Fog & Dew Collectors: Design for a Thirsty World

Here’s a potentially live-saving and thirst-quenching design prototype that we like: British designer Alon Alex Gross has created fog and dew collectors that build on existing, traditional techniques of rain harvesting with lightweight, modern materials. (Apparently, the device can also be connected to the internet for better accessibility and remote monitoring.) Yet, the gadgets are low-tech enough for people living in water-scarce developing areas to collect clean drinking water.

Shown at this year’s Tuttobene exhibition in Milan, Gross’ fog harvester (above) has a 2-metre screen mesh that can capture up to 10 litres of fog droplets from the air in 24 hours.

His dew collector, pictured above, weighs a mere 400 grams and has a special laminate foil that pulls dew drops to it, allowing it to collect up to 1.5 liters of fresh water per night. Because extreme conditions can harm the laminate foil, Gross has also designed an additional sensor system that can react to atmospheric changes by opening or closing the apparatus accordingly. Both are very refreshing and low-tech design responses, providing water to people who need it most.

::Inhabitat