rainstraw public drinking fountain by irma földényi from hungary

Rainstraw - Public Drinking Fountain

Green Life, 2. City and Green Design,

With the growing demand of water consumption, which is characterized by several demands including domestic and public uses, by 2020 there will be a rising need to solve water shortages and to be careful with water consumption. The decorative public fountains running with tapwater may become a luxury of water consumption, so our focus is on public water demands, that includes sustainable clean water supply with the help of rain, that could fill up drinking fountains placed in public spaces.
This water fountain is shaped as an umbrella that is turned inside out, and it collects and filters the falling rainwater – the raindrops that would otherwise fall on the ground and get wasted. The filtered rainwater can be used up right after rainfalls, or it can be stored in a container. The unit is modular, so with its expandable units it can form a roofscape or just a single set-up. The construction is made of steel beams with plastic junctions, covered with a flexible membrane, that is shaped to open up towards the sky in order to collect the drops on the largest surface as possible - and is able to expand while collecting. Seasonally the construction can be taken apart and stored indoors (f. ex. in continental climate during winter time), and placed on openair from spring till autumn.
Rain collection is already a great solution over large parts of the world where humans have inadequate access to water sources. It is an important opportunity to think how we could integrate simple solutions for water consumption within a built environment, focused on the urban areas.