Evolution of water collection structures

Text: Bálint Botzheim

The city of Feodosia on the southeastern coast of the Crimean peninsula was once founded by the Greeks of Miletus as a colonial city. There is little precipitation in the area, but due to the proximity of the sea, the air is often humid. According to legend, the Greeks solved the city’s water supply with special structures that extracted water from the humidity of the air. The legend is based on the research of a Russian engineer, Friedrich Zibold, who thought the special structures near the city were water catchments and built a similar structure himself. Since the end of the 20th century, several structures have been built around the world that collect drinking water from the condensation of the morning dew or from the fog.