Hashem Arouzi's ARK device to harvest water from air for drought‑hit European islands

British entrepreneur Hashem Arouzi, whose wells on Ibiza have run dry, is developing a plug‑and‑play water‑from‑air system called ARK. The device, unveiled in Barcelona on 30 July, uses metal‑organic frameworks (MOFs) to extract up to 500 litres of potable water per day from ambient air, even in hot, arid climates. Arouzi’s climate‑tech company Ahbstra says the technology could supply off‑grid villas and hotels across the Mediterranean and Balearic islands, where more than 15 000 properties lack mains water and face shrinking groundwater and sea‑water intrusion.

The MOFs were pioneered by scientists Susumu Kitagawa (Kyoto University), Richard Robson (University of Melbourne) and Omar M. Yaghi (UC‑Berkeley). The system is presented as a scalable response to growing water‑stress for millions of households worldwide.