Guatemala Town Harvests Water From Fog

[DeSwiss]

Uploaded by AlJazeeraEnglish on Mar 3, 2012

Rural communities in Guatemala are using new technologies to wring water out of the air. It is called fog harvesting and it helps to overcome water shortages.

Despite the lush appearances for nearly six months out of the year, Tojquia only gets a tiny amount of rainfall, making it extremely difficult to grow crops and find enough drinking water.

However, that is starting to change for the indigenous Mayan communities in Tojquia who are partnering with a Canadian NGO to try and harvest the fog so that they can have drinking water year round.

This low-tech and affordable technology is now being used in several countries around the world including Chile, Nepal and Yemen. The hope is that it will greatly improve the quality of life for locals and, one day, millions of others.

Al Jazeera's Rachel Levin travelled to Tojquia to see how it works.

- And the best part? No monthly water bill.

[alittlelark]

1. That was an inspiring vid.

It wouldn't work everywhere, but where it is feasible it could do wonders!

[DeSwiss]

3. Exactly.

[Gman]

2. Several years ago I saw a film on how they're doing this in Chile

I'm glad the idea is spreading to other areas.

[DeSwiss]

4. Yep.

And I think here's where the idea came from:

[Smilo]

5. Great idea - thank goodness

there are people who look outside the box in solving problems.

(And once our water is sold off - we, in America, will be looking to do the same)

[DeSwiss]

6. Indeed.

- Modern western societies have been built around capitalistic ideas and models of infinite growth, and featuring grids and meters. If they could meter the air they'd charge us for that too. Characteristically, it is the primary reason solar and other independent energy sources and off-the-grid architectural concepts are resisted so vehemently by the establishment. It scares the shit out of them. And it's also why planned obsolescence is a critical and necessary feature of it's design. Which of course is not sustainable. It is a form of societal cancer. Thus, Capitalists are society's cancer cells.

But I don't think we'll make it to the point of selling our water rights. The whole system is on the brink and will collapse in due time. It's time for a new paradigm.....

The reality is that institutional establishments, institutions of codified thought, and institutions of societal influence and power, meaning philosophies, dogmas on one hand and corporations and governments on the other, each have a high propensity to engage in denial, dishonesty, and corruption to maintain self- preservation and self-perpetuation. The result is a continuous culture lag where social progress by way of incorporating new socially-helpful scientific advancements is constantly inhibited. It is like walking through a brick wall as the established power orthodoxies continue to perpetuate themselves for their own interests and comforts.

The profit mechanism creates established orders which constitute the survival and wealth for a few groups of people. The fact is that no matter how socially beneficial new advents may be, they will be viewed in hostility if they threaten an established financially-driven institution. Meaning social progress can be a threat to the establishment: "Abundance, sustainability and efficiency are the enemies of profit."

~ Peter Joseph

.................................

[kentauros]

7. Glad to see this idea getting more popular :)

And for further research into it, here are some pages full of all sorts of related ideas:

Air Wells, Fog Fences & Dew Ponds

Adsorption Air Wells

It's good to be able to share this stuff (that I've been reading about for years) on an appropriate thread

[dembotoz]

8. aljazeeraenglish happy to see it

for all those who think the network is just the mouth piece for terrorists....

[greiner3]

9. Sorry;

I was expecting Kermit!

[Catherina]

10. Fascinating. Thank you n/t