Tag: atmospheric water generation

Sugarmint

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In this exclusive interview, Navkaran Singh Bagga, Founder & CEO of AKVO, shares how Atmospheric Water Generation (AWG) is redefining access to clean drinking water through sustainable, decentralized infrastructure built for a changing climate.

From Weather to Water Infrastructure
The idea behind AKVO wasn’t a single breakthrough moment—it came from repeatedly seeing communities depend on depleting groundwater and unreliable supply systems while overlooking the vast, renewable water source already present in the atmosphere.

By treating humidity as infrastructure rather than weather, AWG creates drinking water directly at the point of consumption, reducing dependence on pipelines, tankers, and stressed aquifers.

Making AWG More Energy Efficient
Energy use has long been one of the biggest criticisms of atmospheric water generation. At AKVO, improving the energy-to-water ratio became a core engineering focus.

Through optimized condensation cycles, heat recovery systems, intelligent controls, and renewable energy integration, AKVO continuously improves performance while adapting output to real-world climate conditions.

Beyond Collection: Delivering Safe Drinking Water
Generating water from air is only the beginning. The collected water undergoes a multi-stage treatment process including:

  • Filtration and purification
  • Controlled remineralization
  • Continuous quality monitoring

This ensures the water consistently meets recognized drinking water quality standards and remains suitable for institutional and industrial use.

Making Adoption Easier with Water-as-a-Service
For many organizations, the challenge isn’t confidence in the technology—it’s the upfront investment.

AKVO’s pay-per-liter model lowers adoption barriers by allowing businesses and institutions to consume water as an operating expense instead of committing to large capital purchases from day one.

Building in India, for Indian Conditions
Localization remains a key focus for AKVO. Manufacturing and assembly continue to move deeper into India’s supply chain ecosystem while maintaining access to specialized global components where needed.

Building closer to deployment conditions also enables faster learning, better optimization, and stronger supply resilience.

The Future Is Decentralized Water
As cities face increasing water stress, Navkaran believes future water systems will not rely on one centralized source alone.

Instead, resilient cities will combine conventional supply with distributed water generation—deploying solutions across campuses, commercial spaces, public infrastructure, and industrial sites.

Advice for Climate-Tech Founders
Climate technology moves at the pace of physics, not software.

Navkaran’s advice to founders is simple: stay obsessed with the problem, expect long development cycles, and remain close to real-world deployment—because lasting innovation is built in the field.

You can read the full interview here

Tech Stories

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India is facing a critical paradox: we are one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, yet nearly 600 million of our people live under severe water stress. With roughly 70% of our surface water contaminated and groundwater tables rapidly declining, the drinking water gap has evolved from a local hurdle into a major national infrastructure challenge.

As a founder building Atmospheric Water Generation (AWG) technology at Akvo, I am frequently asked if pulling drinking water from the air can truly scale.

The honest answer? AWG will not replace rivers, rainwater harvesting, or municipal supply. However, it is fast becoming the most credible decentralized option to bridge the last-mile drinking water gap. It steps in precisely where the ground has failed us, the pipes haven’t reached, or the existing source is unsafe.

The atmosphere above India holds an estimated 13,000 cubic kilometers of water vapor at any given time—far more than all of our rivers combined. AWG simply taps a tiny sliver of this endless, renewable reservoir.

Moving the Needle Where It Matters Most

The goal of AWG isn’t to flood cities with air-to-water units. Instead, it is meant to target acute pain points where conventional infrastructure naturally struggles:

  • Schools & Healthcare Centers: Providing pure water in districts heavily affected by fluoride or arsenic.

  • Remote & Border Posts: Eliminating the punishing logistics of trucking water to distant terrains.

  • Campuses & Industrial Sites: Replacing the massive financial and plastic waste of packaged bottled water.

  • Disaster Relief: Deploying mobile AWG units that can be airlifted and producing clean water within hours.

This targeted approach offers a powerful opportunity for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and ESG capital. Rather than funding temporary fixes, partners can invest in decentralized infrastructure that delivers verifiable impact data daily through IoT dashboards—measuring success in clean liters generated, not just photographs.

Turning the Economic Tide

What was once an expensive novelty is now a commercially viable reality. Thanks to advancements in compressor efficiency, heat exchanger design, and predictive maintenance, the cost per liter has dropped significantly. In warm, humid climatic zones, AWG is now highly competitive with—and often cheaper than—packaged or tankered water once you factor in logistics and plastic disposal.

