Peru slum goes cutting edge as 'fog catcher'

Teenia Harmon
11-13-2009
2:45 pm
In Lima Peru, poor families are getting access to the clean water they could only dream of before. Before recently the optimistically named “Beautiful View of Paradise”, a slum in the south end of Lima had no running water. They did not even have a well, and it was too expensive to buy water. They were part of Lima’s 1.3 million (of eight million) who did not have access to water regularly. That all changed when “fog catchers” were brought to the town. Fog catchers are plastic nets that look similar to volleyball nets. They are five of these panels that measure eight meters by four meters and they have the ability to collect up to 60 liters of water in a single night. The water is then treated with water purifying pills to make it potable and used by the people. The water can be used for many things. It is being channeled for use in gardens, and kept in storage tanks for cooking, cleaning, and bathing. The idea came from an old technique used by the Incas that collected water from the dew that gathered on plants.
I think this is a really cool story. A new technology based on an old technique is being used to help the people who are in the most need. This will undeniably have major effects on the people in this region. They can now farm without worry and bath regularly. Both of these are bound to improve the health of the people. It will also save them money because they can grow food instead of buying it and they will hopefully not have to spend as much on remedies if they become ill. I think it is ingenious to use fog to help these people. I would have never thought about fog as a source of water because it seems like there would not be much there, but the moisture from the fog is going to change the lives of so many families, and they are looking to expand the project to other parts of the country.
Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hnx_9o0N4zuT8zL3sgdgxjZ6mMXw