Climate technology firm WaHa has deepened its collaboration with Khalifa University in a move aimed at accelerating the development of its energy-efficient atmospheric water generation (AWG) systems amid rising water security concerns across the Middle East.
The partnership will focus on enhancing the performance of WaHa’s proprietary Vaporator® technology, which extracts drinking water from air.
The research effort will target improvements in energy efficiency and materials engineering, with the ultimate goal of deploying scalable, off-grid water solutions throughout the UAE and other arid regions.
The announcement builds on an ongoing collaboration that began in April 2024.
Since then, Khalifa University researchers have been testing successive versions of the Vaporator in Abu Dhabi.
The latest model, according to the company, achieved 100% operational uptime and a 99.9% reliability rate—while surpassing daily water production benchmarks and improving energy performance.
“This collaboration represents a significant advance in the region’s efforts to tackle water scarcity,” said Professor Samuel Sheng Mao, Director of the ASPIRE Virtual Research Institute for Sustainable Energy at Khalifa University. “By combining Khalifa University’s deep expertise in materials science with WaHa’s cutting-edge technology, we aim to develop sustainable and transformative water solutions for the Middle East and beyond.”
WaHa President Chris Kay described the Vaporator as a potentially game-changing technology for desert regions.
“Our expanded partnership with Khalifa University will enable us to accelerate deployment of distributed, reliable water systems,” Kay said. “The outstanding test results in Abu Dhabi’s challenging climate validate our design approach.”
AWG technology has gained traction globally as an alternative water source, particularly in areas where groundwater or desalination infrastructure is not feasible.
WaHa’s Vaporator units are designed to function independently of existing utilities, offering a potential lifeline in remote or underserved communities.
The initiative aligns with the UAE’s broader sustainability agenda, which includes targets for water conservation and resource efficiency under its national strategy for climate resilience.
The collaboration is expected to yield further technological refinements and potentially pave the way for commercial scaling in the GCC and beyond.