Furthermore, the rise of the Water-as-a-Service (WaaS) model allows schools, hospitals, and municipalities to pay only for the liters they consume, removing the upfront capital barrier entirely.

Knowing the Limits

True credibility in climate technology relies on what we refuse to overpromise. AWG is a specialized drinking water solution designed to deliver the vital 20 to 30 liters a person needs each day. It is environment-dependent, meaning output naturally drops in cold, dry regions like high-altitude Ladakh or during peak North Indian winters. To manage energy consumption sustainably, pairing AWG with rooftop solar is rapidly becoming our default design.

The Mesh Architecture of Water

India’s water future won’t rely on a single, grand pipeline. It will look like a collaborative mesh: surface water where abundant, groundwater where sustainable, rainwater harvesting where possible, recycled water for utilities, and atmospheric water precisely where the other options fail.

At Akvo, we are building for that future—one decentralized unit at a time.

This article was originally published on Financial Express. You can read the full, unabridged piece here: Air to Water: Can Atmospheric Technologies Solve India’s Drinking Water Gap?

TechGraph

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India’s growing water crisis is forcing cities to rethink where water comes from. From declining groundwater levels in Bengaluru to recurring shortages in Chennai and increasing pressure on urban infrastructure, conventional water sources are under strain.

Yet one abundant resource often goes unnoticed: the moisture present in the air around us.

Atmospheric Water Generation (AWG) technology captures humidity from ambient air and converts it into safe drinking water. Unlike traditional water systems, AWGs do not rely on groundwater, municipal pipelines, or tanker deliveries. Water is produced directly at the point of use through a process of condensation, purification, and mineralisation.

For commercial buildings, hospitals, educational institutions, industries, and residential developments, AWG offers a decentralised and sustainable water solution. It reduces dependence on external water sources while supporting water security and sustainability goals.

The technology is particularly effective across much of India, where humidity levels remain favourable for a significant part of the year. Advances in energy efficiency, IoT-based monitoring, and system performance have also made AWG increasingly viable from both operational and economic perspectives.

As urban populations grow and climate pressures intensify, water resilience will require more than traditional infrastructure alone. Distributed solutions like atmospheric water generation can play an important role in strengthening future water security.

The question is no longer whether air can become a water source. Across India and beyond, it already is.

Read the full article by Navkaran Singh Bagga here

NITI Frontier Tech Hub

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2,000 Machines, 15 Countries, Zero Groundwater: The Rise of Atmospheric Water Infrastructure

As Indian cities face growing water stress, alternative and decentralised water solutions are becoming increasingly important. Atmospheric water generation (AWG) technology is emerging as one such solution by producing drinking water directly from humidity in the air.

Founded in 2017 by Navkaran Singh Bagga, Kolkata-based Akvo Atmospheric Water Systems has developed AWG systems that reduce dependence on groundwater, water tankers, and bottled water. Since its first deployment in 2018, the company has installed over 2,000 systems across 15 countries, collectively generating more than 100 million litres of drinking water.

Akvo’s systems work by extracting moisture from ambient air, condensing it into water, and purifying it through multi-stage filtration and UV sterilisation. Minerals are then added to improve taste and quality.

The technology is particularly effective in humid urban regions and is currently being used across industries, hospitals, institutions, renewable energy sites, and commercial campuses in cities such as Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, and Goa.

Beyond water generation, the systems are helping organisations reduce plastic waste, lower dependence on groundwater extraction, and improve water resilience as part of broader sustainability and ESG initiatives.

As climate change and urbanisation continue to pressure conventional water infrastructure, decentralised technologies like atmospheric water generation are becoming an important part of the future water security conversation.

Read the full article here

TimesTech

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In an interview with TimesTech, Navkaran Singh Bagga, Founder & CEO of Akvo Atmospheric Water Systems discusses the rising importance of decentralized water solutions in a climate-challenged world. He highlights how atmospheric water generation, IoT integration, and Water-as-a-Service models are reshaping water access. The conversation also explores scalability challenges, sustainability goals, and Akvo’s mission to address global water scarcity through innovation.

TimesTech: Akvo has been at the forefront of atmospheric water generation — how do you see decentralized water systems evolving as a core component of climate-resilient infrastructure globally?

