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Water Contamination vs why Air Water is cleaner explained by Aquaria (Water you talking about? Pt.2)
Water made from air starts free of heavy metals, viruses, PFAS, and microplastics because those contaminants cannot dissolve into the atmosphere. Aquaria's multi-stage filtration and UV storage cycle then remove any airborne particulates before the water reaches your tap.
Most homeowners can't actually answer a basic question about their own water: where did it come from, what cleaning process did it go through, and what condition were the pipes in that delivered it? For households on a well, the uncertainty is different — drilling doesn't guarantee water, and there's no backup when a well fails.
In Part 2 of "Water you talking about?", Aquaria co-founder Eric Sheng explains why starting from atmospheric humidity changes the equation. Heavy metals, viruses, PFAS, and microplastics can't dissolve into or travel through air, so they're absent from the starting source. The water still goes through multi-stage filtration — a coarse air filter at the intake, then a submicron filter after condensation — and then cycles continuously past UV bulbs in the storage tank to prevent anything from growing while it waits to be used.
The result: a starting point cleaner than groundwater, river water, or municipal supply, with a verifiable filtration chain you can actually see inside your own home.
[00:09] So why should we care about water quality, water accessibility and water independence? So I think the biggest problem biggest problems with how we access water today is how does it happen? Where does it come from? And through what cleaning process did it go through for it to come out of my faucet into my glass of water or into my pasta pot? And that's on for people who are on utility water.
[00:38] For others, that could mean, well, I'm drilling a well. I'm not quite sure if I'm going to hit water, but I have blind faith that I'm going to do. So when we experience a problem with it, there's really no good way today to make sure that I'm covered, make sure my family is covered in that difficult period of time. For water made from the air, we start with well the humidity.
[01:06] There's no dissolved heavy metals. There's no um dissolved viruses. there's no dissolved uh contaminants that uh you typically find in pipes or you typically find in well well water. So when you start with that source it already is cleaner. That's not to say that we don't filter it. We will continue to filter it because as air passes through there might be pollen, there might be dust, there might be grass that we need to filter out.
[01:33] One key difference with the water that aquaria produces at the end of the day is that there's no PFAS nor microplastics in our water. They simply aren't chemicals nor particulates that can dissolve into the air as we capture that and turn the humidity into water. And so when we hear all these scary news about uh microplastics entering the body and causing harm or PFAS being basically impossible to eliminate from our water sources, Aquaria has a solution for that.
[02:05] How we ensure that the water that Aquaria produces is clean and that it comes out of your faucet clean is going through a multi-stage filtration process. So the first step is the air, right? As it goes into our machine, it passes through a uh air filter which takes out large particullet. As it condenses into water, there may still be pollen or grass or um you know visible particulates such as dust in there and then it goes through another filtration process that filters down to submicron levels.
[02:37] All that is to say that before it reaches our storage tank, all the heavy particulates are removed. Once it goes in there, it also stays on a constant cycle, passing through UV light bulbs to ensure that no nothing grows as it's being stored. So, if the air gives us a cleaner starting point for water, why keep drinking out of pipes you don't trust? Choose water made from the air by Aquaria.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why is water made from air cleaner than tap water or well water?
A: Air does not contain dissolved heavy metals, viruses, or the pipe-borne contaminants typically found in municipal or well water, so the starting material is inherently purer. Traditional water sources pick up contaminants along the way through aging infrastructure or ground absorption. Atmospheric water generation bypasses that entire pathway. Filtration is still applied, but the baseline is cleaner before any treatment begins.
Q: Does air water contain PFAS or microplastics?
A: No. PFAS and microplastics cannot dissolve into or travel through air in the way they contaminate ground and pipe water, so they are absent from the water Aquaria produces. This is one of the most significant distinctions from conventional water sources, where PFAS in particular has proven extremely difficult to eliminate once present. Aquaria positions this as a direct solution to growing public concern about both contaminants.
Q: What does Aquaria filter out of its water before it reaches the tap?
A: As air enters the machine it passes through an air filter that removes large particles such as pollen, dust, and grass. After condensation, the water goes through a second filtration stage that works down to submicron levels, removing any remaining fine particulates. By the time the water reaches the storage tank, all heavy particulates have been eliminated. The water then cycles continuously through UV light to prevent any biological growth during storage.
Q: How does Aquaria keep stored water clean over time?
A: Once water is held in the storage tank, it passes continuously through UV light bulbs. This ongoing UV cycle prevents anything from growing in the stored water. It is not a one-time treatment but a constant process that runs while water sits in the tank waiting to be used.
Q: What are the risks of relying on well water?
A: Drilling a well carries no guarantee of actually reaching water, and when a problem does occur there is currently no reliable safety net to keep a household covered during that difficult period. Well water can also contain dissolved heavy metals and other ground contaminants. Unlike atmospheric water, there is no way to control what the source water carries before it reaches the home.
Q: What are the problems with municipal tap water?
A: Most people do not know where their tap water originated, what cleaning process it went through, or what condition the pipes are in that delivered it. Pipe infrastructure can introduce its own contaminants. Concerns about microplastics and PFAS in municipal supplies are increasingly reported and, according to Aquaria, are very difficult to eliminate from those water sources once present.
