What's the state-of-the-art information on improvements in easy water generation?

If by “easy water generation” you mean getting water from air, the field is usually called atmospheric water harvesting. The biggest improvements are in materials that capture moisture and in systems that use sunlight or waste heat to release it. There still isn’t a small, cheap device that makes abundant water anywhere: yield depends heavily on humidity, temperature, energy and maintenance.

What has improved

• Better moisture-capturing materials: Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), porous salts and other sorbents can pull water vapor from air. Some are designed to work at lower humidity than conventional desiccants. The challenge is turning promising lab results into durable, affordable devices that can be manufactured at scale.
• More efficient release of captured water: Solar heat, low-grade waste heat and improved collector designs can reduce the energy needed to regenerate a sorbent. This is especially useful where grid power is unreliable, though performance varies with weather and system size.
• Improved condensation systems: Heat-pump atmospheric water generators are established products, and better controls and heat exchangers can improve their operation. They work best in warm, humid air; in dry or cool conditions, the energy per litre rises and output can fall sharply.
• Passive collection: Fog nets and radiative dew collectors need little or no electricity, but they depend on local fog, wind, clear skies and suitable surfaces. They can help in the right location, rather than serving as dependable all-weather water supplies.

For a household, a conventional air-to-water unit is the most accessible option where the climate is humid and electricity is available. Sorbent-based systems are a promising direction for drier settings, but many remain at the prototype or early-deployment stage. If a reliable groundwater, rainwater or municipal source is available, treating that water is often less energy-intensive than extracting it from air.

Any collected water also needs suitable filtration and disinfection, and equipment should use materials approved for drinking-water contact. In short, recent progress is real, but “easy” depends on the local climate and what energy and water sources are available.