Drought birthed Beth Koigi’s innovative idea to provide water, which half her country’s population lacks. According to U.N. estimates, over 1.8 billion people worldwide reside in communities affected by drought. The cost to the global economy is measured in the tens of billions of dollars.
In response to the severe situation, the 33-year-old established the social venture Majik Water in 2017. Her mission, along with Canadian environmental scientist Anastasia Kaschenko and Oxford economist Clare Sewell, was to make safe drinking water accessible in arid and semiarid places around the world, including her native Kenya.
Her brilliant invention—a filtering system that extracts water from thin air.
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She previously told Sustainable Brands, “Kenya is changing. We are experiencing extreme droughts and flooding in different parts of the country, with underground water sources becoming more and more inaccessible. We need innovations that have an immediate impact and can make a difference.”
Koigi noted that Majik Water’s success stems from anticipating a multitude of applications for the technology. She told Time Magazine, “The water scarcity issue is becoming bigger and bigger. The world is looking for decentralized water sources.”
Growing up in Kenya, Koigi was subjected to extended periods of water scarcity and drought. She often became sick while she was in college because the water in her dorms was contaminated. Because water filters were so expensive ($50), she began building her own with activated carbon. This immediately gained popularity, and she began selling $1 water filters for low-income people.
Today, her Majik Water is providing people who are living in the harshest conditions on the planet with clean drinking water, she said.
“Her atmospheric water generators (AWGs) draw humidity from the air, condense it, filter out any bacteria and add essential minerals for drinking water,” Time wrote on how her invention works.
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The system is powered by solar energy, making it suitable for installation in remote locations. And it works almost anywhere, even in areas with minimal humidity.
“If you have air, you can have drinking water,” the group’s website indicates.
Majik Water helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions by removing the need to burn firewood or charcoal to boil water for safe consumption, in addition to delivering much-needed hydration.
Koigi’s company began by collaborating with non-governmental organizations that provide emergency assistance by delivering Majik Water devices to communities following natural catastrophes.
These serve as critical supplies of sanitary water in remote hospitals, while the company’s smallest devices can be utilized in homes.
Her enterprise was supplying more than 1,900 people in Kenya with 200,000 liters per day as of 2023.
It takes pride in being run by Africans for Africans and directed by women; nearly all of its Kenyan workers assemble the devices, and 30% of the materials needed to make the units come from Kenya.
In Kenya, Majik Water has lately begun collaborating with local business owners. These individuals position the gadgets in popular shops and markets, allowing ordinary consumers to pay to utilize the system.
Working directly with people around Kenya not only allows the company to expand its footprint faster, but it also benefits the economy of these areas.
“We are empowering a person to earn an extra income,” Koigi remarked.
Koigi told Sustainable Brands, “By 2030, we are hoping to have installments bringing water to 100 million people. Partnering with NGOs is essential; because it provides us local links to services already present in the community, in-kind support & knowledge sharing.”
Click here to see how Koigi makes water from air.
