From air to water: Israeli startup turns humidity into drinking water
An Israeli company is harnessing moisture from the air to produce clean drinking water, offering a potential breakthrough for billions worldwide who lack reliable access to safe water
As water scarcity worsens across the globe, an Israeli climate-tech company says it has found a way to draw drinking water from an unlikely source: the air itself.
Roughly one in four people worldwide still lack access to safe drinking water, according to international estimates. Watergen, an Israeli firm based near Petah Tikva, believes its technology could help close that gap by converting humidity in the air into clean, mineralized water.
During a visit to the company’s headquarters, Watergen demonstrated how its machines extract moisture from the surrounding air, where water vapor makes up between zero and four percent—, hen filter and mineralize it for direct consumption.
On the rooftops of its offices, large units quietly produce water that flows straight from taps used by employees.
Each rooftop machine can generate up to 1,000 liters of water per day, depending on weather conditions, enough to supply an entire multi-story office building. Larger installations can reach up to 6,000 liters daily, providing sufficient water for several households.
Watergen CEO Steve Elbaz said the key to the technology lies in advanced air filtration and energy efficiency. Air is drawn into the machines, purified using patented filters, and condensed into water using minimal electricity. The resulting water then undergoes additional filtration and mineralization before it is ready to drink.
One of the company’s major selling points is its ability to produce clean water even in heavily polluted environments. Elbaz said Watergen spent years testing its systems in some of the world’s most contaminated urban areas, with independent laboratories regularly confirming the water’s quality.
The technology has already gained traction globally. Watergen says it now operates in more than 90 countries, with installations ranging from office buildings and factories to public spaces. In some locations, the systems help reduce reliance on plastic bottles while allowing countries to produce and brand their own locally sourced water.
Beyond commercial use, the company has developed mobile units designed for humanitarian crises.
Mounted on trailers and powered by generators or solar panels, these compact machines can be deployed within minutes and produce up to 220 liters of water per day, enough to supply hundreds of bottles daily in disaster zones.
Such units have been dispatched to areas hit by hurricanes in the United States and to drought- and conflict-affected regions in South Asia and Africa. In Kenya, Watergen systems have reportedly transformed daily life in remote villages, eliminating long and dangerous journeys to fetch unsafe water and allowing children to return to school.