Fog harnessing spa and water irrigation plant in Nepal by Margot Krasojević Architects
The present design is for a water irrigation reservoir and spa located in the Ilam district, Eastern Nepal, a large agricultural area home to many tea plantations and stunning landscapes.
The brief given to Margot Krasojević Architects required the outdoor spa and wellness platform and water irrigation plant to reflect the nature of its environment. As Nepal, located at a subtropical latitude is known to host different climates at different altitudes, with areas of high humidity which leads to fog formation, as is the case with the Ilam district. There are also many hydrotherapy health retreats in this area. These factors further defined the brief which resulted in proposing a fog net water harnessing structure to conserve the natural environment. This was to be realised through design, program, spatial planning, and architecture.
The project located in Eastern Nepal will be able to produce 3–5 thousand litres of filtered water a day on average.
The water distribution network consists of solar pumps, pipes, valves, and a node-set of reservoirs and pipe intersections. This network connects the suspended polypropylene fog nets to the filters, reservoir, and pools. A dense cross-section of fog nets are draped over a series of cradles embedded into the site’s ledge, its centre of gravity wedged into the site’s rock substrate. Striated canopies stretch over the nets and pipes integrating habitable space with industrial engineered building elements that harness water from fog. The scheme incorporates a water distribution plant.
The practice of collecting condensation or dew is an ancient tradition, for example, plant stems such as stipagrostis sabulicola catch droplets of moisture which are collected each day, this is still exercised by survivalists and currently used in natural irrigation in the Namib desert.
The fog water collector spa has three main parts: the building frame, a cradle embedded within the landscape supporting the suspended fog nets (the Polypropylene net infrastructure has differing densities along the section of the building mimicking the ground level changes by vertically extruding the landscape beneath it), and the basins which collect the filtered fog water. They together form the spa pool and larger reservoir for irrigation and supply of drinking water.
The fog nets are woven using a Raschel mesh. This weave captures most water droplets depending on the wind direction, as the nets are erected on ridgelines to interrupt moving fog carried by the wind to have the maximum efficiency. Fog, composed of millions of droplets of water, is obstructed by the mesh and trickles down into the collection trough, funnelled through the pipe network to be stored in the spa and field irrigation pools.
The fog nets are cleaned to remove toxic mold and micro-organisms using an electrical current to loosen and dislodge airborne contaminants such as birds, dust, and other pollutants. Another concern was determining the location of the project to provide optimum conditions for a better harvest. As yields are affected by global as well as local weather fluctuations, it was important to work within a site with maximum efficient output.
The nets are hung in sections to allow adaptation and rebuilding on other sites, making it easier to accommodate the landscapes natural contours. The scheme wraps itself around the pools and reservoir, designed to allow water to flow through filters and sections before it can fill the spa and irrigation pools for tea plantations.
The striated structural frame lends itself to the site, terracing itself into its surrounding, using the nature and technique of water irrigation as a method of channelling water through the scheme into the cantilevered pools that surround the site.
The building is cantilevered from the site’s ledge. The centre of the nets’ gravity hovers, partly supported by the pool beneath it as inflatable elements are intertwined within its sections.
Whilst the bulk of the scheme is cradled, pivoting in the direction of the wind to achieve an efficient water harvest, the rest sways slightly for the condensation to drip down the net surface and into the troughs and water pipe network, which collect the harvested fog water. The fog water is collected by three pools, one inside the scheme anchors it to the site, whilst the other two supply the spa, field irrigation, and drinking water pumps.
Harnessed fog water is collected in troughs, which lead to increasing pressure within spa chamber. This, along with the solar pumps, pushes fog water through the water pipe network. The water flows through the filters and the entire scheme, finally collecting in the spa pool and water irrigation reservoir.
Pros and cons of installing a boiling water tap
Philipe van der Loo, managing director, Quooker Emirates, shares the advantages and the flip side of having a boiling water tap in the kitchen
PROS
Instant boiling water
With boiling water tap, you don’t have to wait for the kettle to start whistling. Turn the faucet, and you have instant access to boiling and hot water. Quooker’s patented vacuum tank allows for water to be kept at 110°C under pressure. This technology keeps the water hot without needing to use much energy. The water only boils when it exits the tap – so it is not constantly boiling inside the vessel. But remember, if the water temperature is not 100°C at the point of delivery, you will not be able to replace your kettle!
Takes up less space
These taps can dispense all types of water- cold, chilled, hot, boiling and even carbonated. This means you can have one tap to replace not just the kettle but water dispensers and sparkling water bottles too. Perfect if you’re designing a minimalist, contemporary kitchen or have little worktop space in a small kitchen. So you can instantly reduce plastic bottle usage and make more space in the fridge, too.
Better for the environment
On average a kettle uses the same amount of energy to boil a litre of water as it takes to run a fridge for about seven hours. In contrast, using a boiling water tap is quick, efficient and instant meaning you use only what you need because the 100°C boiling water is there, ‘on tap’ which saves time, money, energy and water. When you dispense water from a Quooker tap, you use the exact amount of water you need. Unlike with a kettle, whereby people often boil more water than needed…or decide to re-boil it because the water has cooled down, wasting lots of energy!
A safer option for family homes
Every year, hundreds of people suffer burns from boiling water. Boiling water is a particular hazard for small children. Boiling water raps are a safer option as they are affixed to the work surface, meaning they cannot tip over. A kettle, however, can tip over, as can a pan of water on the hob. These two cause the vast majority of accidents with boiling water. But you do need to make sure that the boiling water tap you buy is a ‘child-friendly tap’ – meaning that the sides won’t get hot and that the child-safety feature ensures that neither kids nor adults turn them on by accident.
They can make water taste better
Quooker’s Cold Water Filter has been designed to allow you to quickly switch from tap water to cold filtered water. The water also passes through an activated-carbon filter which ensures the water tastes and smells better. Most higher-quality boiling water tap will filter tap water, removing those odd-tasting chemicals that may be in your water supply. The higher-end range of boiling water taps will also aerate to make the water softer – which is ideal if you’re in an area that supplies hard water only.
CONS
You will need to sacrifice some cupboard space for the hot water tank
In most cases, the boiling water tap tank sits in the cupboard below the kitchen sink – an area that is typically used for the kitchen bin or cleaning product storage.
Will need professional installation
Boiling water taps sit on the worktop, have to be plumbed in and the water tanks need to be connected to electricity to work, so it’s best to hire a professional technician to install them.
They will require periodic servicing and filter changes
Some boiling water tanks will require to be serviced every 6 months, all Quooker boiling water tanks are equipped with HiTAC water filters that require to be serviced, on average, every 5 years.
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