Assessment of fog collection as a sustainable water resource in the southwest of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is an arid dessert with less than 100 mm yearly rainfall in addition to a high-water consumption per capita. The collection of fog water is a simple and sustainable technology and may offer a supplementary water supply. Data were collected for a whole year from the Rayda reserve weather station, and two standard fog collectors (SFCs) were installed near the weather station. The results indicated that the average water collected by the local mesh was 6.7 L/m2/day, compared with 5.5 L/m2/day collected by the imported mesh. The highest quantity of water was collected in March by the local mesh, at 22 L/m2/day. The effectiveness of the fog collection was calculated and compared with the international standards. The obtained results indicate that fog can be utilized as a supplementary water source for the agriculture sector in the southwest KSA.