## 4 Influence of IoT Sensors on Fog Collector Towers  
The availability and distribution of freshwater resources in the world show great scarcity that affects many regions due to various environmental and social factors, such as changes in geography, climate change, migration of populations, and changes in water supply and use. To this end, a priority approach has been made so that the search for new and modern water supply systems can be achieved through the construction of infrastructures such as pipelines, dams, aquducts and treatment plants. In addition, innovative technologies and applications  
Figure 1: Georeferenced map of the University of the Armed Forces (ESPE).  
are being explored to supply water to arid or dry regions that have historically been neglected or excluded from central distribution systems [9].  
Managing and adapting to drought is crucial in Ecuadorian provinces with little rainfall at certain times of the year. Lack of precipitation can have negative consequences on the availability of water, both for human consumption and for agriculture, and can create significant challenges in terms of water security in these regions. In this sense, one of the new applications to increase the supply of fresh water has been based on the capture of water in the form of fog in high mountainous regions [6; 7; 8]. A fog catcher is a structure created for the purpose of collecting moisture from the air, especially in dry or semi-dry areas where the water supply is limited. These structures are very useful in environments where there is little rainfall and obtaining water is a challenge. The main purpose of a fog catcher is to collect the small water particles present in the fog and condense them into larger droplets that are then collected and directed towards storage containers. This ingenious approach harnesses moisture in the air for drinking water or for irrigation in areas where other water sources are limited.  
The proposed misting systems may not fully meet the needs described above: communities do not need to obtain 100% of their water from the misting for irrigation, but a certain amount allows them to irrigate crops on days when water is scarce and there is not enough for their agricultural production to develop on a regular basis [14].  
Several rural areas of Ecuador have benefited from the implementation of this new technology (Figure 2), such as Galte, a community located in the province of Chimborazo, within the Guamote canton in the Palmira parish, located at a minimum altitude of 3200 m above sea level. The main economic activity of Galte is agriculture. These indigenous communities inhabit a region known as the \"Palmira desert\", which suffers from water scarcity. The other area of study is the province of Pichicha, in the Quito canton, identifying as the main area the Italo volcano located 8 km from the city. It constitutes an important geographical barrier that is home to a significant amount of biodiversity and has its own characteristics with a local microclimate [5]. This would benefit the optimization of water collection and the monitoring of the performance of the mist collectors. The information collected by IoT sensors could be used to adjust the location and orientation of fog towers, as well as to perform preventive and predictive maintenance, which would help maximize atmospheric water collection.  
Figure 2: Structural model of fog catchers for communities: (**a**) Galte Laime, (**b**) Farm Urku Huayku, (**c**) Italo volcano, (**d**) Conocoto Quinta Giraosoles, (**e**) Conocoto Parque Metropolitano del Sur, collapsible tower, and (**f**) Bunche, collapsible tower.