There are so many factors in play that it’s hard to pin down an exact number. One company that makes mesh collectors says that in one location, their mesh can catch up to 22 liters per square meter, per day. Fog harps can collect 20 times more than fog nets, so that could mean 440 liters, or roughly 116 gallons, per square meter per day. But, those numbers are estimates. It depends on the density of the fog, ambient temperatures, etc.
I would probably focus more on dew than fog, so the dew point and humidity levels would be important factors. I’ve been collecting pieces to build fog harps out of, but haven’t actually put one together yet. My design for a prototype uses fishing line instead of wire, and uses zippers to maintain the spacing between filaments. I also need a way to protect it from high winds, which are a constant hazard on my farm, because the way the hills around me are situated, I’m basically at the end of a giant wind tunnel.
But, even on hot dry days, the dew on my farm in the mornings is so thick you could drown in it, so I figure there’s got to be a way to make use of that.
Hi, Ellendra!
Thanks for the info. You answered some questions I was going to ask next: Can fishing line* be used? And what is the spacing? I have a ton of used fishing line. Zippers not so much, but, I can imagine alternatives like the right grade of stainless steel mesh, maybe? Sort of a sewing job...
I wonder if red “Cajun” line would hold up to UV better than clear or near clear lines?
I’m imagining a self-watering garden* for much of the year. And ditto on the dew, many nights / mornings here (mid-South USA — it often takes until noon for the dew to burn off enough to mow.)
I’d think these could be a big deal in poor, water-short countries. Materials need not be too expensive, cheap labor to assemble, or, automate fairly easily...
Do you have any links to articles about designs or how to (home-made) make and utilize (optimum angle / positioning?) fog harps?
*Or self-filling waterers for our chickens. I bought 8 more chicks at Rural King ($1 ea. blowout because they had surplus getting big enough to fly out of their bins.) And now, ~2 weeks later, we have two more hens going broody, and some of the other hens want to help by laying eggs in the broody hens’ nest boxes instead of their own. When my wife gets back home (she is on a 41 day trip to see relatives & friends back home) she is gonna kill me! (”had too many chickens already!”, she’ll say!) Lotsa chicken soup coming up!? Usually more rooster chicks seem to “recruit”, as the fisheries people would say, than hens.
Which reminds me I need to get going on henhouse & run repairs & expansion too — like about 10 million other things around here. Why is there more of this stuff to do the older I get?
However, if I can solve a couple forseeable maintenance problems, self-filling waterers for the gardens and chickens could be a good time saver. :-)