Contaminated water the world’s biggest health risk (NRDC, 2012). The use of solar stills for purifying contaminated water holds great opportunity; however, this simple and clean technology is under-utilized because productivity is limited with current designs. Biomimicry has been forwarded as a method for creating more innovative and sustainable design solutions (Biomimicry 3.8, 2012) by emulating models and strategies found in nature.
The goals of this thesis project are to use Biomimicry methodologies to design a more innovative, more sustainable, and more productive solar still, and then to assess the usefulness of Biomimicry as a sustainable design tool.
The resulting biomimetic design was the “SolDrop” solar still product concept that purifies water in a self-contained, seed-like structure that can be used as a singular device or collectively with multiple units adapting to various situations. This design was a successful finalist in Round 1 (of two) of the 2012-2013 Biomimicry Student Design Challenge (Biomimicry 3.8, 2012), which suggests that the Biomimicry methodology resulted in a more resilient, robust, and innovative design idea for a modular solar still.
The experience of applying the Biomimicry methodology resulted in an evolution in my sustainable design thinking; however, other tools and methodologies will be required to move the design from idea to reality as well as to make it contextually relevant and appropriate.