At 13, this Oregon student built a device that converts moisture in air into water for plants

What if a farm struggling for water didn't have to wait for rain or depend entirely on a well? Sounds impossible, right? However, a 13-year-old student from Oregon is exploring the possibility with a small device designed to pull moisture directly from the air and turn it into water for plants. Roy Kim, a student at Whitford Middle School in Beaverton, built an atmospheric water-harvesting prototype which aimed at tackling water scarcity in agriculture. Roy's idea has already placed him among the top 10 finalists in a major US middle-school science competition.

13-year-old designs portable device to turn moisture to water

The idea sounds futuristic, but it relies on a familiar natural process called condensation. Kim's chamber uses a Peltier module, which creates hot and cold surfaces when electricity passes through it. Air enters the system and is moved by a fan towards the cold surface. Water vapour then condenses into droplets, which are collected through a funnel and directed towards plants using a valve. However, Kim didn't stop at collecting water. His prototype has built-in sensors that measure soil moisture, temperature and humidity, allowing the system to determine when a plant actually needs watering and adjust its operation accordingly.

His small prototype has already produced water

During testing, Kim's device reportedly generated 10 millilitres of water in two hours, reaching a peak efficiency of 135.8 grams per kilowatt-hour. However, that's nowhere near enough to irrigate a commercial farm today, but the prototype is intended to demonstrate whether the underlying concept can be developed further. Kim's project has now earned him a place among 10 national finalists aged 11 to 14. The competition's organisers said this year's students identified everyday problems and developed potential solutions spanning areas including climate technology and safety.

The technology isn't just a school experiment

The broader idea of harvesting water from air is already being investigated at much larger scales. In February 2026, The Guardian reported on technology developed by Nobel laureate Omar Yaghi that uses specially engineered materials to extract moisture even from dry air. His company says larger units could potentially generate as much as 1,000 litres of water per day, illustrating how atmospheric water harvesting is being explored as an alternative source for water-stressed communities.

A 13-year-old looking at a global problem

Kim's prototype still has a long journey before anything resembling it could become a practical irrigation solution. He will spend the summer working with a scientist mentor before presenting an improved project at the national finals in Minnesota in October. For now, his experiment makes a strong point: sometimes a possible answer to water scarcity may be floating invisibly around us. At just 13, Kim is trying to work out how to capture it.