Gulfood 2025: UAE brand extracts drinkable water from conference room air
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Ma Hawa uses water generation technology to produce drinking water from any location.
Abu Dhabi brand Ma Hawa is showcasing the concept of “wireless water” at global food and beverage industry event Gulfood in Dubai this week.
It's not a new idea, but the homegrown company's technology has been turning heads at the annual event by producing water from the air surrounding a machine the size of a standard water dispenser. Visitors to the Ma Hawa booth were then able to sample water captured from the air in the conference hall.
Ma Hawa chief executive Michael Rutman describes the technology used to generate water as “raining in a box”.
“What happens in the sky? You have a hot air stream and a cold air stream. They meet each other. When they meet, it reaches the dew point temperature, the molecules start to stick to each other, then gravity pulls them down. That's what we do in this machine,” he said.
Mr Rutman admits that creating water from air has been done before – “every air conditioner creates water from air” he told The National. However, what is new is the patent technology that allows five litres of water to be created using one kilowatt of energy. That's about the same amount of energy used watching television for 10 hours.
Ma Hawa has machines deployed across the GCC, with requests for orders from South America, North America, and Europe, says the company.
Thousands of litres of clean water
The company has a range of machines with generating capacity spanning 30 litres a day for those intended for household use, up to 6,000 litres a day for machines designed for hospitals and hotels. Mr Rutman told The National that if you can breathe it, you can drink it. However, for sanitary reasons the water does undergo purification within the “box”.
By creating the concept of wireless water, Mr Rutman said the company aims to address key water challenges – its availability, its transportation, and preventing microplastics from contaminating drinking water. “Introducing concepts that will make water wireless, you can create your water on the spot. You can do it in your home, in your office, in hospital, in the city, mall – anywhere.”
Beverages are big business at Gulfood, with water on show from Italy, Turkey, Germany and other countries. Many brands are promoting “baby safe” and “naturally sourced” products.