Turning vapor into drinking water - Catching fog in response to drought | DW Documentary
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ส.ค. 2024
- Turning vapor into drinking water: a bizarre response to the impact of climate change? Or a stroke of genius? It’s hoped that the cloud catchers - nets that fish water out of the air - will provide a solution to water shortages worldwide. But how does it work?
Two billion people across the world lack access to clean drinking water. Whole areas are drying up, while fires are destroying forests and soil. The film portrays people on the Canary Islands in Spain and in Morocco who are meeting the specter of drought with innovative new projects.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that North Africa will lose around 50 per cent of its available surface water this century. The forecasts for Spain are similar. Studies say that 75 per cent of the country is at risk of desertification. In the south of the country, villages already rely on tanker lorries to bring them water when the pipes dry up - for months on end. Research into alternative water sources is of paramount importance, here.
The European Union is funding the "Life Nieblas" project to find out more about the cloud catchers’ potential. In the north of Gran Canaria, researchers have managed to capture tens of thousands of liters of water annually from passing fogs and clouds. The water is being used to reforest a burned-out region on the Canary Island.
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I remember reports from 20 years ago that were talking about this, but it was either implemented in smaller areas along the coast with dense fog, or was experimental. It's long overdue as an option for catching water.
Yes, Peru I think. The maintainance was a problem with these things. Got ripped to pieces.
Little less than twenty years of I remember correct. Not sure when exactely I was in Attacama saying water is in the air. But no good. The moisture in the air needs to stay in for the creatures down the road. They sustain themselves with the same method. If you pull the moisture out, they get less.
Good thing. If you study the creatures in Attacama, some drink like this. So if you reduce the moisture in the air before they drink it, they get less. Great technique on small scale temporarily. Not big svake permanently. But always fun if you brainfart something and people put in in practice. But we did not invent. It was animals and plants that showed us.
You remember right about peru. Was shore side Attacama dessert.
Might have been Chili aswell. Atacama for sure. Shortly after I got a tour at vlt. But most beautifull to look with the bare eye to the night sky up high with clear sky. Hurried tour I did not plan,.dragged all over Americas at high speed full program. Hard to put everything in time and place having little to hang it on,.being lived and sustaining temporary memory loss and chronic remembering problems. Pretty annoying. Good thing I have external memory to trigger memories.
It's one of the oldest tricks in the book: a condensate trap. It's been a survival tactic for many years. It works.
me too!
Survival... real survival is not just "getting by."
It's called farming. That's when people thrive. When they can make excess for others and trade. Survival is not what people think it is. They do stupid things like tear out seat cushions and jump in rivers because it sells but don't ever garden or raise a herd or make things from nothing or build a sturdy, safe home. If you want primitive survival... study what people did on a daily basis in the 1700 and 1800s. Then apply modern knowledge to those materials.
@@tuvoca825 also run a mesh network node, Bitcoin/Lightning node to allow others to connect and exchange without having to rely on monopolies like central banks and states; it's fascinating how cheap these things are while making you much more sovereign - people are often hesitant to learn new stuff and rather be convenient, well they will pay the price (e.g. having a hegemony or a ruler over them). Adhere to rules, not rulers.
Yes i have seen several tactics explained by survivalists....pieces of cloth or platic above the ground in the dessert at night etc...
question is how efficient
Living in Morocco for almost 10 years now. And it brought me yo tears to see the old Moroccan farmer crying when meeting peter. The drought has been brutal here for farmers and people in rural areas. I'm really happy to see that
I am amazed by the instant community impact these cloud catchers have on the villagers... Wow! 🙌
I was struck by that, too.
How does catching clouds in one area affect precipitation in areas that are in the direct path of the cloud movement? Is it similar to how damming a river upstream affects communities downstream?
I love how many languages are going on in this segment.
Yes I'm headache ready
What a Noble Humanitarian Inventor with creating the Cloud catching net meshing to create clean drinking water without using energy.
Yes ! 👍👍
4:51 I remember the original clouds catcher report and it’s really nice to see a follow up!!!!
Well done !
