MIT Harvests Fog To Make Water In One Of The Driest Places On Earth

Old potatoes. The UK-based charity Water Aid has been installing fog harvesters in the Himalayas quite successfully for some time now in response to pressing water needs there.

It is a wonder why MIT feels a need to carry out tests though. That would be worth finding out.

You may not be aware, but globally, there is an apparent shortage of fresh water, that can be used for drinking, washing, cooking, livestock, irrigation, sanitary systems, etc.

Toward that, the scientific community really should consider how to meet water needs above energy needs, since in the real world conflict seems to follow water disputes, quite literally. When people have enough water, life is good.

This is why I always tell bad people: "Get thee hither to a waterless and sultry place."

Seriously, where I live we are looking at our next generating fleet with a keen eye to zero water consumption, and perhaps even net water production along with the MWe.

Desalination is one possibility for some areas. Emerging technologies like large scale forward osmosis using thermolytic salt (ammonium bicarbonate) draw solution is an attractive option for treatment of effluent waters to the point of drinkability with a high degree of safety. FO membranes are at least 100 times more robust structurally than RO membranes, and are never subjected to high mechanical pressures as in seawater RO conditions. In FO low grade "waste" heat is highly desirable to drive the salt removal from the permeate at ~40-60 °C.

Another application of FO uses sewage as supply water with seawater as the draw solution. This effectively cleans up the permeate, while lowering the osmotic pressure of the seawater to much lower levels, so that it is possible to save a tremendous amount of energy in downstream "diluted seawater" RO.

I should be so lucky as to have fog here in Lubbock, we have had only high clouds.

'....This is why I always tell bad people: "Get thee hither to a waterless and sultry place."...'

.

....hhhhm this coming from someone who choses to reside in Lubbock, Texas. Guilty, much?

At least we have a forecast of rain here today. Even that is considered some relief in this waterless and sultry place. Sometimes I move temperatures around on a Mollier chart just to see the word "fog" show up.