Tour Rules About

Idea

Supplementing the fog-catching nets with resilient tree species to establish a drinking water spring

Image credit: Nicole Saffie

Darko Savic

Darko Savic Oct 05, 2020

Please leave the feedback on this idea

Originality

Is it original or innovative?

Feasibility

Is it feasible?

Necessity

Is it targeting an unsolved problem?

Conciseness

Is it concisely described?

Bounty for the best solution

Provide a bounty for the best solution

Bounties attract serious brainpower to the challenge.

In Lima, Peru one out of every five families doesn't have access to safe drinking water. Due to there being little rainfall but plenty of fog people have installed huge water-catching nets that condense fog into water droplets. By doing so they catch up to 10.000 liters of water per day.

What if that water could be temporarily invested in aiding a group of resilient trees to grow around each net until a self-sustaining forest took over? For the lack of knowledge of a more suitable candidate, a fast-growing, resilient species like Robinia pseudoacacia comes to mind. This video suggests a better fog-catching candidate - the Douglas fir tree. Robinia would probably grow easier in the hostile environment - so maybe a combination of suitable species that complement each other would be necessary. People could aid the process by bringing their organic waste and composting it around the nets.

When the trees grow to a sufficient height their branches and leaves would take over and condense the fog into droplets that would then drip down the trunks, into the ground. Could this eventually create a water-spring to form near the foot of the hill?

The fog-nets would then be obsolete and Lima would have a more life-friendly ecosystem. This could be repeated in other locations where hilltops are often surrounded by fog.

forestation terraforming sustainability

Creative contributions

Know someone who can contribute to this idea? Share it with them on , , or

Add your creative contribution

General comments

Darko Savic

Darko Savic4 years ago

Found this cool work on fog collection on plant surfaces and biomimetic applications - https://d-nb.info/1136955208/34

Please leave the feedback on this idea

Shubhankar Kulkarni

Shubhankar Kulkarni4 years ago

I like the idea! It is helpful for areas that have seen deforestation in the recent past. However, for areas that have been desert-like, arid for decades, de novo forestation should not be implemented. Firstly, there is more to an ecosystem than trees. Other organisms are dependent on the ecosystem and they won't survive in the new ecosystem. Secondly, reforestation does not work since the soil composition is different and may not support the trees that have been planted. Thirdly, reforested areas may attract wildfires. All of these have been observed [1]. Therefore, selecting a tree species for reforestation will not suffice. It needs to be checked whether that tree will grow in the area and also, what damage will it cause. Reference: 1. https://inhabitat.com/see-the-forest-for-more-than-the-trees-why-reforestation-isnt-working/

Please leave the feedback on this idea

Darko Savic

Darko Savic4 years ago

Do you know of any tree species that are are very resilient while at the same time optimally shaped to condense fog into water droplets?

Please leave the feedback on this idea

Darko Savic

Darko Savic4 years ago

There is the "water fountain" tree also known as "dripping" tree on La Gomera, Canary Islands. The species is Ocotea foetens, commonly called til, tilo, stinkwood, or rain tree. This seems like a pretty good candidate.

Please leave the feedback on this idea

ByDarko Savic

Almost passive atmospheric water generator

ByContrived _voice

Novatropes as a firework substitute

ByDarko Savic

Cable tensioning mechanism that prevents autonomous electric-powered lawn mowers from running over their cable

ByOguntola Tobi

A Policy that Ensures the Organizations, Corporations Most Responsible for Climate Change Carry the Most Responsibility

ByDarko Savic

Sand melting, 3D-printing solar powered rovers

Byjnikola

Memorial VR forests instead of traditional cemetaries

ByDarjan Hren

Use CO2 mineral carbonation to build (free) housing

ByDarko Savic

Evaporative cooler combined with Peltier elements to produce electricity