Students create sustainable rain harnessing system to produce light and drinking water

Imagine the convenience of harnessing rainwater and producing enough electricity to light your home? This cycle of sustainability may sound like the fantasy of a Seattle, Washington State, resident, but as it stands, the feat was accomplished by a group of students from the Technological university of Mexico (UNITEC) who produced electricity using a microturbine. Their goal altruistic in nature: provide free energy for the poor community in Iztapalapa, Mexico City.

Designed by the trio Omar Enrique Leyva Coca, Romel Brown, and Gustavo Rivero Velazquez, the system is dubbed “Pluvia.” It begins by collecting runoff rainwater accumulating in the gutters surround the perimeter of the roof. Any home lacking a high sloping roof must be outfitted with metal sheets to raise the angle collect enough water. This runoff is then fed down a pipe leading into one of two filters that cleans two weeks’ worth of water from the accumulated acidity, soil, and other contaminants.

Afterwards, the water is fed into a pump which creates the water pressure needed to drive the microturbine that generates the electricity. In that sense, the system is a microcosm of the electricity generating systems used in dams, which also rotate turbines using rainwater. By contrast, Pluvia’s cylinder-shaped power generator measures only two inches by ten inches and uses a half-inch pipe to charge the battery once the microturbine spins.

The power generated by Pluvia fills rechargeable 12-volt batteries, enough juice to power LED lamps, small refrigerators, or table fans. The next step of the process produces drinking water that’s “equal to or cleaner than water in the network supply system of Mexico City,” says Coca. As the water is pushed through the turbine, it makes its way into an activated charcoal filter to remove any leftover odor, flavor, color, or matter that was not picked up by the first filter.

Not too shabby as a two-for-one deal; free water and free power. Although 12-volts is limiting, the final plan is to work together with UNITEC’s architecture students to find efficient ways of increasing the power of the water turbine and storage system.

Via Phys.org