There are existing methods to collect water from the ambient air, but most of them are large or cumbersome. Recent research by the University of Texas at Austin is taking that concept and transforming it something you could have on hand at all times. Or more literally, on your back at all times. In a study published in Scientific Advances, the team used a special textile to create a jacket capable of atmospheric water harvesting.

“We wanted to rethink the form of the technology,” said UT Austin’s Guihua Yu, one of the authors on the latest study. “If the fabric itself can collect water from air, it opens a new direction for personal and portable water access.”

The jacket used a special fabric designed to collect moisture from the air and gather it in detachable harvesting units rather than simply having the textile absorb the water. “That transport design is what allows the material to work not just in a small lab test, but in a wearable system,” added co-author Keith Johnston, also of UT Austin. The harvesters are then placed in a foldable collector piece and heated to produce drinkable water.

University of Texas at Austin

Depending on humidity levels, the jacket produced between 400 and 900 milliliters (about 14 to 30 ounces) of drinkable water per day in testing. The form factor created for this particular study was a jacket, but the investigators suggested that the same textile could be used to manufacture other objects, such as a backpack or a tent, to lend them water-collecting capabilities. The technology could have applications for medical response teams or during emergencies, particularly in remote places. On the commercial side, it could also make for some pretty useful hiking and extreme sports gear.