British Student Harnesses Building Wastewater For Electricity

An industrial design senior at the De Montfort University in Leicester, Britain has developed a device that converts building wastewater into electricity. Tom Broadbent developed the HighDro Power device to harness energy from water discharged from appliances such as showers, toilets and sinks into the soil pipes of high-rise buildings and transform it into electricity. “The water goes down the pipe and hits four turbine blades that drive one generator,” explained Mr. Broadbent. The electricity generated can be used in the building or sold back to the national grid on a buy-back tariff. A seven-storey building can reportedly save around £926 ($1,415.57) annually in electricity costs by using the HighDro Power device. The invention aims to answer the targets set at the G-8 summit by governments to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions and dependency on fossil fuels for energy production by 2050. Mr. Broadbent was inspired to create the device while watching a bath emptying with a large amount of force. He speculated that the energy should be harnessed in some way to generate clean electricity. “The whole thing was influenced by traditional waterwheels to ensure that any solids passing through had limited effects on whether they could function,” Mr. Broadbent said. He used laser sintering, CNC milling machinery and vacuum forming to create a working prototype of the device. Bearings, gears and other materials were sourced from companies supplying standard components. Mr. Broadbent is waiting to hear whether he will win accolades from the Institute of Engineering Designers and the Dyson Awards. He also entered the Kevin McCloud Green Heroes award to show the HighDro Power device at the NEC’S Grand Designs live show. He intends to have the device fitted on a building for testing in the future.  Article by Katrice R. Jalbuena EcoSeed