Atmospheric Water Harvesting Patent Landscape 2026
Atmospheric Water Harvesting Patent Landscape in 2026
The atmospheric water harvesting patent field spans 1,519 families and is led by Source Global PBC, with the field at a maturity stage where annual volume has eased from its 2021 peak but remains active across a commercially diverse applicant base. Separation-process technology dominates the IP mix, while water supply integration and HVAC-adjacent routes represent areas of comparatively lighter coverage.
Source Global PBC leads a moderately concentrated field
Source Global PBC holds the top position among applicants with 103 patent families, followed closely by Air Products and Chemicals Inc with 93. The top five filers together account for 21% of the combined output of the hundred largest filers, indicating a moderately concentrated competitive structure with meaningful second-tier activity.
The tier gap between the leader and the rest is narrow: the top two applicants are separated by only ten families, and ranks three through five — Water Harvesting Inc (60), Genesis Systems LLC (48), and Watergen Ltd (45) — cluster within a 15-family range. This compressed ranking signals that no single player has erected an overwhelming IP barrier.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Source Global PBC | 103 | |
| 2 | AIR PROD & CHEM INC | 93 | |
| 3 | Water Harvesting Inc | 60 | |
| 4 | Genesis Systems LLC | 48 | |
| 5 | Watergen Ltd | 45 | |
| 6 | Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation | 44 | |
| 7 | COMMONWEALTH SCI & IND RES ORG | 40 | |
| 8 | Engelhard Corporation | 38 | |
| 9 | The Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona | 37 | |
| 10 | AirWaterGreen AB | 33 |
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Honeywell International Inc | 32 | |
| 12 | COT Clean Oil Technology AB | 32 | |
| 13 | Czech Technical University in Prague | 31 | |
| 14 | Regents of the University of California | 31 | |
| 15 | Ethonus Inc | 26 | |
| 16 | BOC Group Inc | 25 | |
| 17 | Lehky Jan Marc | 25 | |
| 18 | Worldwide Water Inc | 24 | |
| 19 | Lehky Hagen Monique | 23 | |
| 20 | BASF Catalysts LLC | 22 |
The presence of both commercial entities and public-sector applicants (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Arizona Board of Regents, Czech Technical University in Prague, Regents of the University of California) in the top fifteen suggests that foundational technology remains partially open to academic licensing and partnership, which lowers barriers for new entrants pursuing collaborative development paths.
Filing counts for 2024 and 2025 are subject to publication lag and likely understate true activity; trend reads for those years should be treated as provisional. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Activity peaked in 2021; separation processes dominate the technology mix
The filing trend chart tracks annual family counts from 2017 to 2026, while the technology composition chart maps the distribution of IPC branches across the corpus. Together they reveal a field that grew sharply into 2021 and has since plateaued, with an IP mix anchored overwhelmingly in separation science.
Annual filing trend
Annual filings rose from 159 in 2017, dipped in 2018–2019, then surged to a peak of 259 in 2021 before stepping down to 215 in 2022, 179 in 2023, and 134 in 2024. The 2025 and 2026 figures reflect publication lag and should not be read as real declines; the underlying pace of invention through 2024 is consistent with a field at or near maturity.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
Separation processes (B01D) account by far for the largest share of IPC coverage, followed by water supply and distribution (E03B) and water treatment (C02F). Air conditioning and ventilation (F24F), chemical processes and catalysis (B01J), and refrigeration (F25B, F25D) form a meaningful secondary cluster, reflecting the thermal and desiccant pathways pursued alongside membrane and adsorption routes.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaHighly cited patent families surfaced by the query
Citation-heavy patent families returned by the query. Use this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents.
