Gulfood 2025: UAE brand extracts drinkable water from conference room air

Abu Dhabi brand Ma Hawa is showcasing the concept of “wireless water” at global food and beverage industry event Gulfood in Dubai this week.

It's not a new idea, but the homegrown company's technology has been turning heads at the annual event by producing water from the air surrounding a machine the size of a standard water dispenser. Visitors to the Ma Hawa booth were then able to sample water captured from the air in the conference hall.

Ma Hawa chief executive Michael Rutman describes the technology used to generate water as “raining in a box”.

“What happens in the sky? You have a hot air stream and a cold air stream. They meet each other. When they meet, it reaches the dew point temperature, the molecules start to stick to each other, then gravity pulls them down. That's what we do in this machine,” he said.

Mr Rutman admits that creating water from air has been done before – “every air conditioner creates water from air” he told The National. However, what is new is the patent technology that allows five litres of water to be created using one kilowatt of energy. That's about the same amount of energy used watching television for 10 hours.

Ma Hawa has machines deployed across the GCC, with requests for orders from South America, North America, and Europe, says the company.

Thousands of litres of clean water

The company has a range of machines with generating capacity spanning 30 litres a day for those intended for household use, up to 6,000 litres a day for machines designed for hospitals and hotels. Mr Rutman told The National that if you can breathe it, you can drink it. However, for sanitary reasons the water does undergo purification within the “box”.

By creating the concept of wireless water, Mr Rutman said the company aims to address key water challenges – its availability, its transportation, and preventing microplastics from contaminating drinking water. “Introducing concepts that will make water wireless, you can create your water on the spot. You can do it in your home, in your office, in hospital, in the city, mall – anywhere.”

Beverages are big business at Gulfood, with water on show from Italy, Turkey, Germany and other countries. Many brands are promoting “baby safe” and “naturally sourced” products.

Addressing global water shortage sustainably

The World Bank reports that more than 2 billion people globally do not have access to safely managed drinking water services, with the situation especially dire in the Middle East and North Africa.

In the region – which includes 15 of the world’s most water-scarce countries – nearly 60 per cent of the population live in areas experiencing extreme water stress.

In a recent opinion piece for The National, Mohammed Saif Al Suwaidi, director general of Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, said “climate-induced water scarcity could reduce the region’s gross domestic product by up to 14 per cent in the coming decades, underscoring the urgent need for action”.

Last year, the World Wildlife Fund released its first-ever annual estimate of the economic value of the world's water and freshwater systems, placing it at $58 trillion – about 60 per cent of global GDP.

The ongoing degradation of rivers, lakes, wetlands, and aquifers – a situation exacerbated by climate change – jeopardises the global economy and presents serious challenges to both humanity and the planet.

The UAE has been championing the sustainable water agenda. In 2024, the UAE pledged to place water scarcity on the global agenda at the first council meeting of the Mohamed bin Zayed Water Initiative.

The next UN Water Conference will be held in Dubai in 2026. It will be co-hosted by the UAE and Senegal.

Gulfood, featuring 5,000 exhibitors from 129 countries, is taking place at Dubai World Trade Centre from February 17 to February 21.

Thousands of visitors attend Gulfood