Architecture Turns to Fog Harvesting as Water Scarcity Intensifies

Key facts

• A critical review of atmospheric water harvesting for building façades identifies fog interception, dew condensation, and sorption as distinct approaches, each constrained by technology readiness and manufacturing costs.
• Columbia GSAPP's Water Urbanism: Amman studio proposed fog towers at the Al-Hadalat site projected to collect 800 to 2,000 liters per day, plus smaller shaded fog structures estimated at 500 liters.
• A community-built fog catcher by Alsar Atelier, Oscar Zamora, César Salomón, and SCA uses palm wood and mesh from discarded ration sacks, with water stored underground and wastewater treated through constructed wetlands.
• Morocco's Sidi Ifni fog-harvesting system collects fog at Boutmezguida mountain, about 35 meters inland from the Atlantic coast, and a 2024 assessment calls it the world's largest fog-collection project.
• Over four years, annual average collection at Sidi Ifni ranged from 1.6 to 6 liters per square metre per day; March and April averaged 8.5 liters, with a monthly high of 21 liters per square metre per day in April 2021.
• Researchers identify fog-yield variability and groundwater pollution as principal challenges, warning that relying on fog as the sole source could result in inconsistent water availability.
• According to UNICEF, Jordan's National Water Strategy estimates only about 61 cubic meters of renewable water per person per year, far below the 500 cubic meters threshold for absolute water scarcity.
• Warka Tower is designed to harvest water from the atmosphere to provide an alternative water source for rural populations in Cameroon.