Thanks for this documentary! This is what's needed. Come together for a greater purpose. Here in northern California we hardly get fog anymore. 30 years ago it was hard to drive in winter morning. For the last 10 years no fog in my driving route.
I remember driving from Napa to San Francisco on 101 and seeing fast-moving fog clouds. It was a beautiful sight. Santa Rosa would get fog rolling in from the coast on occasion, which would make for more pleasant summers.
I'm in southern Ontario (about the same latitude as northern Cal) and have also noticed a marked decrease in the occurrence of major fog events over the last several years. Coincidence?
Amazing! I must thank & commend Mr. Peter Trautwein for his invention the "cloud catchers". Mr. Peter deserves International recognition & deserves a gold medal.Greetings from Madang, Papua New Guinea!
Wow. Super impressive how much water can be got with just a few of the nets. Governments should invest to produce more of the nets.
This is a very informative documentary... Here you showcased Morocco, Gran Caneria and Spain. The same sort of cloud catching solution would work great along the coast of Namibia, Chile and Peru... and likely in many other locations. Best thing in this solution - no moving parts, and very little maintenance. Well done DW!
Another win for science.
Coniferous guys got their directions wrong. The trees have the needles pointed in many directions so that collected water wick downwards via the branch, only a relatively small amount is left to drip through the air.
I hope this technology develop to a more efficient and more BEAUTIFUL design of the structure because it has a BIG impact on the natural landscape
I dont think they care much about that as long as they're getting water in drought zones...
Glad to see some positive videos! Please make more of them!
Also very nice implementation and example to show!
The beer side maybe a lot less in the video or not show at all. Same for selling water abroad. Unless the money are reused for development, that’s not a good example and is comparable to Nestle.
That was the most awkward hug
lol. I was thinking that too
What a phenomenal invention! Well done. Excellent documentary.
Nice to see humanity paying it forward to future generations, it gives me alot of hope for the future.
Remember learning about this during geography class in my high school days. I'm a final year engineering student now and this documentary is music to my ears! Definitely sparked a lot of interest from me👏👏💯
Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts!
@@DWDocumentary Why can't i find this documentation on the German channel?
Excellent study, DW! As always.
So Dune but in real life
About 10 years or more, I saw a documentary about a project called Teatro del Aqua. It was a similar idea but it was meant to be implemented in coastal areas. It would also help countries that have sea and very dry/desert environment.
15:40 Of course, there's a problem when there's no more fog. 🤔
Perhaps not if portions of the water is directed into regreening landscapes. Part of the cycle of plant life to create clouds... thus fog. The almond farmer explained it better
The investment required is very low cost in time and money, so even as an interim measure it is useful.
@24:26 Following the beer-making segment with a segment where people are just happy to have water come from tap exemplifies how some people abuse resources even when they claim the resource is scarce. Making beer from water in an area that is water-scarce is disrespectful to those who actually need the water.
Agree
I was thinking about that while they were drinking the clouds beer! They apparently don't know how to prioritize the limited resources which changed life
They are different areas .... Can't fix stupid I guess.
That’s not really how things work, it’s like saying “you shouldn’t own two homes when there are so many homeless” or “since you don’t have enough water you also don’t deserve to have beer.” The point in giving them access to more water was to help improve the quality of their lives, and if they decide making beer does that it strikes me as arrogant to sit back in judgement of them for it.
Also to sell it abroad for 9e, it could be even worse than Nestle
Great Man and Grand Idea. Congratulations. ❤❤❤
27:43 This water shouldn't have gone to the drain, should be used to water a plant or a drink for an animal
I’m sure it went to use. They don’t have a sewer system, so the water likely just went out on a field.
@@ankiking
Unlikely, usually they use something like a primitive septic tank
Thirty-seven thousand liters per night?! That's insane!
This is the best thing I have watched all year ..... and the scariest (@ 19:30...the empty dam). Thank you for this, I will absolutely be showing this to my engineering and industrial design students. For a long time I have considered ways to bring water with me when traveling into areas so my presence in communities like these is not a drain on precious resources. While the cloud catchers won't diminish my desire to do so , it actually makes me want to visit these places even much more preferentially (@31:08).
