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Kasang Kajang
Diploma 18
As we head into 2050, fresh water availability around the world is in a dire position. Mainly due to over-extraction of wells coupled with population increase placing larger strains on existing water resources.Within this time, water has moved from being a political commodity to a market commodity. Ultimately, aligning a resource which is essential to life closer to such globally exported and heavily profitable resources such as oil. Seeing the emergence of a new world trade market which is extremely profitable for some and simply unobtainable for othersThis widening gap between availability and need is most prevalent in areas such as northern India; namely the Ganges Basin. Where by 2050 water distributions to civilians is expected to drop by 50% with the primary reason being that the Ganges will turn into a seasonal river; where by available flow is driven by the monsoon season.. seeing the water amounts drop by 4/5th of the expected need.Instead of conventional methods of sourcing water, Using this same analogy of sourcing water out of the air a pilot project was instigated in Faizabad, a town located in the Ganges basin where Agriculture dominates the towns productivity; and also consumes almost 90% of the towns water reserves. As plants are part of the water cycle they naturally create a more saturated environment due to photosynthesis. 500,000 trillion Litres of water is accounted for due to transpiration from plantation, worldwide annually. Within Faizabad there are many small holdings where the main crops sown are Sugarcane, Paddy and Wheat which transpire approx 80% of the water they use.India is the largest consumer and 2nd largest Producer of silk; so ultimately it is in abundance in the local area. Silk has natural properties embedded in it's makeup which attracts water out of saturated air. The application of silk stems from Fog fence technology where a passive system relying only on mesh/netting, gravity and density allows for successful extraction of water from saturated air.The application of the silk mesh takes a cylindrical form where surface area and density of the mesh define the amounts of water collected. The application of the airwell is such that it is shared between farmers with the most water intensive plantation located closest, in a radial manor. By introducing an expandable system allows for the opportunity of more water to be collected at higher altitudes. The final system collects water from the atmosphere, with the only ingredients needed being a series of inflatable bladders and silk; so as the local communities can implement As the saturated air available is highest within the first 100m allows for variations of the airwell to emerge; at varying scales; transforming the landscape into a subtle water provision for all local communities.