Chile - Padre Hurtado 1999-2004
Operational Fog Collection Project
There were 8 large fog collectors on Talinay Mountain (Cerro Talinay) in central Chile for a period of five years. The collectors provided about 1500 liters of water a day, through a 3.5 km pipeline, to the Sanctuary of Padre Hurtado located on the Pan American Highway about 750 meters below. This project was funded largely by the Baehr family in British Columbia, Canada, and was inaugurated in October 1999. The project was developed and constructed by experts who are now members of FogQuest. The water from the collectors went to a 35 m3 reservoir near the Sanctuary. The water was used for the home of the caretaker, the gardens at the site, and for the bathrooms for the several thousand visitors each month. The fog collectors successfully provided the daily water needs for the Sanctuary. The Sanctuary is in one of the poorest rural areas of Chile. Average annual rainfall is only about 100 mm and the terrain is extremely dry. This severely limits the possibilities for both agriculture and the raising of animals by the people in nearby settlements.
In the period 2001 to 2004, FogQuest provided modest assistance to maintain the site. The work was carried out by staff and students in the Geography Institute of the Pontifical University of Chile in Santiago under the direction of Pablo Osses. A discussion of the site and the results from the fog collection measurements have appeared in several publications.
 Update October 2004
With the phasing out of the church’s activities at the Sanctuary of Padre Hurtado, we have ceased our commitment to helping with the water supply for the Sanctuary. In partnership with WasserStiftung in Germany, and the assistance of IDRC Canada, FogQuest is now moving forward in a new direction at the site on Cerro Talinay. The current LFCs will be repaired and relocated on the mountain. The site will now focus on its developing role as a water school, to illustrate to students how fog collectors are constructed, how they operate, and the benefits to arid lands from the water produced. In addition, we will move water from the LFCs down to Los Tomes for use in the community and their elementary school. This village is on the east side of the mountain as opposed to the previous main user, the Sanctuary of Padre Hurtado, which is on the west side. Please see the Cerro Talinay description for further information.
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