Margot Krasojević Architecture, based in London and Hong Kong, has released the design of a health spa in eastern Nepal that will capture moisture from fog and convert it into water for drinking, swimming, and irrigation. The outdoor spa, wellness platform, and water irrigation facility will be located in the lush greenery of the subtropical Ilam district, which is known for its tea gardens, mountain streams, forests, and holy sites.
While the generation of water might seem an odd pairing with a health spa, hydrotherapy health retreats are common in the area, which is prone to fog due to its high humidity, according to the designers.
The fog-capturing system will be terraced to follow the contours of the landscape in which it is sited to maximize water collection. Collecting condensation is an ancient tradition, and the spa gathers moisture in much the same way as cultures have done for millennia. In this iteration, a dense cross section of fog nets will be draped over a series of cradles.
The design goes further than just gathering the water, however. It also includes a water collection-and-distribution network of troughs, solar pumps, pipes, filtration systems, and valves to manage the collected water and distribute it into three pools.
The nets will be cleaned of toxic mold, microorganisms, and other debris by an electrical current that will loosen and dislodge the pollutants.
The system is expected to produce 3,000 to 5,000 L of filtered water per day on average.
This article first appeared in the December 2020 issue of Civil Engineering as "Catching Fog."
