We all know that fresh water is going to become more and more of an issue over the coming decades. Climate change and an ever-growing population will be placing ever more stress upon this most essential of resources, and so anything that helps to save water is, at least in my books, a Bloody Good Thinfg.
If combined with some awesome design, well, so much the better.
And so, allow me to introduce to you the Washit.
The idea behind this beautiful white box is that it washes both you and your clothing simultaneously. And it saves a bunch of water because it uses the grey water produced by your washing of yourself, to wash your clothing.
Apparently, we use 150 litres in a 15 minute shower, and 38 litres per wash cycle for a washing machine, so think of the savings over time!
It’s one of those ‘well, why didn’t _I_ think of that?’ moments :)
How does it work?
The Washit makes use of a closed plumbing system with two water pumps, three filters (organic, chemical and carbon), one heater, UV filters and a water storage unit. While someone is having a shower, the grey water they produce is collected and passed through the filters and into the water storage unit. This water can then be used again, either for showering or for washing clothes. The filters have indicators which show where they are intheir lifecycle.
In case of water loss, Washit can also replenish its water storage using mains water. Oh, and it’s even able to dry your clothes for you :)
Two different designs
The Washit will also come in two iterations: public and private. While essentially the same, the private Washit has the washing machine bit facing outwards, while the public version has it facing inwards, into the shower.
Now - when can I have one?
The Washit’s designers are four Turkish university students - Ahmet Burak Aktas, Salih Berk Ilhan, Adem Onalan, Burak Soylemez - and the product was begun as a university assignment, although it has since garnered the iF Concept Design Award 2012: Hansgrohe Special Award. This year’s Hansgrohe topic was ‘my green shower pleasure': some 150 different concepts reached the final round, and the 6 winners the prize, worth 5,000 Euros.
