A Nobel Prize-winning chemist has developed a machine capable of extracting up to 1,000 liters of clean drinking water per day directly from dry air. The technology, created by Professor Omar Yaghi of the University of California, Berkeley, could offer a transformative solution for regions facing extreme water scarcity.
Yaghi, who won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, founded the field of reticular chemistry and pioneered the development of Metal-Organic Frameworks, or MOFs. These highly porous synthetic materials act like molecular-scale sponges. Engineered with enormous internal surface areas, just a few grams can contain a surface equivalent to that of a football stadium.
Inside the machine, air passes through chambers filled with MOFs. The material captures water molecules even when humidity levels fall below 20 percent. Using sunlight or low-grade heat, the trapped moisture is then released as vapor and condensed into liquid water. Unlike traditional atmospheric water generators, which rely on electricity-intensive cooling systems, this design operates off-grid using solar heat.
The timing of the invention is significant. The United Nations has warned of what it calls a global water bankruptcy, with more than 2 billion people lacking reliable access to safe drinking water. While desalination plants provide an alternative for coastal areas, they consume large amounts of energy and produce brine waste that can damage marine ecosystems.
Roughly the size of a 20-foot shipping container, the new water-harvesting units are designed for rapid deployment. They could be sent to hurricane-stricken islands, remote desert communities, or refugee settlements where infrastructure is damaged or nonexistent. In regions like the Caribbean, where storms have disrupted centralized water systems, such machines could provide immediate relief without dependence on the electrical grid.
Yaghi’s motivation stems from personal experience. Growing up in a refugee community in Jordan, he lived without running water and remembers rushing to fill containers when supply trucks arrived. He has said that while the science is now proven, scaling the solution is the next major challenge.
Looking ahead, Yaghi envisions a future of decentralized, personalized water production, similar to how rooftop solar panels allow households to generate electricity. If commercialized widely, MOF-based systems could reduce reliance on vulnerable municipal networks and reshape global water access.