(CNN) Peña Blanca is a small agricultural community 300 km north of Santiago.

In this arid coastal region, 'fog catchers' -- large nets strung up in areas with thick fog and high winds -- are used to collect water.

The technique was pioneered in Chile in the 1950s. The fog is pushed through fine mesh where it condenses, trickles down, and gets collected below. It's a cheap, effective, and clean way to source water.

The nets harvest precious water for crops and animals: 140 square meters provide 840 liters of water per day, shared among 85 landowners.

"Water shortage is a worldwide problem and we are not oblivious to it," says Daniel Rojas, community leader. "It rains less and less, there is a lack of vegetation, fewer crops and people are affected in every sense. But here we have a natural resource that wasn't being exploited."

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