Harvesting water with Aquatecture
Photo credit: Angeline Swinkels - photographer
By Shardell Joseph
A new aquatic design captures and harvest rainwater, allowing people in drought-stricken areas to catch utilise their own water. Design Academy Eindhoven Graduate, Shaakira Jassat, showcased the Aquatecture panel at Dutch Design Week last month.
Designed to fit on the outside of buildings in dense urban environments, the panels collect rainwaters as it filters through the openings in the structure. The water is then pumped into a grey-water system connected to the specified building.
‘The main goal was to create a water harvester that would fit in dense urban spheres through its compactness, visual identity and ability to integrate into architecture,’ Jassat said.
‘It consists of a modular panel designed to harvest rainwater. When integrated with technology, it has the ability to harvest moisture from the air,’ she added.
‘Instead of sliding off the surface, the panel permits water to be collected through a punctured, geometric surface. Aquatecture makes water conservation both visible and engaging.’
The panels are made from stainless steel, utilised for the materials durability and rust resistance. The steel was then studded with perforations in a slim, rounded funnel shape. Jassat tested the pattern, and other patterns, by making prototypes and showering them with water to simulate the rain.
Once the rainwater has been captures, the Aquatecture panels would allow residents to channel the rainwater into the building grey-water system, which can then be recycled along with the wastewater from sinks, washing machines and other appliances.
While the primary purpose of the panels is to catch rainwater, Jassat says that, if hooked up to other equipment, they could potentially also pull water from the atmosphere via condensation.
As part of her research into aquatic design, Jassat has also designed the Tea Drop tea machine, which has the ability to condense water vapour from the surrounding atmosphere. Jassat claimed that it could initiate an alternative for daily rituals, adding an element of sustainability to day to day routines.
‘It functions on its own time frame, so one has to wait for the tea vessel to be filled up with water, before it can be boiled and ready for making tea,’ she said.
Jassat conducted her research on tea farms in Asia, discovering that water is a large by-product of processing tea and harvesting tea leaves, which are dependent on weather and time.
Jassat's next step will be to test the design in situ on a building facade. She has also recently conducted research into air plants – the tillandsia and bromeliad species – which draw all their water needs from the air.
