How Does a Water-Generating Coffee Machine Work?

A Japanese company has built a coffee machine that pulls water vapor from the air and turns it into drinking water. The air is collected, purified through activated carbon and an RO reverse osmosis membrane, then run past a bio-mineral filter that restores minerals, producing water that meets Japan's 51 water quality standards under the Water Supply Act.

The design targets natural disasters, when water lines fail and tap water is unavailable; with electricity still on, the unit can supply clean water for brewing. The company cites roughly 3.6 billion people facing water scarcity. Some observers question the premise, noting that in Japan clean tap water is normally a turn of the tap away.

Have you ever thought about making coffee with air? A Japanese company has actually turned this idea into reality. They developed a coffee machine that can efficiently extract water from the air and, after multiple filtration and mineralization processes, produce safe drinking water. It is said that the original purpose of this machine was to address water shortages and cutoffs caused by natural disasters, so that people can still enjoy a cup of coffee brewed with clean water in emergencies. How exactly does this device work? Can it really solve practical problems? And why are netizens complaining about it? This article will take you through it, while also including related recommendations from Front Street Coffee.

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After the air fryer, air-brewed coffee has actually appeared. One has to say that humanity's creativity on the path of energy saving and environmental protection is truly endless.

This coffee machine works like this: first it efficiently collects water vapor from the air, then purifies the water with activated carbon and an RO reverse osmosis membrane, and afterward uses a bio-mineral filter to replenish minerals, ultimately obtaining clean, safe drinking water with a decent taste that meets Japan's 51 water quality standards under the Water Supply Act.

According to the developing company's explanation, they designed this coffee machine so that when natural disasters cause water cutoffs and tap water is unavailable, as long as there is still electricity, people can obtain clean and safe drinking water and use it to brew coffee, allowing people to drink safe water even when clean water sources are lacking. (Here I can't help but quietly complain: no, when there is a water shortage, people probably want to drink a cup of clean water first, rather than coffee brewed with clean water...)

Regarding this invention, quite a few netizens also raised questions: in Japan, you can drink clean water just by turning on the tap, so what is the point of building such a water-making coffee machine? The company responded by saying: about 3.6 billion people worldwide are suffering from water scarcity, about 840,000 people die each year because of water shortages, and many children lose their lives due to drinking unsanitary water.

Japan imports large quantities of coffee beans and grains from overseas, and producing these coffee beans and grains also consumes enormous amounts of water resources. In addition, with population growth and the worsening trend of population aging, it is expected that by 2050 about 10 billion people will live to be 100 years old, and the food crisis will clearly arrive at the same time as severe water shortages, reaching a fatal level. For Japanese people, water scarcity is by no means a fire on the opposite shore, but an issue that should be taken seriously. (Still want to ask again: why not directly make an all-in-one drinking water machine with dehumidification plus filtration, instead of making a coffee machine capable of producing pour-over coffee, espresso, cold brew, and many other products...)

I believe many Japanese netizens want to complain like this, but the company did not pay attention and remained very immersed in its own logic: water, coffee beans, and extraction are the factors that determine the taste of coffee. Even if the coffee beans are roasted by the best roaster and the extraction is done by the best barista, without good water, you cannot brew good-tasting coffee.

As long as the brewed coffee tastes good, that proves the water is good water.

All right... It can be seen that this company has indeed been very diligently researching how to turn moisture in the air into good water, and has also been very diligently trying to prove that this water is good water.

However, if the purpose of launching the machine is for disaster relief, then directly launching a purified water machine would actually be much more practical (like the one in the picture below).

After all, when a disaster occurs, probably not many people are still in the mood to savor coffee, and most people, such as children, the elderly, and patients, are not suited to drinking coffee.

Image source: Internet

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.