Category Archives: Environment

Environment, Rainwater Catchment

Innovative Way to Collect Water in Dry Conditions

Here is an innovative way of collecting water in a dry environment.

With water fairly easily accessible in the US, let’s not forget it is a precious resource – a basic human right – that may not be so readily available in other areas of the world.

“Inspired to offer solution to this issue in a creative way, designer Arturo Vittori invented stunning water towers that can harvest atmospheric water vapor from the air. The nearly 30-foot tall WarkaWater towers can collect over 25 gallons of portable water per day, and are comprised of two sections. The first is a semi-rigid exoskeleton built by tying stalks of juncus or bamboo together; the second, an internal plastic mesh similar to the bags oranges are packed in. The nylon and polypropylene fibers act as a scaffold for condensation, and once droplets of dew form, are funneled by the mesh into a basin at the base of the structure.”

Read more…

Environment, Infrastructure

How Do EPA Budget Cuts Affect Drinking Water Supplies?

How will the 31% budget cuts to the EPA affect our country’s drinking water?

An order of review of the “Clean Water Rule” will likely cut protections for smaller streams and wetlands.

According to Scientific American, “Wetlands do an excellent job of filtering out pollutants.  As an example, bacteria in wetlands remove nutrients like nitrates from agricultural fertilizer run off, which prevents the contamination from living down stream.” Thus, affecting larger bodies of water, which are reservoirs for much of our water supplies .

Cuts to the National Forest Service can put our watersheds at risk. Forested areas are crucial to infiltration of ground water. Much of our nation’s water supply is from well water, dependent on natural filtering. Runoff caused by development and deforestation would directly affect water quality from increased pollutants entering larger bodies of water.

The Clean Water Act protects major water bodies like large streams, rivers, bays and other coastal waters, along with streams and wetlands that flow into them from being destroyed or polluted—or, at least, not polluted without federal oversight. It covers a large range of pollutants, including sewage, garbage, biological and radioactive materials, and industrial and agricultural waste.

States need the EPA as backup to costs of programs that study, monitor, and write policies that protect our nation’s water supplies. The Federal government, with the clean water act of the 1970s and its amendments, need to remain in tact for the health and welfare of our nation.

Environment, Rainwater Catchment

The Fog Catcher

Necessity is the mother of Invention.

Nearly one million people living in Lima, Peru now have access to clean, safe water. An innovator named Abel Cruz decided to do something about it and started collecting water from fog. A very simple idea to collect the water latent fog with meshing and conveying it by gravity to cisterns.

According to an article in Nature World News, “The “fog catcher” is composed of rectangular sails made up from a net typically used in plant nurseries. The structure is about 4×10 to 4×8 meters in size supported by two vertical poles. The device collects water via fog that passes through the net, which forms water droplets. The accumulated water will then be collected via a gutter that’s connected to a storage tank.”

Watch this video and see for yourself that with a little ingenuity one can overcome adversity.

Photo courtesy of Fellipe Abreu