#57 SOURCE
Turning air and sunlight into clean drinking water
Read time: 5 minutes
Hi, I’m Javi Gascón.
This is Climate Tech Distillery, a newsletter where I talk about one specific climate tech company every week.
Subscribe for free to receive my weekly articles in your inbox.
Today we’ll distill a company that’s using revolutionary hydropanels to harness sunlight and air to create limitless, clean drinking water: SOURCE 🇺🇸
Want to sponsor Climate Tech Distillery? Here’s all the info.
What Problem Does SOURCE Tackle❓
SOURCE addresses the critical problem of inadequate access to clean, safe drinking water, which can be broken down into several key issues:
1. Lack of Access to Clean Water: An estimated 2.4 billion people globally lack access to safe drinking water, according to the United Nations.
2. Water Scarcity: Global freshwater demand is expected to exceed supply by 40% by 2030. Droughts are becoming more intense and frequent, increasing by 29% since 2000.
3. Infrastructure Limitations: Traditional water infrastructure often fails to reach rural, tribal, and remote communities. For example, 30% of Navajo Nation residents (about 70,000 people) do not have access to clean drinking water.
4. Economic Burden: Residents in areas without clean water access often spend significant amounts on bottled water, with costs reaching up to $2,000 per year for some Navajo Nation residents.
5. Environmental Impact: The reliance on single-use plastic bottles for drinking water contributes to environmental pollution, with 500 billion single-use plastic bottles used annually.
Product / Service 📦
To solve this SOURCE has created a drinking water system, which utilizes Hydropanel® technology to generate clean drinking water.
Water Generation from Air: The system pulls water vapor from the air and converts it into a pure liquid state using sunlight, eliminating the need for traditional water sources. This is called Atmospheric Water Generation (AWG)
Mineralization and Storage: The water is mineralized for health and taste, and then safely stored until it is dispensed.
Accessibility: This technology is particularly beneficial for areas with limited access to reliable drinking water, such as rural or off-grid locations, and small islands. It requires 0 external electricity or water sources.
Climate-Resilience: The system is climate-proof, addressing water supply problems in areas prone to water scarcity or lack of electricity.
Data-Driven: A wireless transmitter inside each Hydropanel allows them to monitor performance and troubleshoot any issues remotely.
SOURCE basically provides a sustainable, reliable, and innovative solution for clean drinking water, making it accessible to everyone, regardless of geographical constraints.
Market 🌐
The global water treatment market was valued at approximately $244.6 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 7-8% from 2023 to 2030. The niche segment of atmospheric water generation, though smaller, is growing rapidly due to increasing demand for sustainable water solutions.
Other Key Players
Watergen 🇮🇱: An AWG system that uses GENius technology to produce up to 6,000 liters of fresh drinking water per day from air moisture.
Solar2Water 🇬🇧: A portable and easy to deploy, solar-powered AWG that can produce water regardless of external humidity, making it suitable for various environments.
Desolenator 🇳🇱: A mobile, off-grid desalination unit that uses solar power to purify water from various sources, including rainwater and seawater.
Founding Story 🦄
SOURCE, originally known as Zero Mass Water, was founded in 2014 by Cody Friesen. Friesen, an innovator and business leader, is also a professor at Arizona State University and a senior sustainability scientist at the ASU Global Institute of Sustainability. He developed the SOURCE® Hydropanel, a technology that sustainably produces drinking water using sunlight and air, independent of traditional infrastructure.
His vision was to make drinking water an unlimited resource, particularly for areas with limited access to potable water. With a background in advanced technology and a track record of founding companies like Nant Energy, Friesen brought significant expertise to SOURCE.
Their solutions are now available for communities, residential homes and businesses. All wanting drinking water independence.
The company has raised $270 million from Microsoft's Climate Innovation Fund, Breakthrough Energy Ventures and other top funds.
Top Impact Stats 📈
1. SOURCE has implemented tens of thousands of its Hydropanels in 45 countries across six continents.
2. They have implemented 30 projects across UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Jordan, and Cyprus, with over 2,500 hydropanels operating to produce drinking water.
3. A plant in Lahbab (UAE) is expected to produce 1.5 million liters of drinking water annually.
Whenever you’re ready, there are 2 ways I can help you:
Scale and optimize your climate business: I build low-code automation systems for climate companies so they can free up time to scale their revenues and their climate impact.
Give visibility to your climate company: Get your company in front of an audience of thousands of climate players and enthusiasts by sponsoring newsletter issues and LinkedIn posts.
Thanks for reading today’s issue! If you liked it feel free to hit the ❤️ button and share it with someone who might like it too. See you next Saturday :)