Navkaran: Water infrastructure was constructed for climate conditions which have shifted. Reservoir levels are dropping, aquifers are running out of water, and we cannot build enough pipelines fast enough to keep up with the growth in cities. As a result, we will see more and more and more decentralised water systems (like atmospheric water generation or rainwater collection; reuse of on-site wastewater) be used in addition to municipal supplies as part of an overall plan for resilience, but rather than serving as a replacement system. Over the next 10 years, all of the major components of infrastructure (schools, hospitals, data storage centres, and industrial sites) will be designed with a decentralised water programme built-in at the point of use. I am already seeing the change in all of the 15 countries in which we work.

TimesTech: Your technology transforms air into drinking water — what have been the biggest technological and environmental challenges in scaling AWG systems across diverse geographies?

Navkaran: The core technical challenge is performance under highly variable ambient conditions. Output is environment-dependent i.e. best in warm, humid air and falling sharply in cold or dry zones. So, every geography requires honest climatic modelling before deployment. We have engineered around this through refrigerant optimisation, heat exchanger design and IoT-driven controls that adapt to real-time conditions. Environmentally, the bigger challenge has been energy intensity. Pairing AWG with rooftop solar, and improving the coefficient of performance generation after generation, is how we keep the litre-per-kilowatt-hour equation moving in the right direction. Transparency with customers on all of this is non-negotiable.

TimesTech: With IoT integration becoming central to infrastructure, how is Akvo leveraging intelligent technologies to transform water from a basic utility into smart, data-driven infrastructure?

Navkaran: At Akvo, we treat every machine as a connected asset. Our platform, Nimbus OS, runs across our fleet and gives us real-time visibility into run hours, litres produced, energy consumed, ambient temperature and humidity, filter health and component performance. That data does three things: it enables predictive maintenance before failures occur, lets clients see their environmental impact daily in litres produced and plastic bottles avoided, and allows us to continuously improve product design based on field reality. Water, once instrumented, stops being a silent utility and becomes accountable infrastructure exactly what industrial and CSR clients increasingly demand.

TimesTech: The concept of “Water-as-a-Service” is gaining traction — how do you see this model reshaping water access for industries and urban ecosystems in the coming years?

Navkaran: Water-as-a-Service fundamentally changes who carries the risk. Instead of a client making a large capital purchase and hoping the technology performs, a partner like Akvo invests in the machine and the client pays only for the water actually consumed. That single shift unlocks schools, hospitals, factories and housing societies that would never sign off on a capex line. It also forces us, the provider, to keep uptime and quality high because revenue depends on it. Over the coming years this model will do for decentralised water what leasing did for commercial real estate making access routine, predictable and measurable.

TimesTech: Akvo has already achieved significant global scale, generating millions of litres of water annually — what strategies have been key in balancing sustainability, affordability, and scalability?

Navkaran: The most significant decisions made by the organisation were as follows: the main production facility is located in Chennai and is run by our company instead of Outsourcing; all products manufactured will be of the same design allowing for a variety of market applications based on the same design; we will be partnering with local companies in each of the markets we operate in through joint venture rather than exporting our products from across the globe. A successful sustainable business is only possible when the supply chain, product design and go to market strategy are all developed to support one another.

TimesTech: As someone with a diverse entrepreneurial background, what inspired your transition into climate-tech, and how do you envision Akvo’s role in addressing global water scarcity over the next decade?

Navkaran: My previous business experience has shown me the disciplines of manufacturing, developing markets through exports, and growing during the inevitable downturns. I would like to apply that operational strength to the fields of climate technology and water. Water shortage is not just a future concern, but an active challenge for hundreds of millions of people around the world today. Solutions must be of sufficient industrial scale and commercial grade, rather than a product of goodwill. The goal is for Akvo to become a portable, dependable factor in achieving global water transformation over the next ten years, found in nearly every country, respected by both businesses and governments, and transparent about the capabilities of its technology.

Original article

India Today

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As the world marks Earth Day 2026, the focus is shifting from large, centralized infrastructure to smaller, more resilient local systems. One of the most urgent areas of change is water.

By 2030, global freshwater demand is expected to exceed supply by 40%. Aquifers are being depleted rapidly, rivers are shrinking, and traditional solutions—bigger pipelines and deeper wells—are no longer enough.

