About Manhat
Manhat is an Abu Dhabi-based clean technology startup developing a low-energy approach to producing fresh water. Its technology uses sunlight to evaporate seawater on floating units and captures the resulting fresh water, offering an alternative to energy-intensive desalination plants.
Most fresh water in the UAE and the wider Gulf comes from desalination, which removes salt from seawater. Conventional desalination methods, such as reverse osmosis and thermal desalination, require significant amounts of energy and produce concentrated brine that is discharged back into the sea, which can affect marine ecosystems.
Manhat's approach is inspired by the natural water cycle. Floating structures placed on the sea surface use solar energy to evaporate water, and the vapour is condensed and collected as fresh water. Because the process relies on sunlight rather than electricity, it has the potential to produce water with a much lower energy footprint.
The floating design also means the technology can be deployed on the water surface without taking up land, and the process does not produce the same kind of concentrated brine discharge as conventional plants.
One potential application is supplying water for agriculture, which is a major consumer of water in the region. Low-energy fresh water could support greenhouses and farming along coastlines.
As an early-stage deep tech company, Manhat is focused on developing, testing and scaling its technology. Moving from prototypes to commercial deployment involves engineering, field trials and partnerships.
Water scarcity is one of the most pressing challenges in the Gulf, and climate change is expected to increase pressure on water resources worldwide. Technologies that produce fresh water sustainably are of strategic importance.
Abu Dhabi has supported deep tech and climate innovation through research institutions, incubators and funding programmes, creating an environment for startups like Manhat.
Manhat's solar-driven approach to fresh water is one of the more unusual climate technologies emerging from Abu Dhabi, and Startups UAE lists it among the capital's cleantech startups.
Most fresh water in the UAE and the wider Gulf comes from desalination, which removes salt from seawater. Conventional desalination methods, such as reverse osmosis and thermal desalination, require significant amounts of energy and produce concentrated brine that is discharged back into the sea, which can affect marine ecosystems.
Manhat's approach is inspired by the natural water cycle. Floating structures placed on the sea surface use solar energy to evaporate water, and the vapour is condensed and collected as fresh water. Because the process relies on sunlight rather than electricity, it has the potential to produce water with a much lower energy footprint.
The floating design also means the technology can be deployed on the water surface without taking up land, and the process does not produce the same kind of concentrated brine discharge as conventional plants.
One potential application is supplying water for agriculture, which is a major consumer of water in the region. Low-energy fresh water could support greenhouses and farming along coastlines.
As an early-stage deep tech company, Manhat is focused on developing, testing and scaling its technology. Moving from prototypes to commercial deployment involves engineering, field trials and partnerships.
Water scarcity is one of the most pressing challenges in the Gulf, and climate change is expected to increase pressure on water resources worldwide. Technologies that produce fresh water sustainably are of strategic importance.
Abu Dhabi has supported deep tech and climate innovation through research institutions, incubators and funding programmes, creating an environment for startups like Manhat.
Manhat's solar-driven approach to fresh water is one of the more unusual climate technologies emerging from Abu Dhabi, and Startups UAE lists it among the capital's cleantech startups.