Potential Solutions for the Water Shortage Using Towers of Fog Collectors in a High Andean Community in Central Ecuador

Abstract

The lack of water is a fundamental issue for survival of peasant communities located at heights above 3200 masl in the Andean highlands, such as in the case of the Galte-Yaguachi community in central Ecuador. The social balance, agricultural development as well as animal subsistence and finally the economic income is pending on the availability of hydric resources. Therefore, a three-dimensional fog collector system was constructed with Urku Yaku material in order to provide water for the close-by community. Simultaneously, we determined the quality of the collected water per square meter of the mesh, during the period of the highest annual precipitations. The installed nets yielded a gain of at least 2.63 L/m2 and a minimum of 0.65 L/m2 per day. The analyzed water quality reflected the suitability for human consumption. As water collection has been successful, an expansion of the proposed system may provide this fundamental good also to other communities with similar characteristics. Fog catcher towers will produce 26,577.84 m3/year of water, fulfilling crops’ needs, and the economic analysis proves it is worth the investment, as demonstrated by a benefit cost ratio of 1.90.

Implementation of IoT Sensors in Fog Collector Systems and Flowmeters for the Control of Eater Collection and Distribution

“…The use of IoT sensors to monitor the functional levels of a construction system makes it possible to prevent effects in operation and in the future, taking into account that each construction system has a design period and that when complying with it is important to maintain real-time control, or as is also the case in intelligent water collection systems for mountain areas [9]. Implementing smart IoT sensors implies that it has an internet connection at all times to maintain the upload of data to an electronic cloud constantly, a failure in its connectivity requires an operator who knows the operation of the integral system to attend the place for its reconnection [15].…”

“…To this end, a priority approach has been made in the search for new and modern water supply systems through the construction of infrastructures such as pipelines, dams, aqueducts, and treatment plants. In addition, innovative technologies and applications are being explored to supply water to arid or dry regions that have been historically neglected or excluded from central distribution systems [9].…”

“…The implementation of IoT sensors in fog towers allows remote and real-time monitoring of different parameters such as humidity, temperature, wind speed, and direction, among others, which helps to optimize water collection efficiency and accurately track the performance of fog collectors. The location of each fog catcher was selected considering a maximum radius of 150 m around the community house so that the point of supply of the collected water remained easily accessible [9].…”

“…Diseño e implementación de torres atrapanieblas (3d) y ecosistema informático de monitoreo con internet de las cosas y aprendizaje automático [8] Potential Solutions for the Water Shortage Using Towers of Fog Collectors in a High Andean Community in Central Ecuador [9] Fog Collectors Systems with IoT Sensors in the Andes and Coastal Regions of Ecuador South-América and Data Processing [10] A proposed standard fog collector for use in high-elevation regions [6] Eficiencia de captación de agua con tres tipos de malla atrapanieblas en zonas rurales altoandinas de la sierra norte del Perú [27] Smallness and Small-device Heuristics: Scaling Fog Catchers Down and Up in Lima, Peru […”

“…IoT devices installed in construction systems for monitoring allow them to prevent operational risks and control the operational flow to make long-term predictions, as well as behavior analysis [4], in this case, IoT sensors with connection to the grid installed in fog trap towers for water harvesting in areas of difficult access to the resource and in smart flowmeters as part of the drinking water networks within a university [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. Solutions that are more cost-effective than building complex sites or on-site destructive testing [14,15].…”