A new age in water harvester technology is on the horizon, and it may alter the face of bottled water forever. MIT scientists have announced a window-sized machine that can extract clean drinking water from the air anywhere in the world. The technology has the potential to alter the lives of millions of people by providing clean water, without using anything more than humidity and a new novel material.
How the water harvester that fits in a window works
It’s a vertical panel, roughly window-sized, composed of a novel origami-inspired hydrogel. It absorbs water vapor from the atmosphere even in dry environments. When the sun is up, the water is evaporated, condenses on the surface of a glass, and is collected as clean drinking water.
As reported by MIT News, the system “operates entirely on its own, independent of power, unlike other designs that need batteries, solar panels, or electricity from the grid.”.
The dome-shaped structure of the hydrogel enlarges its surface area to retain more water, stabilizing the salt within the gel so that it will not seep into the harvested water. This is achieved by incorporating glycerol. What this further means is that not only is the harvested water plentiful, but it is also potable.
This is how the harvester harvests water even in the driest areas on earth
The device was tested by the MIT team in Death Valley, California, which is one of the driest areas of the world. There too, the harvester generated as much as 160 milliliters of water a day, operating at humidities as low as 21% and as high as 88%. Because the system is efficient with numerous panels, a house could potentially supply all of its daily drinking water requirements, even in desert areas.
The effect: How this technology would render bottled water obsolete and alter lives globally
As 2.2 billion people worldwide are without access to safe drinking water, the technology has the potential to revolutionize. Because the harvester is power-free, passive, it is most suitable for less developed areas where there is no electricity or infrastructure.
As MIT professor Xuanhe Zhao describes, “Now people can make it even bigger, or turn it into parallel panels, to provide drinking water to people and have real impact.”
The vertical, box-like shape of the device makes it possible to easily place it within houses, schools, or community centers without using much space. The fact that it can run in dry environments as well as wet environments makes it possible to use it everywhere in the world.
This is how the next generation of water harvesters may scale up for communities and households
The researchers have already optimized the panel and hydrogel design to provide greater water output. Multipanel arrays would provide sufficient water for whole families, and future designs will be even more efficient. The technology’s simplicity of design and scalability also make it ready to deploy in water-scarce regions within weeks, lessening dependence on bottled water and conventional supplies.
A future where clean water flows from your window
The window-fit water harvester isn’t just a scientific marvel—it’s a solution to one of humanity’s greatest challenges. When this technology goes mainstream, the days of bottled water are numbered, replaced with clean, sustainable water pulled directly from the air.
Large-scale deployment of this water harvester window size can potentially cut down drastically on plastic waste from bottled water, decongesting landfills and oceans. It also renders off-grid communities and rural villages independent of water. In disaster relief situations, these units can provide clean drinking water immediately where infrastructure is compromised or non-existent. They can therefore serve as a go-to tool for humanitarians and for climate resilience.