Decentralised water solutions offer a new approach.

Water From Air

The atmosphere holds vast amounts of water. Atmospheric Water Generation (AWG) technology captures this moisture, converting it into clean drinking water without relying on groundwater or surface sources.

Akvosphere systems are already operating globally—from deserts to coastal cities—providing independent, on-site water using only air and electricity.

Why Decentralisation Works

Centralised water systems are complex and fragile. Decentralisation allows buildings, schools, hospitals, and communities to produce their own water, reducing dependency on external infrastructure.

This shift mirrors the rise of solar energy—making systems more resilient rather than replacing them entirely.

A Scalable Solution

Modern AWG systems use energy comparable to traditional water supply systems. When paired with solar power, their environmental impact drops further.

Unlike groundwater extraction, long-distance transport, or bottled water, AWG offers a more sustainable and scalable alternative.

The Bigger Shift

Earth Day should be about real change—not just messaging.

Water scarcity is already here. Investing in decentralised solutions like AWG is not just sustainable—it’s necessary.

The air holds the answer. It’s time to use it.

To read the full article, visit India Today

India Today

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Making Water from Air: From Vision to Breakthrough

A Policy Idea Backed by Science

In 2020, during a virtual interaction with Vestas, Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggested that technology could harvest moisture from the air to generate drinking water. What seemed ambitious at the time has now been reinforced by scientific advancement.

In 2026, Nobel laureate Omar Yaghi, winner of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, unveiled an industrial-scale atmospheric water harvesting system capable of producing up to 1,000 litres of water daily — even in extremely dry regions. Through his California-based company Atoco, Yaghi has translated advanced materials science into a practical solution.

The Science: Reticular Chemistry and Molecular Sponges

At the core of this breakthrough is reticular chemistry, a field focused on designing crystalline structures known as Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs). These highly porous materials function like molecular sponges, capturing water directly from the air through adsorption rather than energy-intensive cooling.

Unlike conventional Atmospheric Water Generators (AWGs) that rely on refrigeration to reach dew point, MOF-based systems chemically attract water molecules, allowing operation even at humidity levels as low as 10–20%. This dramatically reduces energy consumption and expands viability to desert environments.

Decentralised Water Security in Practice

Atmospheric harvesting represents a shift toward decentralised water production. A container-sized unit can generate around 1,000 litres of clean water per day and can operate using solar heat, eliminating dependence on pipelines or lMaking water from air, atmospheric water generation, Omar Yaghi Nobel Prize, reticular chemistry, metal organic frameworks MOF, PM Narendra Modi water vision, Atoco atmospheric harvesting, decentralized water solutions, water from dry air technology, climate resilient water systems, India water security, sustainable water innovationarge infrastructure.

In India, AKVO, led by Navkaran Singh Bagga, deploys condensation-based AWGs suited to the country’s diverse climates. These systems filter air, condense moisture, and purify it through multi-stage treatment, reducing reliance on groundwater, tankers, and bottled water.

A New Era of Resilience

With billions lacking access to safe drinking water and climate pressures intensifying, atmospheric water generation offers a scalable and resilient alternative. By extracting water directly from the air, communities can move toward self-sufficiency — transforming a forward-looking vision into a tangible solution.

Read the full original article here: India Today

Responsible Us

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Ethical Innovation: How Responsible Tech Can Solve the Water Crisis

By Navkaran Singh Bagga, CEO & Founder, Akvo

The water crisis is no longer a future concern — it is a present reality. Cities like Bengaluru, Chennai, and Mumbai face severe water scarcity driven by groundwater depletion, infrastructure stress, and climate change. But this is not just a technical issue — it is social, economic, and environmental.

Solving it requires ethical innovation — technology designed not only for efficiency, but for long-term sustainability, equitable access, and environmental responsibility.

Rethinking Water Through Atmospheric Generation

Atmospheric Water Generation (AWG) offers a decentralized approach by extracting moisture from the air and converting it into safe drinking water. By generating water at the point of use, AWGs reduce reliance on overexploited aquifers and strained municipal systems.

Decentralized production also reduces:

  • Carbon emissions from tanker transportation

  • Plastic waste from bottled water

  • Pressure on natural water bodies

Because AWGs can operate using solar, grid, or hybrid energy sources, they are adaptable to urban, rural, industrial, and disaster-prone areas.

