She Found a Way to Harvest Clean Water from Thin Air

For many, the air is just something we breathe. For Beth Koigi, it is a vast, untapped reservoir. Growing up in the lush, well-watered highlands of Limuru, Kenya, Beth initially took water for granted. It wasn't until she moved to Chuka University in 2011 that she came face-to-face with a harsh reality: the water coming out of the taps was often brown, laden with silt, and unsafe to drink. Most students simply complained; Beth, an innovator by nature, decided to build her own solution. Using knowledge of activated carbon she had learned as a child, she constructed a DIY filter that actually worked. But while her filters solved the "quality" problem, a devastating 2016 drought in Kenya revealed a much scarier "quantity" problem: the taps simply stopped running.

This drought was a turning point. Beth realised that you cannot filter water that isn't there. She began researching alternative sources and stumbled upon a mind-boggling statistic: there is six times more water in the Earth's atmosphere than in all its rivers combined. The challenge was getting it out. In 2017, she co-founded Majik Water, a name derived from "Maji," the Swahili word for water, and "harvesting." Working with a team of experts she met during a Silicon Valley masterclass, she developed a technology that uses silica gels and solar energy to "suck" humidity from the air and condense it into clean, mineralised drinking water.

The road from a university experiment to a functional business was steep. Atmospheric Water Generation (AWG) is notoriously energy-intensive and expensive. "Our first prototype was very expensive, and we had no financing," Beth shared in a 2019 interview with the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI). She had to navigate the "valley of death" that many African hardware innovators face: high production costs and a lack of local venture capital for physical products. However, her persistence paid off when she was shortlisted for the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Africa Prize. This recognition brought the visibility needed to attract partners, including a South African firm that helped scale the technology.

Majik Water’s impact is now visible across the arid regions of Kenya. Unlike traditional boreholes that can run dry or become salty, Beth’s machines work as long as there is air. Even in areas with low humidity, the solar-powered units can pull up to 120 liters of water a day for a medium-sized community. To date, her systems have produced over 200,000 litres of water, serving nearly 2,000 people who previously spent hours trekking for unreliable supplies. Beth’s vision is not just to sell machines, but to "democratize access to water" by making the technology affordable enough for individual households.

Speaking to TEDxFasoKanu, Beth emphasised that young Africans must be the "guardians of the future," creating solutions-oriented policies to mitigate climate change. She has received numerous accolades, including the Oxford Innovation Fair and MIT Water Innovation awards. Yet, for Beth, the true reward isn't the trophies; it's seeing a child in a drought-stricken village drink a glass of water that was quite literally pulled from the sky. Her journey proves that when the Earth's surface fails us, we only need to look up to find the answers.

Lessons for Budding Makers

Beth Koigi’s path from a student with a charcoal filter to an award-winning CEO provides essential lessons for creators:

1. Solve Your Own Friction First: The most successful innovations often start as a solution to a personal problem. Beth didn't set out to "disrupt" the water industry; she just wanted clean water in her dorm room. If you solve a problem for yourself, you’ve already identified your first customer.
2. Partnership is the Fuel for Scale: Hardware is hard. Beth’s breakthrough came when she stopped working in a silo and joined international masterclasses and fellowships. By partnering with engineers and investors who brought complementary skills, she turned a complex scientific theory into a life-saving reality.