Start-ups are rapidly advancing atmospheric water harvesting technology, particularly through the use of Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs). These MOFs, pioneered by Berkeley professor Omar Yaghi, allow for the extraction of water molecules from the air, even in dry climates. Prototypes have demonstrated the ability to produce hundreds of milliliters of water daily in conditions as extreme as Death Valley, with the potential for full-scale commercial units to generate thousands of liters. This technology sidesteps the issues of traditional harvesters by selectively capturing only water molecules, resulting in purified water free from contaminants often found in other methods.
Key players in this emerging field include Atoco, founded by Yaghi, and AirJoule, a joint venture between Montana Technologies and GE Verona. Atoco aims to produce water at $0.01 or less per liter and is developing harvesters that operate on ambient sunlight or renewable energy. Montana Technologies has seen the cost of MOFs drop dramatically, from $5,000 to less than $50 per kilogram. AirJoule's innovation incorporates evaporative cooling for energy-efficient air conditioning alongside water harvesting, with a GE-delivered device producing 22 liters of water per day using only 2kg of MOFs. The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has supported these efforts with a $14 million grant to GE to develop MOF technology for military use.
The market for these technologies is broad, including the military, data centers (which consume vast amounts of water for cooling and are facing permitting challenges due to water scarcity), and communities in arid or isolated regions. Atoco's units, potentially the size of a shipping container, could deliver up to 1,000 liters of clean water daily for communities. These advancements are critical for areas where traditional water sources are scarce or disrupted by events like hurricanes, offering a consistent and pure water supply independent of government infrastructure. Kubota Corporation has partnered with AirJoule Technologies for initial deployments of its atmospheric water generation technology in Texas and California, aimed at residential developments, with deployments expected to begin in Q3 2026.
