EnviDish: The sustainable dishwasher

My project focused on finding a way to use the waste water in a beneficial way, as well as reuse as much electricity and food waste as possible to power the dishwasher and/or other parts of the home. The electricity restored could be directed into the main current around the house and used elsewhere, or stored and used to power the dishwasher.

It features changes such as using a thermoelectric generator to create electricity from the heat inside the dishwasher. As well as this, there is a feature where food waste is collected and electrochemical cells used to convert the organic waste into usable electricity.

Finally the addition of small turbines through the body of the dishwasher and redesign of the pipes allows hydraulic energy to be created. The pipes were rearranged in a way that maximised the water speed for when it hit the strategically placed turbines. At the end of the pipe, a Pelton Wheel is there to collect any unused energy the water has left.

Overview of the issue and your approach: I took an ‘every little helps’ approach to this project. Often people dismiss climate change as they believe it is one big change or idea that’s needed and this is unlikely to happen. I tried to redesign parts of the dishwasher, an appliance that is in the majority of homes, that if these changes were made by all, could have a real impact. The dishwasher is used almost daily in most homes and lots of electricity and water is used to operate it, but the dishwasher does not reuse its resources.
The stakeholders in your project: .