Vital Lyfe's Portable Watermaker, Access, Named to TIME's List of the Best Inventions of 2026

TORRANCE, Calif., Oct. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, TIME revealed its annual list of the Best Inventions, which features 300 extraordinary innovations changing our lives. Vital Lyfe's first generation watermaker, Access, has been named a TIME Best Invention in the Outdoors category.

Access is a user-friendly, cost-effective system that enables anyone to generate filtered water from all naturally occurring water sources, including seawater, through a simple, intuitive, push-button process. The system is designed for a wide range of applications and consumers, including off-grid exploration and communities, short- or long-term sailing, maritime environments, rural living, disaster relief organizations, and emergency response. Access is available now for pre-order and will begin shipping later this year.

To compile this year's list, TIME solicited nominations from its editors and correspondents around the world through an online application process, paying special attention to growing fields such as health care and AI. TIME then evaluated each contender on a number of key factors, including originality, efficacy, ambition, and impact.

"We are honored to receive this recognition from TIME, just as we're about to put Access into the hands of consumers and organizations around the world," said Jonathan Criss, CEO and Co-Founder of Vital Lyfe. "We focused on building a beautiful product that's easy to use and affordable, and it's awesome to see all that hard work recognized. For those dedicated to the outdoors, off-grid, and maritime environments, Access is a game-changer for self-sustainability and health. I'm incredibly proud of our whole team for achieving this honor."

"Water scarcity doesn't have to define our future. We believe the future of water is one where people have the power to make their own water, wherever they are. By putting water production into the hands of individuals and communities, decentralized infrastructure can make access to water more resilient and more universal. Access is just the beginning of that future," said Andrew Harner, COO and Co-Founder of Vital Lyfe.

See the full list of TIME's Best Inventions here: ti.me/best-inventions

About Vital Lyfe
Vital Lyfe is a water technology company that builds scalable, portable water filtration systems designed to increase global access to clean water. By combining advanced engineering, efficient manufacturing, and a mission driven approach, Vital Lyfe is working to redefine how fresh water is produced and distributed around the world. Learn more at https://www.vital-lyfe.com/.

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SOURCE Vital Lyfe