Using Fog Water Systems to Sustainably Nourish Poor Rural Communities

With your help, we can bring water to villagers. This will greatly improve their lives at a cost of less than $5 per villager per year!

For more information, please visit our web site at http://www.givewatersavetheplanet.org/

The diminishing availability of potable water around the world is a widely known and growing epidemic. Given appropriate conditions, a fog water system is capable of providing a low cost, zero-emission, and renewable method for delivering potable water to people in need. Access to clean water has many benefits that reach beyond its life sustaining properties. Clean water improves sanitation, decreases child mortality rates, and can initiate agricultural development in low rainfall areas. FogQuest is the world leader in fog water collection system implementation. FogQuest is a non-profit Canadian organization who’s mission is to provide atmospheric sources of water where traditional water sources, such as wells, rivers, and pipelines, are unavailable. We are students of business at California State University, East Bay (CSUEB) and members of its chapter of Net Impact seeking to investigate the technical, managerial, financial, location assessment, and sociological challenges that arise when establishing a fog water system by working directly with FogQuest in Tojquia, Guatemala. This is the location of the most successful fog water system established to date. We will be working directly with FogQuest’s Outreach and Special Projects Coordinator to establish a budget for the next BIG project. We will then return to the United States to commence marketing and fund raising activities for the new project.

We need $2,700 for this part of the project. The money will be used to help fund our 21 day trip to Guatemala in the following manner.

The Need: It is no surprise that the lack of potable water is one of the world’s greatest concerns. FogQuest offers a proven, cost efficient, quick, zero-emission, and sanitary alternative to poor rural communities who often depend on unregulated water from privatized companies or water that is miles away and must be carried, usually by women and children. FogQuest lacks the funding to hire staff for basic business functions. This leaves its executive director, Dr. Schemenaur, a retiree who works a full and uncompensated work week, too occupied to address new projects. The efficiency and efficacy of these large projects are greatly diminished because none of the all-volunteer members have the capacity to work full time except for short periods of the year. Many volunteers are students who will leave FogQuest to work for other organizations after they graduate. If FogQuest fails to receive the funding to staff itself, it’s long-term viability and the number of beneficiaries will be compromised.

The founder, Dr. Schemenaur, is a respected member of the academic community and has published dozens of papers on fog collection and cloud physics, has been publicly honored for his work, and spearheaded the first two triannual conferences on fog and fog collection. Dr. Schemenaur has promoted FogQuest by attending world conferences, meeting with researchers, and collaborating with journalists. Among many sources, FogQuest has been featured in publications such as National Geographic, Scientific American, and independent documentaries such as One Water. Currently, FogQuest receives funding from member fees, service groups such as Rotary clubs, schools, and individual donors.

The Solution:Long-term sustainability and continuously positive results are fostered via a participatory process where the social element of fog collection is elemental in the project design and implementation. This is done by working directly as collaborators and facilitators to increase the local capacity of villagers, as is occurring in Tojquia, Guatemala, an approach we would like to learn more about. Documenting the managerial, technical, sociological, and site assessment processes used in establishing the Guatemalan fog water project will enable us to provide a funder the information they will need to invest in a future project. Upon return to the United States, we will work with FogQuest to define the next big project FogQuest undertakes and ascertain how business may play a role in the story. We will get that story published through news and media outlets, instilling in the minds and hearts of customers our funder’s strong commitment to both the environment and social well-being. We intend to work with FogQuest for years to come.

Organization Description: FogQuest was founded in 2000 by Sherry Bennet and Dr. Robert Schemenaur in response to frequent requests for water in places with no access to rivers, wells, or pipelines. Dr. Schemenaur has been building fog water systems since 1987 and is the foremost authority in the world in understanding fog catchers; he has written several scientific journals on them. FogQuest’s objective is to implement fog and rainwater collection systems in rural communities where they would be most effective and teach residents proper maintenance and usage for their system. FogQuest has successfully completed 13 projects in South America and Africa with the help of several scientists and has done this with 90% of donations going directly to the fog water systems, surpassing the Government of Canada’s mandated disbursement to charity objectives quota every year.

Efficacy: The science of fog collection is thorough and viable given appropriate conditions. El Tofo, Chile, was the pilot project. This village is located in the Atacaman Desert, the world’s driest, averaging less than 1 millimeter of rainfall per year. 50 large fog collectors were erected, each about 525 square feet and the results are indisputable. The village received an average of 2,900 gallons of potable water per day with over 26,000 gallons on a very foggy day. A project with 100 large fog collectors with no electronic measurement gauges is estimated to cost about $40,000 in raw materials. In Tojquia, Guatemala, the 30 large fog collectors currently installed collect about 1,500 gallons of water daily, providing for 127 people and their animals. These fog collection systems were far more cost effective than building pipelines or deep wells, and was the only viable water source for these communities.

FogQuest has 5 sites queued for project development. The total cost for developing these 5 sites is estimated to be $300,000 to $500,000. This funding will provide 20 years of clean, fresh water to 5,000 people at a cost of less than $5 per person per year. This phenomenally efficient use of money to positively affect people’s lives is what drives us to want to make these projects a reality. This same rational is what makes fog collection systems such a perfect promotional marketing opportunity for businesses desiring to position themselves as humanitarian and environmentally sound.

FogQuest has made a remarkable difference in thousands of lives and to see this amazing organization fold for financial reasons would truly be a loss to the world. Their impact can share mutual benefits for businesses seeking the opportunity to give small communities independent access to clean water. With your interest, we would like to discuss our project with you as soon as possible and welcome your request for a full proposal.

Please help us help them

Thank you.

More about us and what we want to do: GiveWaterSaveThePlanet
FogQuest Web Site
501©(3) Information for FogQuest
Introduction to fog collection video clip
National Geographic Article
Scientific American Article
‘One Water’ Movie