WAVR Technologies, a startup born in the Nevada desert, claims to have cracked the code on turning air into water, securing $4 million in funding to commercialize technology that can harvest up to 10,000 gallons daily from the atmosphere, even with humidity as low as 10%.
The breakthrough comes as the Colorado River faces its worst drought in recorded history, according to the Las Vegas Valley Water District. Additionally, UNICEF reported that four billion people worldwide experience severe water scarcity for at least one month annually.
WAVR Technologies emerged from University of Nevada, Las Vegas research in May 2024, developing atmospheric water harvesting systems that deliver a 20-fold leap in water yield over existing methods, according to the company.
The technology works effectively in humidity levels that would render traditional water generation useless, targeting the driest communities where freshwater challenges reach critical levels.
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Tree Frogs Inspire Breakthrough Water Harvesting Technology
The research team drew inspiration from nature’s most efficient water collectors when developing their groundbreaking system. Emilie Luong, a WAVR technician, described the core technology to KTNV-TV during laboratory demonstrations.
“Think of a contact lens or, like, any rice,” Luong said, explaining the hydrogel membrane that functions as the system’s foundation.
The permeable hydrogel membrane acts as artificial “skin” while liquid desiccant continuously extracts moisture from ambient air, mimicking how tree frogs absorb atmospheric water through their skin. This biomimetic approach captures water far faster than state-of-the-art atmospheric water generation methods while requiring significantly less physical space, according to WAVR.
Traditional atmospheric water harvesting systems operate in cyclical batches, but WAVR said its technology enables continuous operation for maximum freshwater yield. The distillation process can utilize grid electricity, solar power, or industrial waste heat to dramatically reduce water production costs.
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Desert Forge Ventures Leads $4 Million Funding Round
Desert Forge Ventures Managing Partner Len Jessup led the funding initiative with private donors contributing the entire $4 million raised to date, according to a statement from UNLV.
"WAVR is solving one of the most urgent challenges facing the American West: reliable access to water," Jessup said in the statement. "Their technology is uniquely capable of operating in the most water-stressed environments, and WAVR is exactly the type of team we had in mind when we launched the fund."
WAVR co-founder and CEO Rich Sloan outlined how the funding will help the company transition from lab success to large-scale impact. "With this investment, we're accelerating commercial pilot deployments to meet demand across commercial, industrial, agricultural, and municipal markets," Sloan said in the statement.
He emphasized that the technology is designed to operate in the driest conditions while integrating into existing infrastructure such as data centers and manufacturing plants, where excess heat can be repurposed to lower costs and boost efficiency.
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Atmospheric Water Generation Addresses Colorado River Crisis
The Las Vegas Valley Water District reported it relies on the Colorado River for 90% of its water supply, while Lake Mead levels continue to decline due to reduced Rocky Mountain snowfall.
Aquifers beneath Las Vegas cannot keep pace with the city's rapid growth, intensifying the need for alternative water sources. “There’s not enough coming out of the river,” Jessup told KTNV-TV. “There’s not enough in the aquifers underneath Las Vegas to sustain the growth that’s happening here.”
WAVR says its technology targets commercial applications, irrigation, master-planned community infrastructure, remote communities seeking water security, disaster response operations, and various industrial processes requiring distilled water.
National Library of Medicine-published research describes atmospheric water harvesting as an “inevitable path of the future” for addressing global water challenges.
Jessup noted that Las Vegas’s startup ecosystem has been ranked among the top five in the country, enabling Desert Forge Ventures to diversify the local economy while potentially revolutionizing Southern Nevada’s water supply through atmospheric harvesting innovation, according to KTNV-TV.
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