Eco Factor: Rainwater harvesting and storage design.
A catastrophic water shortage can prove to be an even bigger threat than the rise in the prices of fuel and energy. Some researchers believe that underground sources of water could run dry and the melting of glaciers due to global warming could spell disaster. An Australian designer Chris Buerckner has designed a solution for all these problems – The Watree.
Watree is a rainwater harvesting system that looks just like an umbrella turned upside-down. The system is designed to be placed in playgrounds and parks just as a rain shelter. While protecting people from rain, the system collects all the precious drops that fall on it and transfer it to tanks located in a different location. During summers when playground authorities are battling for water, the storage tanks can pump water back through a series of underground pipes.
The Dark Side:
While collecting rainwater is something we would recommend to all our readers, the pumping back of water from the storage tanks is a cause of worry. The pumps would need huge amounts of electricity to do the job. Moreover, during dry months the system would not provide anything more than shade. The designer could have done wonders if the same system could have been used to generate solar electricity during dry months and harvest rainwater during the rainy season.
