As Texas continues to face mounting water challenges, from drought-prone climates to water-intensive industries, the conversation around innovative solutions has never been more urgent. I had the opportunity to attend the latest Austin Climate Innovation meetup, where the spotlight was on water access, quality, and sustainability—with a strong focus on Central Texas and its unique regional and growth hurdles.
The event featured two standout companies, Eden Tech and Aquaria, who are developing breakthrough technologies that address water from two very different, but equally important methods. It was a hopeful and thought-provoking night centered around one essential resource: water.
The Water Hurdles We Face in Texas
Texas is no stranger to water scarcity. With unpredictable weather patterns, high evaporation rates, and growing populations, ensuring consistent and safe access to water is a growing concern, especially in Central and West Texas. On top of that, industries such as oil and gas extraction, agriculture, and tech: AI Data centers and semiconductor manufacturing are putting extra pressure on our water systems. Much of the available water is either brackish, contaminated, or too far removed from population centers to be easily accessed.
Some of the biggest challenges include:
- Declining groundwater levels and overstressed aquifers
- Water pollution from energy production, particularly fracking
- Aging infrastructure that cannot handle growing water needs annually
- Climate change impacts like prolonged drought and extreme heat
- Limited state-level investment in decentralized water innovations
It’s against this backdrop that innovative water tech is not just welcome, but essential.
Eden Tech: Cleaning Water from the Energy Sector
The first featured speaker came from Eden Tech, a company tackling one of the thorniest problems in water management: desalinating and reclaiming water used in oil, gas, and fracking operations. Instead of directly focusing on coastal desalination, Eden Tech is zeroing in on the inland industrial sector, where wastewater is often contaminated with salts, heavy metals, and volatile chemicals.
Using reverse osmosis and other membrane-based filtration technologies, Eden Tech’s system not only purifies the water to be reused or safely released, it also harvests minerals and byproducts for use in batteries, fertilizers, or even energy production.
This closed-loop approach has multiple benefits:
- Reduces the environmental impact of fracking
- Recovers valuable materials for the reuse or by-product production
- Cuts down on the need for freshwater in industrial use
- Provides a scalable model for other energy-producing regions
By reframing oil & gas wastewater as a resource, not just a liability, Eden Tech is showing how Texas can lead the way in industrial water innovation.
Aquaria: Pulling Water From Thin Air
The second speaker, from Aquaria, brought a completely different solution to the table: atmospheric water harvesting. Their system captures humidity from the air and converts it into clean, potable water. What’s most impressive is that the technology can operate in both residential and industrial environments, creating flexible access to water where traditional infrastructure falls short.
Aquaria’s atmospheric harvesters can be deployed:
- In homes with limited water access or unreliable wells
- At industrial sites needing remote or supplemental water supply
- In emergency or disaster response scenarios
- As backup systems for climate-resilient infrastructure
As Texas continues to grapple with extreme drought conditions, having localized, independent water generation like this could be a game-changer for rural and suburban communities alike.
Final Thoughts
It was inspiring to hear directly from innovators working on the frontlines of water sustainability. Eden Tech and Aquaria are developing technologies that don’t just solve today’s problems, they anticipate the needs of a hotter, drier, and more complex future.
Water is a shared resource and a shared responsibility. Events like these from Austin Climate Innovation remind us that real solutions are already in the works. we just need the public will, investment, and awareness to scale them.
Let’s keep the conversation flowing.
