UNEP Banner

Anastasia Kaschenko - Canadian, North America

2018 Winner | | Canadian

Majik Water uses novel technology combined with locally-adapted design to harvest clean drinking water from the atmosphere and deliver it to people and communities in our world’s driest places, starting in Kenya. Our technology uses solar thermal energy and sponge-like desiccant materials making it possible to get water in a low cost, energy efficient way. Desiccants are materials that adsorb water from air, and release water when heated. The desiccant we use is a material which is safe, non-toxic and abundantly available. How it works: i) Air is pulled into the device using solar powered fan; ii) Desiccant material absorbs water droplets from air; iii) Desiccant is exposed to heat (generated by solar), releasing the moisture as water vapour; iv) This water vapour is condensed into water and filtered with activated carbon; v) The clean water is stored in a tank and accessed via a gravity fed tap system which does not require a motor.

Warning message

Unable to retrieve https://youtu.be/R56PQ6s_obo at this time, please check again later.

I was born in Ukraine and raised in Canada, gaining appreciation for perseverance from the hard work of my immigrant family. I founded three sustainability ventures, raising $60,000+ to seed those projects, and worked as a researcher for Canadian water policy. I was on a finalist team competing in the $20 million Carbon XPRIZE. I was recently selected as a Singularity University Fellow, at NASA Ames Research Centre. At NASA, I launched Majik Water, which harvests clean drinking water from air. Majik Water received the MIT Water Innovation Award and was recognized by Financial Times as one of 50 Ideas to Change the World.

Disclaimer: NOTE: This content was shared online for the 2019 cycle of the Young Champions of the Earth programme and has not been updated. This listing does not constitute any endorsement by nor status with the UN Environment Programme.

Explore More