Testing the quality of fog water collected in Choachí, Colombia

Abstract

Pollution produced by mining and by porciculture has led to a shortage of clean water in the rural district of Agua Dulce, Choachí, Cundinamarca, which puts the population’s health at risk. This article states that fog water is a potential resource for human consumption and an option to deal with this problem. Thus, during April and June 2018 a study was carried out to test the quality of fog water collected by using a fog catching net. The authors chose the hexagonal print design for its efficiency to catch fog water and its wind-resistance. The net was made out of bamboo and construction safety net Rs 35. The weather and geophysical conditions favored the optimum catching of fog water and rain. The weather analysis showed that the maximum water production occurred at night and early morning. The fog catching net collected about 10,1 liters per day, which physical, chemical and microbiological characteristics complied with Colombia’s norms on Water Quality. Other water sources analyzed were ranked as high-risk water for human consumption, since they did not comply with certain physical, chemical —such as high phosphate and calcium content and hardness— and microbiological features, including E. coli, and total coliforms. Those patterns were analyzed to the light of Colombian law. The authors outstand the use of fog catching nets as an option to produce high-quality water in small populations facing water shortage.