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Tom Broadbent is an industrial design student with a rather simple but brilliant idea: capture the energy produced by falling wastewater and turn it into electricity.
He designed the HighDro Power to do just that. It's a device that acts essentially like a miniature hydroelectric dam&mdaash;it harnesses the energy from wastewater running down the pipes of high-rise buildings and converts it to electricity.
Creative Boom has the scoop on how Broadbent carried the HighDro Power from idea to reality:
To make a working prototype of the design, Tom used rapid prototyping techniques — laser sintering and CNC milling machinery — as well as vacuum forming. He sourced bearings, gears and other materials from companies supplying standard components.
He added: "HighDro Power works by using the water discharged from appliances such as showers, toilets and sinks in high-rise apartments. The water goes down the pipe and hits four turbine blades that drive one generator.
The device, which Broadbent hopes will be picked up for commercial production, would be able to provide energy directly to the building or could be sold back to the national grid.
