WATER RECOVERY FROM DEW

The recovery of clean water from dew has remained a longstanding chall enge in many places all around the world. It is currently believed tha t the ancient Greeks succeeded in recovering atmospheric water vapour on a scale large enough to supply water to the city of Theodosia (pres ently Feodosia, Crimea, Ukraine). Several attempts were made in the ea rly 20th century to build artificial dew-catching constructions which were subsequently abandoned because of their low yield, The idea of de w collection is revised in the light of recent investigations of the b asic physical phenomena involved in the formation of dew. A model for calculating condensation rates on real dew condensers is proposed. Som e suggestions for the 'ideal' condenser are formulated.