IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i12p9237-d1166014.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • David Vinicio Carrera-Villacrés

    (Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra y Construcción, Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas ESPE, Sangolquí P.O. Box 171-5-231B, Ecuador)

  • Fabián Rodríguez-Espinosa

    (Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra y Construcción, Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas ESPE, Sangolquí P.O. Box 171-5-231B, Ecuador)

  • Theofilos Toulkeridis

    (Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra y Construcción, Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas ESPE, Sangolquí P.O. Box 171-5-231B, 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/m 2 and a minimum of 0.65 L/m 2 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 m 3 /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.

Suggested Citation

  • David Vinicio Carrera-Villacrés & Fabián Rodríguez-Espinosa & Theofilos Toulkeridis, 2023. "Potential Solutions for the Water Shortage Using Towers of Fog Collectors in a High Andean Community in Central Ecuador," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-15, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:12:p:9237-:d:1166014
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/12/9237/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/12/9237/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bolier Torres & Verónica Andrade & Marco Heredia-R & Theofilos Toulkeridis & Kleber Estupiñán & Marcelo Luna & Carlos Bravo & Antón García, 2022. "Productive Livestock Characterization and Recommendations for Good Practices Focused on the Achievement of the SDGs in the Ecuadorian Amazon," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-17, August.
    2. Julie Echeverría-Puertas & Magdy Echeverría & Franklin Cargua & Theofilos Toulkeridis, 2023. "Spatial Dynamics of the Shore Coverage within the Zone of Influence of the Chambo River, Central Ecuador," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-21, January.
    3. Assem Abu Hatab & Maria Eduarda Rigo Cavinato & Carl Johan Lagerkvist, 2019. "Urbanization, livestock systems and food security in developing countries: A systematic review of the literature," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 11(2), pages 279-299, April.
    4. Shilong Piao & Philippe Ciais & Yao Huang & Zehao Shen & Shushi Peng & Junsheng Li & Liping Zhou & Hongyan Liu & Yuecun Ma & Yihui Ding & Pierre Friedlingstein & Chunzhen Liu & Kun Tan & Yongqiang Yu , 2010. "The impacts of climate change on water resources and agriculture in China," Nature, Nature, vol. 467(7311), pages 43-51, September.
    5. Cohen, Barney, 2006. "Urbanization in developing countries: Current trends, future projections, and key challenges for sustainability," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 63-80.
    6. J. Tzabiras & L. Vasiliades & P. Sidiropoulos & A. Loukas & N. Mylopoulos, 2016. "Evaluation of Water Resources Management Strategies to Overturn Climate Change Impacts on Lake Karla Watershed," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 30(15), pages 5819-5844, December.
    7. Bolier Torres & Jhenny Cayambe & Susana Paz & Kelly Ayerve & Marco Heredia-R & Emma Torres & Marcelo Luna & Theofilos Toulkeridis & Antón García, 2022. "Livelihood Capitals, Income Inequality, and the Perception of Climate Change: A Case Study of Small-Scale Cattle Farmers in the Ecuadorian Andes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-20, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Julio C. Vargas-Burgos & Marco Heredia-R & Yenny Torres & Laura Puhl & Biviana N. Heredia & Jhenny Cayambe & Julio Hernán-González & Alexandra Torres & Marcelo Luna & Theofilos Toulkeridis & Bolier To, 2023. "Livelihoods and Perceptions of Climate Change among Dairy Farmers in the Andes: Implications for Climate Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-16, September.
    2. He, Liuyue & Xu, Zhenci & Wang, Sufen & Bao, Jianxia & Fan, Yunfei & Daccache, Andre, 2022. "Optimal crop planting pattern can be harmful to reach carbon neutrality: Evidence from food-energy-water-carbon nexus perspective," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 308(C).
    3. Pankaj Bajracharya & Selima Sultana, 2022. "Examining the Use of Urban Growth Boundary for Future Urban Expansion of Chattogram, Bangladesh," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-21, May.
