1. Research and Investigation

In order to design a fog water collection system to provide clean supply of drinking water

for the residents of Nepal, four significant questions had to be taken into consideration in

order to find a solution to the problem identified. These questions with each of an answer

is used to help create the pathway to designing a system which can provide clean drinking

water to meet the needs of families and communities of Sandikhola.

3.1 What is the level of standard of living in Nepal?

The income for the people in Nepal is earned through various ways. One of the main

sources of income in Nepal is through agriculture; this involves crop income, non-

crop farming, income from remittances and other sources (Central Bureau of

Statistics, 2014). However, this income earned from agriculture is strongly affected by

the climatic conditions. Statistics indicate about 77.9 per cent of the population are

employed while the other 22.1 per cent are both unemployment and inactive in the

rural areas (Central Bureau of Statistics, 2014). Despite the high percentage of

households employed, Nepal is amongst the poorest countries in the world as it

currently ranks 157th out of 187 countries listed in the United Nations Development

Programme (World Bank, 2014). This shows that the communities of Nepal face a

critical issue of poverty; therefore the overall design must be at a low-cost enabling

the communities to restore and maintain the project with ease.

3.2 How does the environment change throughout Nepal?

Nepal consists of three different environmental zones: plains, hills and mountains.

It has a rectangular shape and reaches out to 885 km in length and 193 km in width

according to the Nepal Demographic and Health Survey (2011). Despite being a

small country, Nepal is very diverse in both its landform and climate. According to

the business and travel guide of Nepal (2012), the weather consists of four climatic

seasons: Spring, summer, autumn and Winter. The monsoon season however occurs

in between June to September. Monsoon rains has been known in Nepal to cause

flooding and landslides which can cut off homes and communities a day at a time.

Due to its variable conditions in weather and environment, the system needed to be

built must be able to withstand these severe conditions in order to provide the

communities with clean and fresh drinking water all year long

3.3 What are the major health problems linked to Water Quality?

Water is one of the basic necessities which the Nepalese communities lack. According

to the Ministry of Urban Development (2014), roughly 80 per cent of the total

population has access to clean drinking water. However, for others in the rural areas

the primary source of drinking comes from rivers or wells in their surroundings

regardless of whether it’s clean or not. This poor access to safe drinking water is the

cause of many deadly diseases such as skin diseases, acute respiratory

infection( ARI), and diarrhoea ; ARI and diarrhoea remain the major reasons of child

deaths in Nepal (DHS, 2011). As the population increases at a steady rate there is a

grave need to improve the health standards and sanitation within Nepal as to decrease

the numbers of mortality year by year.

3.4 What materials can be used to make system to provide clean drinking water?

The materials needed for the design to be successful ought to be durable and hard to

resist the harsh conditions of the climate of Nepal. The specific heat capacities of

different metals are given below in Figure 1 which shows that the Aluminium has the

lowest specific heat capacity which means it takes the least energy to raise its

temperature by 1˚ C (Lee, J, 2011).Thus, when it is cold temperatures Aluminium

cools down quickly which means more water can be formed. Fibre glass is chosen as

one of the materials to use because its high resistance to corrosion can be a very

important factor for the prevention of water from getting contaminated.

Figure 1: Specific Heat Capacity of different materials. Copyright 2014 by Engineering Toolbox.

copper aluminum Iron Nylon ropefibreglass wood glass plastic foam0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3Specific Heat capacity of Different Mate-

rials

Materials

Spec

ific

heat

cap

acit

y kJ

/kg⁰

C

According to the Michigan University (2003), activated carbon can remove some of

the contaminants that have been discovered in water which therefore makes it a well-

suited material to use in this system. In order to ensure the stability and strength of the

system, the supports of the system must be solid and durable to withstand the harsh

weather conditions; thus, bamboo from the environment is used. Bamboos are

considered to be one of the most extreme products of the environment due to its

strength and stability and is also one of the most frequently found trees in Nepal.

Table 1 below gives each different material needed to be used in the construction

system along with each and one of their properties.

Table 1: Properties of material to be used

Materials Properties

AluminiumHighest specific heat capacity compared to other metals

Fibre-GlassHigh resistance to corrosion

Active-

CarbonIt can purify the water and it also removes contaminated materials in water.

Bamboo It is very durable and is free to use.