Thank you.
This isn't new, it's a great idea but they've been doing it in Peru for a while
Exactly; in Chile we do the same in specific regions at the north, close to the Atacama desert, where there is some altitude. Of course there is all the normal modern water infrastructure right now, but it became a tradition much earlier because it is ecologic, organic, free and pure and it is close and I think that invention was passed from Peru to Chile I think maybe a century ago if not more.
I didn't catch the part where the video said this is new. Time stamp? 🤔
Peru isn’t real
They don't claim it as new as the countries that are using these cloud catchers are mentioned in the video. You watched the same video, right?
@@shiroineko13 I'm well aware of that, I think we saw the same video. To make my point a little bit clearer if I may, it was the title or banner on the video, "A stroke of innovative genius?" that prompted me to express why I did not consider this innovative nor genius, although the video itself don't go precisely in that line, but it was confusing. I'm not native in English, perhaps it was perceived like a critique, it wasn't. And I wanted to talk of the Cloud Catchers in my country; so just that.
In Sinai cypresses had puddles when it was dark and foggy…..
Great documentary!
well done, mate 👍🏻🍀
Did this guy make the same nets they use in South America? I can't remember the exact country, but I think it was up in the Andes.
Chile I think it was.
Atacama Desert in Chile.
20 to 30 years ago - so probably not the same guy.
@@raydunn2582 Well, it was on TH-cam so probably not that long ago.
I found one of them in Peru 7 years ago.
Absolutely beautiful, great job.❤
Thanks for watching!
I like that Desert🌹Rose Remix at the end....
I love how amazingly simple this is.
A lot of high tech solutions to basic problems have been installed/donated to developing countries, but they were simply unable to maintain and run them.
I guess the efficiency of the nets could be increased, but making them robust, cheap and long lasting might be more importan. Just increase the surface area to what you need. These should be mass produced and given out to people. I would donate to such a cause.
They seem amazingly productive. I wonder how big a net would have to be cover a families need under less than perfect conditions.
Great story!
I wonder whether this reduces the amount of rainfall further inland
It would have to be on a massive scale to tip the earth's weather in any noticeable direction. Interesting idea though, maybe it could be useful for that purpose where that is a desirable outcome.
As there are no rivers, the water that was used will evaporate again.
I wonder the same thing
They should be using this technology around all farm lands. They should also use it near the oceans and again to use that water for the farms
amazing documentary! i wonder if they could implement swales & other water storage methods. agriculture should be able to operate on ground water alone, leaving the fog water for drinking & cooking.
some of the water harvesting techniques used in india could be scaled to the local geography
you can also use AC in the house to collect water directly from the air
This works well in high humidity, I've even seen solar powered installations, the fog catchers shown here are in low humidity areas with occasional fog. Electric dehumidifiers would sit idle in these places most of the time and not be worth the investment.
@@CyclingSteve if thats the case, then pass more air through the dehumidifier, by fans. dont just discard an idea, make it work.
Great job
Fog is not vapour, it is colloidal water.
Omg
So glad the cloud catchers are helping the people and the land.
Fog is not water vapor. Water vapor is the gaseous state of water, which is invisible. Fog, on the other hand, consists of tiny liquid water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air near the ground.
Bet you don't have many friends eh?
@@hilcho No I'm good
So it isn't invisible water vapor, it's condensed, visible water vapor.
Got it.
@@rickitynick4463 Correct -- also known as "water" or "fog"
I don't think you should be wasting the water on yellow beer.
Beer is a necessity. All this water is contaminated.
@@krishurlburt7375 Beer is full of water so...?
@@krishurlburt7375 Especially yellow beer.
@@vivalaleta you must not come from northern Europe to not understand how beer purifies water.
This just comes to show that we as a people can achieve a lot more, that we don´t need to wait for governments to stop being corrupt and inept, for us to make a real change in other peoples lives. I loved this documentary.
Brilliant! ❤ However, the title "Turning vapour to water" was technically misleading. The very clue is to forget the vapour (=water gas) and harvest the already liquefied water droplets of fog and clouds instead.