Devices for harvesting drinking water from air usi…
Devices and methods for atmospheric water harvesting may be useful to obtain drinking water from air of moderate humidity, in a process driven directly by solar energy. Devices feature a recirculating stream of a fluid, such as air, and include heat recuperation to heat fluid in one portion of the stream using heat contained in another portion of the… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heavy hydrocarbon recovery from pressure swing ads… | 209 |
| 2 | Method and apparatus for producing potable water f… | 206 |
| 3 | Process for separating fluids and apparatus | 199 |
| 4 | Method and apparatus for recovering water from air | 181 |
| 5 | Temperature swing adsorption | 179 |
| 6 | Conjugate fiber, fibrous material and fibrous arti… | 166 |
| 7 | Use of zeolites and alumina in adsorption processes | 153 |
| 8 | Apparatus and method for extracting potable water … | 152 |
Ranked by total forward citations. Citation counts favour older and broadly cited patent families, and broad or adjacent patents may appear when they match the search scope. Treat this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents. Some patent titles may be shown in their original, non-English language where an accurate translation could not be guaranteed.
What the IP structure means for R&D investment decisions
Four structural observations — maturity stage, concentration level, collaboration patterns, and geographic footprint — shape the risk and opportunity profile for teams entering or expanding in this field.
Field at maturity; annual volume has eased from its 2021 peak
The lifecycle evidence places this field at the Maturity stage, with annual filings having plateaued near the 2021 peak of 259 families. Teams entering now face an established prior-art landscape, particularly in adsorption and condensation routes, making differentiated claim drafting essential. Incremental improvements to system efficiency, materials selection, and integration with renewable power are more likely to yield defensible positions than broad platform claims.
Maturity stageModerate concentration with a competitive second tier
The top five filers hold 21% of the hundred largest filers’ combined output, and the gap between ranks one and five is only 58 families. This compressed structure means that a focused R&D program of moderate scale can realistically reach the top ten. However, entrenched applicants in separation-process subclasses (B01D) will require freedom-to-operate analysis before commercialization.
Moderate concentrationLimited co-filing activity; Water Harvesting Inc and its parent entity are the most active co-filers
The most active documented co-filing relationship is between Water Harvesting Inc and a related entity (5 joint families), followed by Source Global PBC and Zero Mass Water Inc (4 joint families). Genesis Systems LLC and Molecule RND Ltd share one joint family. Co-filing activity is sparse overall, suggesting that most applicants pursue proprietary rather than consortium-based IP strategies, which may leave room for partnership-based differentiation.
Sparse collaborationUS-centric filing with meaningful EPO, PCT, and water-stressed-market coverage
The United States is the dominant filing jurisdiction, followed by Europe (EPO), WIPO (PCT), Australia, India, and China. The presence of India, Israel, and the UAE in the top jurisdictions reflects deliberate prosecution in water-stressed markets where commercial deployment is most urgent. Teams seeking global freedom to operate should prioritize at minimum a US–EPO–PCT–India–Israel–Australia filing strategy.
US-led, global reachGo beyond the landscape: Eureka’s TRIZ Solution agent breaks down an R&D problem and returns patented concept solutions, each with a technical approach and cited patent & literature evidence.
| Applicant | Collaborator | Co-filings |
|---|---|---|
| Water Harvesting Inc | Water Harvesting Inc | 5 |
| Source Global PBC | Zero Mass Water Inc | 4 |
| Genesis Systems LLC | Molecule R&D Ltd | 1 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Source Global PBC and Water Harvesting Inc are the most active and fastest-growing filers
The leader and primary challenger both concentrate their IP in separation processes and water supply integration, but their recent momentum diverges sharply, with the challenger showing the stronger recent-period growth trajectory.
Source Global PBC
Source Global PBC leads the ranking with 103 patent families, with its portfolio concentrated in separation processes (B01D 53) and water supply and distribution (E03B 3). Recent-period momentum is strongly positive at +83% versus the prior period, indicating that the company is actively expanding its IP position rather than coasting on an established base. Its dual focus on separation science and end-to-end water distribution positions it as the broadest platform-level filer in the field.
families: 103Water Harvesting Inc
Water Harvesting Inc holds 60 patent families and is the field’s fastest-growing established applicant, with recent filings up +187% versus the prior period. Its portfolio mirrors the leader’s technology emphasis — separation processes (B01D 53), water supply integration (E03B 3), and condensation pathways (B01D 5) — suggesting direct competitive overlap. The scale of its momentum increase signals a deliberate strategy to close the gap with the top-ranked filer.
families: 60| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Air Products and Chemicals Inc | 2 | ▼ -90% |
| Source Global PBC | 42 | ▲ +83% |
| Water Harvesting Inc | 43 | ▲ +187% |
| Genesis Systems LLC | 26 | ▲ new entrant |
| Watergen Ltd | 8 | ▼ -72% |
| Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) | 2 | ▼ -95% |
Under-served routes in HVAC integration and novel sorbent chemistry
Several IPC branches sit at the intersection of atmospheric water harvesting and adjacent engineering disciplines with comparatively lower patent density relative to the dominant separation-process core. These represent observations of relative sparsity; technical and commercial opportunity depends on specific application context.
