Making water from air: Abu Dhabi and Israeli companies sign agreement

The partnership will provide a source of renewable drinking water

Khadim Al Darei, vice-chairman and co-founder of Al Dahra Holding and Michael Mirilashvili, CEO and president of Watergen, sign the agreement. Wam  

An Abu Dhabi company has signed a partnership with an Israeli firm to produce water from the air, it was announced on Thursday.

The UAE’s Al Dahra Holding, a company that produces animal feed and food products, and Watergen, the Israeli firm that develops water-from-air solutions, signed the agreement to enhance the Emirates' water security.

Air-to-water technology converts humidity in the air to water.

Both companies will work to create a renewable source of water for human and agricultural consumption.

The two companies agreed to establish a permanent centre in Abu Dhabi for manufacturing and distributing drinking and irrigation water production equipment.

Watergen has developed a technology to produce water from the air and patented the world's most energy-efficient atmospheric water generator (AWG).

The agreement was signed after a delegation of the UAE company visited Israel in October 2020.

It will help provide large quantities of drinking water and water used in the irrigation of farms, parks, reserves, ranches and remote areas.

The five-year project will be developed and adjusted to accommodate the UAE desert environment.

An AWG can produce up to 5,000 litres of water per day.

"Al Dahra aims to find sustainable and comprehensive environmental solutions that will protect the environment and support sustainable development programmes in the UAE," said Khadim Al Darei, vice-chairman and co-founder of Al Dahra Holding.

He said the technology will help create renewable water sources instead of digging wells or water desalination.

"Our visit to Abu Dhabi is due to the long-awaited Abraham Accord, which was signed by the UAE and Israel to establish stability in the region and normalise the ties between the two countries," said Michael Mirilashvili, CEO and president of Watergen.

AWGs have an internal water treatment system and can operate without any special infrastructure.

Large-scale AWGs are designed for towns, villages, factories, off-grid settlements and rural communities.

They can also be installed on rooftops, helping to decentralise the supply of safe drinking water in areas that have insufficient water infrastructure.

AWGs with capacities of up to 800 litres of water per day can be used in offices and smaller ones of 30 litres in homes.

Signing of the Abraham Accord in pictures