In technology, technicalities matter. From an engineering point of view collecting dew is smart, turning vapour into drinking water would be stupid.
Uh, the targeted audience is what matter. Most are NOT engineers, and will not give a rat a**.
From a scientific point of view is more convenient. Collect droplets is a mechanical process, transform water molécules under gazeous state to liquid is a thermodynamic process.
A free video on YT is a far cry from a peer reviewed paper or dissertation. This accomplishes the task at hand which is to enlightened viewers about conditions and technology applications from around the world.
@@Limewire1984yeah but this nuance is why waterseer and similar came to be and scam people.
Europe needs a canal network and reservoirs so wet places can supply dry places IMHO.
Great documentary! Thank you for your work!!
Thank you for your comment!
Here's me in the UK having a picnic on day 190 of rain.
Necessity breeds innovation
Excellent idea. Though not totally new. Just the evolution of an old system. I like the "tree cloud catcher". Great as a microsystem. However, somehow people managed to monetize the cloud caught water in some places by installing water meters. Yes, it is one way to encourage people to not waste it.
When was this filmed? Camera's look like they were equipment from 30 years ago
Nice dehumidifier.
Its mostly commercial marketing you see, try to buy nets yourself, extreme expensive. It should be mass produced with free info how it works and in what conditions.... now its just feel good tv made by ARD.
You might want to compare coconut fiber mats for comparison.
I bet the strand diameter might be close enough.
Another alternative might be to have access to a laser cutting and engraving machine to create wind regulating gaps tuned to optimal capture conditions.
If it were me, I would go look at samples of lichens and conifer needles and their respective climates to better understand how best to capture moisture.
Good idea in theory but cant help but think of the long term consequences of taking most of the moisture out of the air as will lead to even less rain going forwards and more drought. Better to repair the environment with more trees etc so that no need to extract water from the air
This has been happening in Chile and Peru for over 100 years.
@@Flibbles Interesting! Seen it in many places too. I would love to see the stats of rainfall in the last 100 years in Peru and Chile compared to the previous few centuries if it is available. Perhaps it makes no difference, but logically, it would esp if done on an industrial scale
The water cycle exists? Look up how clouds are formed. Rain falls out of clouds every day with no problem and new clouds continue to form with no issues. Taking water out of clouds is not some strange occurance they do this on their own.
Water that is used does not disappear...
@@tomallen9377 It is not done on an industrial scale, it is done so that small communities living in dry areas can grow vegetables and have enough drinking water to survive.
South of Europe struggles every summer with drought, why don't we have this?
@along9971
Exactly, it was well explained by the man of the Canarias at 22:56; in Chile we do the same in a specific region at the north, close to the Atacama desert. Of course there is all normal modern water infrastructure right now, but it became a tradition much earlier because water is needed and there wasn't any other option; it is ecologic, organic, free and purer water; extracted from the Camanchaca, the local name for that huge stream of fog. Btw I think that invention was passed from Peru to Chile, I think maybe a century ago if not more. Therefore, this invention is kind of natural to the human being, just like the Arrow or Clothes.
The spanish stainless steel one seems like a pretty bad deal. 570 liters per year for 1m² construction that was expensive, and flattened whatever was growing there originally...those bushes which would have otherwise caught the same water anyway.
That's about €1 worth of water per year where I live. The construction of the taller versions alone probably cost 500 or 1000 times the value of the water they will make in a year. Doh!
That moroccan one really cranks it out though; impressive!
It’s to have water where there is none, not about the cost.
I watched a similar documentary about Peru catching fog 15 years ago.
@1:50 I wanted to see how long the lady with the camera stood there oblivious to the river of people she’s blocking.
A man with a beautiful mind 🦘
In certain regions I can see cloud catching considered prohibited when preventing water from being collected downwind.
Some exemptions might be made when it can be proven that sources will not condense downwind due to data collected on temperature and atmospheric pressure.
I wonder if it could also catch high humidity for agriculture?
Such a simple setup you could build one. Then plant trees and move it to the next hill once there is enough foliage to capture the moisture
One question please,is the collection only possible when there is a fog?in other-words,what about dew? Is it possible to collect it also? Because in Africa where I am especially in winter and autum is cold and water drops form on all surfaces at night because of it being chilly at night.
