Three-quarters of global rainfall falls offshore, driven by large-scale weather systems and coastal meteorology.
Early-stage concept · 2026
Offshore Rainwater Harvesting
Capturing rain at sea. Delivering water to shore.
A low-energy concept exploring a new complementary water source for coastal regions.
Introduction
The idea in brief
Exploring new ways to capture offshore rainfall.
Offshore Rainwater Harvesting (ORH) is an early-stage concept investigating whether rainfall at sea can be collected using lightweight floating or fixed platforms positioned a short distance offshore. Many coastal regions experience reliable precipitation over the ocean, a clean, naturally occurring resource that currently goes unused.
ORH proposes a simple, nature-based approach to capturing this water and transferring it to shore for basic or localised applications. It is designed as a complementary, decentralised source that supports resilience for both industry and, in time, coastal communities.
01
The resource
Why offshore rainfall matters
The near-shore offshore zone often receives consistent, clean precipitation shaped by land-sea interactions.
This resource is unused, despite being naturally fresh at the point of capture.
02
The proposition
A simple collection sequence
03
Development pathway
Industry first, humanitarian second
ORH follows a practical development route.
Industry
Coastal industries increasingly need reliable, low-energy water for cooling and processing. They offer realistic early testing environments with the infrastructure and flexibility to trial new decentralised sources.
Development stagePilot dataValidation and refinement
Humanitarian
Once proven, ORH could support coastal communities where freshwater access is limited or unreliable, providing a simple, grid-independent supplementary source.
Contact ORH
Start a professional conversation.
For general enquiries, research interest, pilot collaboration, industry participation or technical discussion.
ORH is an early-stage concept. Your enquiry will help identify relevant areas for discussion and collaboration.
Explore ORH