27 days of fresh water from mist nets for a schoolchild in Peru

The CloudFisher fog collectors imitate the fog-drinking beetle and convert the moisture from the air into clean water in dry areas with a lot of fog. This is also possible in the coastal town of Santa Rosa. There is enough fog in this poor settlement near Lima. Santa Rosa is currently not connected to the drinking water supply, and the municipality does not plan to connect water in the future. The Peruvian capital Lima itself is one of the driest cities in the world. Nevertheless, over 8 million people live here and in the surrounding districts - in a desert where only 9mm of rain falls per year (Oxfam Peru, 2022). Due to the uneven distribution of water, Peru is considered one of the most water-insecure countries in the world (UNESCO; Americas Quarterly, 2022). As a rule, only wealthy urban districts are connected to a water supply system. In Santa Rosa, people have to buy expensive and often polluted water from tanker trucks. They pay around 20% of their monthly income for this – significantly more than the rich pay for their tap water (Circle of Blue; INEI, Instituto Nacional de Estadistica e Informatica, 2017). The tankers are not subject to any government supervision that checks the cleanliness and quality of the vehicles. The poor water quality and the often inadequate hygiene standards lead to diarrhea and parasite infestations among the poorer population. In addition, school children do not have enough to eat because, among other things, there is no water for cooking, which has a negative impact on their physical and mental development. The water from the fog collectors will improve the situation for the children in Santa Rosa in the long term. The fog water runs through collecting channels into water pipes that lead to the water extraction stations at two schools. It can be reliably extracted from there. Excess water is stored in a cistern for the months when there is less fog.