    4. Ahsan Nawaz & Xing Su & Qaiser Mohi Ud Din & Muhammad Irslan Khalid & Muhammad Bilal & Syyed Adnan Raheel Shah, 2020. "Identification of the H&S (Health and Safety Factors) Involved in Infrastructure Projects in Developing Countries-A Sequential Mixed Method Approach of OLMT-Project," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-18, January.
    5. Ding, Yimin & Wang, Weiguang & Song, Ruiming & Shao, Quanxi & Jiao, Xiyun & Xing, Wanqiu, 2017. "Modeling spatial and temporal variability of the impact of climate change on rice irrigation water requirements in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 89-101.
    6. Bu, Lingduo & Chen, Xinping & Li, Shiqing & Liu, Jianliang & Zhu, Lin & Luo, Shasha & Lee Hill, Robert & Zhao, Ying, 2015. "The effect of adapting cultivars on the water use efficiency of dryland maize (Zea mays L.) in northwestern China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 1-9.
    7. Vassilios Pisinaras & Frank Herrmann & Andreas Panagopoulos & Evangelos Tziritis & Ian McNamara & Frank Wendland, 2023. "Fully Distributed Water Balance Modelling in Large Agricultural Areas—The Pinios River Basin (Greece) Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-29, February.
    8. Wenfeng Chi & Yuanyuan Zhao & Wenhui Kuang & Tao Pan & Tu Ba & Jinshen Zhao & Liang Jin & Sisi Wang, 2021. "Impact of Cropland Evolution on Soil Wind Erosion in Inner Mongolia of China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-16, June.
    9. Alina Kulczyk-Dynowska & Agnieszka Stacherzak, 2022. "The Impact of a City on Its Environment: The Prism of Demography and Selected Environmental and Technical Aspects Based on the Case of Major Lower Silesian Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-18, May.
    10. Vu, Khuong & Hartley, Kris, 2018. "Promoting smart cities in developing countries: Policy insights from Vietnam," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(10), pages 845-859.
    11. Zhixiong Tan & Haili Wu & Qingyang Chen & Jiejun Huang, 2024. "Spatiotemporal Analysis of Air Quality and Its Driving Factors in Beijing’s Main Urban Area," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-18, July.
    12. Dinkelman, Taryn & Schulhofer-Wohl, Sam, 2015. "Migration, congestion externalities, and the evaluation of spatial investments," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 189-202.
    13. Mari-Isabella Stan, 2022. "The impact of the pandemic crisis on employment in the context of urbanization," Technium Social Sciences Journal, Technium Science, vol. 33(1), pages 492-505, July.
    14. Xu, Ying & Findlay, Christopher, 2019. "Farmers’ constraints, governmental support and climate change adaptation: Evidence from Guangdong Province, China," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 63(4), October.
    15. Zhen Yang & Jun Lei & Jian-Gang Li, 2019. "Identifying the Determinants of Urbanization in Prefecture-Level Cities in China: A Quantitative Analysis Based on Spatial Production Theory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-18, February.
    16. Zhongen Niu & Huimin Yan & Fang Liu, 2020. "Decreasing Cropping Intensity Dominated the Negative Trend of Cropland Productivity in Southern China in 2000–2015," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-14, December.
    17. Malayaranjan Sahoo & Narayan Sethi, 2022. "The dynamic impact of urbanization, structural transformation, and technological innovation on ecological footprint and PM2.5: evidence from newly industrialized countries," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 4244-4277, March.
    18. Yuhong Shuai & Liming Yao, 2021. "Adjustable Robust Optimization for Multi-Period Water Allocation in Droughts Under Uncertainty," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 35(12), pages 4043-4065, September.
    19. Bernard Fosu Frimpong & Frank Molkenthin, 2021. "Tracking Urban Expansion Using Random Forests for the Classification of Landsat Imagery (1986–2015) and Predicting Urban/Built-Up Areas for 2025: A Study of the Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-21, January.
    20. Yan Yan & Hui Liu & Ningcheng Wang & Shenjun Yao, 2021. "How Does Low-Density Urbanization Reduce the Financial Sustainability of Chinese Cities? A Debt Perspective," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-18, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:12:p:9237-:d:1166014. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.