Water panels could help prevent urban droughts

An innovative panel has been designed to fit discreetly onto the walls of a building, collecting rainwater and pumping it into the water system

Spotted: The Aquatecture panel, designed by Shaakira Jassat, founder of Studio Sway, is slim and made of durable and rust-resistant stainless steel. The rainwater is collected through thin, rounded funnels, and then channelled into the adjoining building’s grey-water system, to be recycled alongside waste-water.  

Jassat came up with the idea after a Cape Town drought, seeking to create an element that would be able to harvest and store
water in an urban setting. Rainwater harvesting has been around for
centuries but the form and shape are generally large and difficult to implement in a dense urban environment. Many South African city dwellers are therefore living in fear that their water taps will just switch off.

“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 told Dezeen.com. The Aquatecture panel is a potential solution, providing city residents with a space-efficient system of collecting rainwater. 

Jassat has yet to test the design on a real building but says that in the future, there could be potential for the panels to pull water out of the atmosphere via condensation. She has also recently been researching the tillandsia and bromeliad plant species, “air plants”, which draw all their water needs from the air, and she herself has a strong interest in the concept of humans living symbiotically with nature. 

Springwise has covered other innovations seeking to increase make water more accessible across the globe, including these low-energy condensers that could help during water shortages and emergencies, and this living wall in London, which will feature a rainwater collection system.