Making Sustainability Economically Accessible

Ethical innovation must also be financially inclusive. Akvo’s Water-on-Want (WoW) initiative follows an OPEX-based Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) model, eliminating upfront CAPEX. Organizations pay only for the water they consume, while Akvo manages installation and maintenance.

This model lowers adoption barriers and makes sustainable water access both practical and scalable.

Innovation With Purpose

The water crisis demands more than infrastructure upgrades — it requires responsibility built into technology itself. Atmospheric Water Generation demonstrates that innovation can preserve natural resources, empower communities, and strengthen resilience.

The future of water security lies not in extraction, but in regeneration — and in innovation driven by purpose.

Read the full original article here: Responsible Us

The Better India

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This Kolkata-Based Startup Is Turning Air Into Water — Over 100 Million Litres and Counting

From Curiosity to Climate Action

Founded by Navkaran Singh Bagga, Akvo Atmospheric Water Systems is redefining how India thinks about drinking water. Headquartered in Kolkata, the company has generated over 100 million litres of clean drinking water across 15 countries — without extracting a single drop from the ground.

With cities like Bengaluru and Chennai facing recurring shortages, and water stress rising in Mumbai, the urgency is clear. Bagga, who studied finance but nurtured a lifelong passion for technology, launched Akvo in 2017 to decentralise access to safe water using Atmospheric Water Generators (AWGs).

Turning Humidity into Drinking Water

Akvo’s AWGs extract moisture from ambient air, filter it, cool it to trigger condensation, and purify the collected water through multi-stage filtration and UV treatment. Essential minerals are then added to ensure the water is safe and balanced for consumption.

The systems perform especially well in humid regions and can operate on grid electricity, solar panels, or generators. Depending on climate conditions, they can produce between 2.5 to 4 litres of water per unit of electricity.

Since its first deployment in 2018, Akvo has installed more than 2,000 systems across India, the Middle East, and parts of South America.

Sustainable Solutions for Industry and Communities

Akvo’s clients include manufacturing plants, renewable energy sites, and hospitals seeking to reduce reliance on groundwater and plastic bottles. At the Tuppadahalli Wind Farm in Karnataka, operated by Acciona, water is now generated on-site — aligning clean water production with renewable power generation.

The company also offers a flexible BOOT (Build, Own, Operate, Transfer) model, allowing businesses to adopt sustainable water systems without upfront capital investment. Clients simply pay for the water they consume.

Scaling with Purpose

Operating with a lean team and without external investors, Akvo has focused on mission-driven growth. Its systems range from 50-litre units to industrial-scale machines producing up to 30,000 litres per day.

As expansion plans target water-stressed yet humid regions in Africa and the Gulf, the vision remains clear: decentralised, climate-resilient water access that reduces dependence on pipelines, tankers, and bottled water.

Akvo’s journey is not just about technology — it is about rethinking water itself. Instead of digging deeper into the ground, the company looks upward, tapping into the vast reservoir already present in the air around us.

Read the full original article here: The Better India

The Hans India

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India’s water paradox is stark—we have abundant rivers and monsoons, yet face recurring shortages. Over 80% of our drinking water comes from underground aquifers, but relentless extraction is depleting them. Cities like Chennai, Bengaluru, and Delhi are already seeing the consequences through sinking water tables, salinity, and supply conflicts.

Traditional fixes—dams, canals, and desalination—help but come with ecological and economic trade-offs. With demand outpacing supply, it’s clear we need new approaches.

One overlooked source lies above us: the atmosphere. It holds six times more water than Earth’s rivers. With Atmospheric Water Generators (AWGs), we can harvest humidity and convert it into safe drinking water—right where it’s needed. This decentralized model cuts dependence on tankers, pipelines, and plastic bottles, while offering resilience in times of patchy rainfall or aquifer stress.

India’s humid climate makes AWGs especially viable. They can complement rainwater harvesting, recharge programs, wastewater treatment, and desalination—diversifying our water portfolio much like solar energy transformed power generation. With the right policy recognition, corporate adoption, and public mindset shift, atmospheric water can become a mainstream solution.

Water should not be a privilege but a basic right, as accessible as switching on a light. By looking up, not just down, India can move from depletion to renewal.

Read the full article here: The Hans India

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