiated which were aimed at supplying fog water to communities

(Schutte, 1971). The water yield is thus dependent upon a high fog occurrence frequency, the

persistence of fog episodes, high fog moisture content and the presence of fog bearing winds

(Nagel, 1956). These in turn, depend on altitude and on presence of certain regional climatic

factors such as the pressure distribution in the areas and the sea surface temperature. The
direction and speed of the wind are also affected by the type of terrain and on the micro-

topography of the area (Fuenzalida, 1988). However, the technology could also potentially supply

water in mountainous areas if the water is present in stratocumulus clouds, at altitudes of

approximately 400m to 1200m (UNEP, 1997). Atmospheric water is generally clean, does not

contain harmful micro-organism and is immediately suitable for irrigation purposes. In number

of cases, water collected with fog harvesting technology has been shown to meet World Health

Organization (WHO) standards (UNISA, 2008). Given the fog harvesting is particularly suitable for

mountainous areas where communities often live in remote condition, capital investment and

other costs are generally found to be low comparison with conventional sources of water supply

(UNEP, 1997).