UW Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Prototyping a Self-Sufficient Harvester of Electricity-Water (SHEW) for Tall Buildings

The SHEW project seeks to develop a prototype system for harvesting electrical power by utilizing the collection of rainwater in conjunction with a hydro-turbine. With the help of UW CEE, among others, this project aims to design and test the feasibility of a compact hydroelectric system. The prototype consists of a rainwater collection tube and several systems that automate the release of water to drive a turbine. With the capability of producing energy for small and large-scale urban buildings, the system will store power for future use by smaller devices. The power produced can be used to support critical systems such as data centers and communication networks during power outages.