Precisamos preservar mais nossas florestas e nossos rios, porque a água é muito preciosa, Água é Vida 💧
I think we might even need cloud catchers that are dangling in the wind.
These are mountains not Sahara... I am morrocan btw
33:59 95% for farmers. The food and goods produced must be quite expensive.
I ain't tryna trip but ski resorts should utilize this technology too. To make them more environmentally friendly. Heck, anyone that can should! Thanks for y'all's reporting o7
Wow so much negative towards a splendid and cheaper alternative to many of man made water alternative like desalination plants and pumping water from someone else's region to offset the lack of water in someone else's.
This is very good endeavor to put resources in that will help many thousands of peolpe become more independent and self-sustaining, and help regenerate regenerate regions that have been DeForested.
@33:35 If 95 percent of the desalinated water is for the farmers and other parts of this video says that 78 percent of water goes to agriculture, then the problem is that the agriculture needs to farm only xeric produce.
I saw a neat project in the Netherlands where they’re reclaiming tidal flats and farming salt tolerant crops. Very cool! And yes- use xeric crops!
Great system.
Kudos for implementing this wherever is needed. But now i have a question:
Wouldn't this water lack of minerals be a problem in the long run? Drinkable in emergencies but not so in a regular basis.
You could choose to filter the water through the right selection of river rock to get the necessary minerals
No mineral water is still better than no water whatsoever. I don't think the people suffering care all to much whether they are getting nutrient rich water just that they aren't dieing from dehydration and that it's clean. Besides if that's the case a cheap mineral filters or tablets can be purchased to add the missing nutrients.
How can we bring this tech to Mexico? In the state of Chiapas, Coca-cola own the majority of aquifers in the region and people have little to no access to clean water. Mexico is already amidst a water crisis so a project like this would be enormously helpful
Nice documentary.
What natural fibres could replace the woven plastic of the nets?
Common in Peru too
Okay okay. So, if you have these next rotating with droplet emitting points all over it which drag across a collecting medium at the bottom, it can slowly rotate and deliver electricity as well, it will only work if it is pretty large with a small generator, but it's a collective achievement.
I can see where trees naturally attract/catch lichen for their water catching ability.
In essence, certain trees are lichen farmers.
The size of Frankfurt Airport?? Everything is compared to the size of Wales - it's universally accepted.
Only a german would engineer life saving cloud catching based on his love for a single beer. Lmfao omg
Wouldn't the nets be more efficient if they were of a lighter color so the material retains less heat. Colder material reacting the clouds humidity
5:04 White fabric i think help more. Because the balck one wil wamr the water colected and go back to evaporation. If is colder than surinder it generate more if wind blow and mist of cloud come.
I have once seen this in ivory Coast
a great guy. that's, what it's all about.
What wonderful and full of humanitarian project....God bless his scientific, useful thinking 🤔 and working.......it was a great documentary shared by DW documentary channel.....while everywhere oligarchs greedy destroying everything...all theirs economic activities have bad consequences on ecosystems and environmental....
Do permaculture and regenerative agriculture( and rotation grazing) please. It's a virtuous cycle that catches ever more water. Berms and fruit trees to hold the soil.
Just slow the flow of water and have the soil always covered with biomass.
Great news , for once! Will share this!
They can take this concept and essentially "cloud fish" by sending up a ballon with something like this attached to it along with a container. The collected water would basically bring itself down using gravity.
so, it's moisture farming ?
The rains in Spain no longer fall mostly on the plains.
Yes it was the Andes, which is coastal range.
In Peru, they have been using a very similar technique to gather water from the clouds for many years!.
Obviously, it only becomes relevant when it is done by organisations from so called developed countries.
In the Eua was a man that reinvented a giant dehumidifier to catch water from humidity or this company Watergen USA | Water from Air.
Refering to the thumbnail:
Fog is not vapor, but liquid water in tiny drops.
seen in hawaii in the 80s-upper cloud forest
There was a "ocean" of water covering the desert one time. Just dig and you will find water.