Watergen: Drinking Water from Air in 85+ Countries

Watergen is the Israeli atmospheric-water-generation company that turns humidity into drinking water at industrial scale — privately owned, deployed across 85+ countries, and integrated into commercial vehicle OEM partnerships.

Founded in 2009. Headquartered in Israel. Owned by Russian-Israeli businessman Michael Mirilashvili. Atmospheric water generators produce drinking water at approximately 250 watt-hours per liter (per company). Units deployed in 85+ countries. OEM partnerships with Ford and Mullen Automotive. The specialized category leader in atmospheric water generation — and the Israeli water operator with one of the broadest international deployment footprints.

Watergen is the country’s water company that does not sit on a national grid. The platform was founded in 2009 by entrepreneur and former military commander Arye Kohavi. Mirilashvili acquired the company in the early 2010s. The technology, per company documentation, produces drinking water at approximately 250 watt-hours per liter. Per Times of Israel coverage, deployments now span 85+ countries.

What Watergen does

The technology extracts water from air through a multi-step filtration and cooling process using food-grade materials. The product line:

Large-scale generators (up to 6,000 liters/day)
The GEN-350 medium unit (~900 liters/day)
The at-home Genny (~25–30 liters/day)
The Watergen Onboard (in-vehicle, ~50 liters/day)

The technical advantage Watergen has described publicly is the plastic heat exchanger (vs. aluminum) and proprietary control software — keeping unit economics in a range that works for both humanitarian deployment and commercial OEM partnerships.

The deployment footprint

Watergen has also deployed units in humanitarian settings, including Gaza and water-stressed communities outside Israel. Per Times of Israel coverage, the company has units active in Native American reservations in Arizona, in Uzbekistan via a government agreement, and across 85+ countries in total. The footprint is the metric that matters — not the technology demo, but the installed-base count across markets where Israel has no commercial presence.

The OEM track

Watergen announced a partnership with Ford in November 2021 to integrate atmospheric water generation into Ford’s adventure and recreational vehicles. A 2025 partnership with Mullen Automotive will integrate the technology across Mullen’s electric vehicle lineup.

The vehicle integration is the commercial path that complements the humanitarian deployments. The same core technology — the AWG hardware plus the controlling software — scales across a stationary 6,000-liter municipal unit and a 50-liter onboard module.

The ownership story

Watergen was acquired by Mirilashvili in the early 2010s and remains under his private ownership. The company has not pursued a public listing.

What it signals

Watergen is a model for Israeli climate-tech that scales without public-market capital. Privately owned, OEM-integrated, humanitarian-deployed — operating across 85+ countries. Not the largest Israeli water company by revenue or infrastructure footprint. One of the most internationally deployed.

The cohort context

Watergen is the specialized category leader in atmospheric water generation, complementary to IDE (desalination at scale) and Mekorot (national grid). The three together describe the full architecture of Israeli water capability. Watergen is the only one of the three currently scaling primarily through private capital and OEM integration.

Watergen exports not just equipment, but a portable version of water sovereignty.

Related coverage

The Olam Editorial Team

Watergen: Drinking Water from Air, Across 85+ Countries