F24F · Air conditioning & HVAC-integrated water recovery
F24F (air conditioning and ventilation) is the fourth-largest IPC branch in the corpus but holds only a 6% share among the whitespace candidates identified. HVAC systems already move large volumes of humid air, making them a plausible platform for passive water recovery without dedicated condensation hardware. The entry path involves designing water-recovery modules that retrofit onto commercial HVAC units — a route that benefits from existing distribution channels in the building-systems industry. Applicants with HVAC or building-automation backgrounds have a structural advantage here over pure water-technology firms.
Search this in Eureka →B01J · Advanced sorbent and catalytic materials for desiccant harvesting
B01J (chemical and physical processes, catalysis) is the fifth-largest branch at a 5% share among the identified whitespace candidates, covering the materials science underpinning solid and liquid desiccant systems. Despite the field’s maturity in mainstream adsorbents such as zeolites and silica gels, novel metal-organic frameworks, hygroscopic polymers, and composite sorbents remain comparatively lightly claimed. Teams with materials-chemistry capabilities and access to synthesis scale-up infrastructure could file in this subspace with reduced prior-art collision risk. The top-cited corpus includes zeolite and alumina adsorption patents, confirming that foundational sorbent IP is established — making next-generation materials the more defensible entry point.
Search this in Eureka →How leading applicants differ by technology route emphasis
Strength of each leader across the main technology routes.
| Player | B01D 53 · Separation processes (filtration etc.) | E03B 3 · Water supply & distribution | C02F 1 · Water & wastewater treatment | B01D 5 · Separation processes (filtration etc.) | F24F 3 · Air conditioning & ventilation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Source Global PBC | Strong · 50 | Strong · 50 | Moderate · 15 | Moderate · 23 | Emerging · 9 |
| Watergen Ltd | Strong · 34 | Strong · 41 | Moderate · 17 | Strong · 22 | Moderate · 11 |
| Genesis Systems LLC | Strong · 43 | Strong · 30 | Absent | Strong · 28 | Moderate · 12 |
| Water Harvesting Inc | Strong · 58 | Strong · 32 | Absent | Moderate · 12 | Absent |
| Air Products and Chemicals Inc | Strong · 85 | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| AirWaterGreen AB | Strong · 37 | Strong · 23 | Absent | Absent | Strong · 25 |
| The Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona | Strong · 34 | Strong · 25 | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The corpus contains 1,519 patent families in scope across the atmospheric water harvesting field, filed across more than 50 jurisdictions globally.
Source Global PBC leads with 103 patent families, followed by Air Products and Chemicals Inc with 93 and Water Harvesting Inc with 60.
Separation processes (IPC class B01D) is by far the most densely covered branch, reflecting the dominance of adsorption, membrane, and condensation-based extraction approaches. Water supply and distribution (E03B) and water treatment (C02F) form the next largest clusters.
Annual filings peaked in 2021 at 259 families, up from a base of 159 in 2017. Since 2021, annual volume has eased, consistent with a field at the Maturity lifecycle stage. Figures for 2024 and 2025 are subject to publication lag and likely understate recent activity.
The United States is the leading jurisdiction, followed by Europe (EPO), WIPO (PCT), Australia, India, and China. India, Israel, and the UAE also appear in the top jurisdictions, reflecting prosecution activity in commercially relevant water-stressed markets.
HVAC-integrated water recovery (F24F) and advanced sorbent and catalytic materials (B01J) are comparatively less densely covered relative to the dominant separation-process core. Refrigeration-cycle approaches (F25B, F25D) and novel inorganic compound synthesis for hygroscopic applications (C01B) also show lower relative density and may offer entry points for differentiated IP strategies.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from PatSnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
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