Moroccan Innovator Turns Fog into Clean Water to Combat Drought

Transforming fog water into drinking water. This is the brilliant idea found by Jamila Bargach and her associate Dr. Aissa Derhem to cope with the water shortage caused by droughts. In 2010, they created the Dar Si Hmad foundation to help communities in the southwest region of Morocco. This region has suffered from many droughts that have deeply affected local communities. To this difficulty is added the lack of drinking water supply facilities.

To address these difficulties, the Dar Si Hmad foundation has installed a fog harvesting system that collects fog water and distributes it in the Aït Baamrane region, reports Haaretz. Large nets are planted in the rock to catch the fog waters and turn them into drinking water. According to Jamila Bargach’s explanations, the technique behind fog water collection is simple: "If you think of a volleyball net that you find wet in the morning because of the collected humidity, it’s the same principle".

In total, 16 villages in the Aït Baamrane region are beneficiaries of this project. The foundation intends to reach other villages. "We are expanding the projects and I hope we will connect at least eight more villages, if not 12, depending on the funding we have," added Jamila Bargach.