- The KaraPod uses condensed atmospheric water for making coffee
- It uses a UV light, heat, and replaceable filters to clean the water
- It will be available to buy soon for $249 (about £200 / AU$400)
We've seen lots of interesting ideas at CES 2025, but this one has proved one of the most controversial among the TechRadar team: a coffee maker that works like a dehumidifier and uses water condensed from the air in your home to brew espresso.
The KaraPod is a countertop version of the KaraPure 2 – a machine that condenses atmospheric water and runs it through a purification system that includes heat treatment, UV light, and replaceable filters to produce up to 2.5 gallons (10 liters) of clean drinking water per day. Manufacturer Karawater says that the filtered water has "an unbeatable pH value of 9.2+", though there's no strong evidence that drinking alkaline water has real health benefits.
Howard E LeWine MD, Chief Medical Editor at Harvard Health Publishing, says: "Because the fluid in the stomach is so acidic, once regular or alkaline water gets down to your stomach there will be little difference in the resulting stomach fluid pH. You could potentially raise the stomach fluid pH by drinking a lot of alkaline water, but it would only be temporary. Even if you drank enough alkaline water to slightly raise the pH of your blood, your kidneys would quickly go into action to rebalance your blood pH."
That said, using alkaline water to make coffee will certainly change the way your finished brew tastes. Whether it's for better or worse will be a matter of personal opinion.
Water, water everywhere
As our colleagues at Live Science explain, you shouldn't drink water from a regular dehumidifier – or use it to make coffee. The dehumidifier's various parts, including its condensing coils, aren't perfectly clean, and its storage tank could provide a nice habitat for bacteria and molds to grow. That's not normally a problem, because the water collected there isn't meant to be potable – you could use it to mop your floor or flush a toilet, or just pour it down the sink.
That's not the case with the KaraPure 2 and KaraPod, which filter and clean the water they collect, and circulate it to keep it fresh. Nevertheless, we still can't help feeling somewhat uneasy. Most of us drink treated tap water all the time, but the source of water collected in our homes is a little too personal, with none of the palatable anonymity of a municipal water supply. Steam from cooking last night's dinner? Rainwater from your wet running shoes? Vapor you breathed out overnight? Rising damp? Toilet plume?
If you can get past that mental hurdle, the KaraPod could be the coffee maker for you, and you'll never need to refill its tank. As TechHive reports, the machine uses compostable coffee pods, with 6oz, 10oz, and 12oz pour sizes. It can also dispense hot or room-temperature water. It will be available to order soon direct from Karawater for an early bird price of $249 (about £200 / AU$400).
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