Water is the source of life — our most precious resource, whose availability must never be taken for granted. Unfortunately, we live in a time when climate change, environmental pollution, and the uncontrolled exploitation of resources are leading to increasingly frequent shortages of clean water worldwide.
According to data from the European Environment Agency three years ago, more than one-third of the EU population and nearly half of its territory faced seasonal water scarcity. Cyprus, Malta, and Romania were among the most affected when comparing water consumption with renewable resources in 2022. The situation is, of course, far more complex in sub-Saharan Africa, where millions of people lack stable access to safe water sources and often walk kilometers to reach the nearest well. In South Asia, particularly in India and Bangladesh, rapid population growth and groundwater pollution exacerbate water supply challenges. Meanwhile, the Middle East and North Africa are increasingly hit by droughts, leaving countries such as Yemen and Sudan among the most vulnerable.
In an effort to improve resource protection, the European Union recently reached an agreement to update the list of pollutants that member states must monitor in surface and groundwater. For the first time, pharmaceuticals have been included, along with new pesticides (including glyphosate) and certain PFAS substances. However, while this decision may appear to be a significant step forward, experts caution that it has serious shortcomings. Member states have managed to postpone the implementation of these new standards until 2039, with the possibility of extending them even further to 2045 — meaning that the real impact of these measures will be delayed for decades.
Furthermore, the agreement weakened the non-deterioration principle from the EU Water Framework Directive, introducing exceptions that allow short-term negative impacts and quality deterioration in cases of water or sediment transfer. Environmental organizations believe that this opens the door to increased discharge of toxic substances into rivers, while industrial lobbies continue to pressure the Commission to further weaken environmental protection. Experts warn that repeated delays leave insufficient time for member states to incorporate measures against new pollutants into their river basin management plans by 2027.
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In such circumstances, it is clear that, in addition to the regulations being implemented, the world is also seeking innovations and solutions that can provide water where it is scarce. One such solution has been developed by researchers from the University of Texas at Austin. Their method, based on molecular engineering, enables a wide range of natural materials — from food waste to twigs or seashells — to be transformed into a hydrogel sorbent capable of absorbing moisture from the air and releasing it as water. This process is based on sorption — the ability of a material to attract and retain water molecules. Sorption includes two processes: adsorption and absorption. In the case of biomass-based hydrogels, absorption is the key process, as the biomass hydrogel acts like a sponge, possessing a molecularly modified structure that attracts and binds water molecules. When the hydrogel is later gently heated, this bound water is released in the form of droplets that can be collected as drinking water. Almost any natural material based on plant polysaccharides — such as cellulose, starch, or chitosan — can be turned into an efficient water harvester.
Therefore, biomass itself is not a source of water — it is chemically transformed into a hydrogel, a material that functions as a “tool” for capturing moisture from the air. In this process, air is the actual source of water. At the same time, biomass serves as the raw material used to create a material capable of retaining that moisture and later releasing it.
The field test results are exceptional. While other technologies typically produce between one and five liters of water per day per kilogram of material or sorbent, these hydrogels can generate up to 14 liters. This amount can be sufficient to meet some of a family’s basic daily water needs, especially in smaller communities or during crisis situations.
The advantages are clear: the material is inexpensive, widely available, and biodegradable, while the technology supports sustainable water production. However, there are also certain limitations. One of them is that the amount of water produced depends on the humidity level in the air. In addition, there is a strong likelihood that the collected water must undergo a simple verification or treatment process before it can be used for drinking or commercial purposes.
The essence of this discovery lies in its simplicity — from what is considered waste, a system is created that extracts the most vital resource — water — from the air.
Prepared by: Milica Vučković
The story was published in Energy portal Magazine GREEN ARCHITECTURE
