I chose to apply the SCAMPER technique to the idea of a water conservation filtration system for the household.
Can I replace someone involved?
I can reduce the water utilities involvement in cleaning the water (other than the toilet water), thus reducing water utility bills.
Could I use other processes or procedure?
Instead of using membranes for osmosis or filters for filtration, the system could utilize biological cleansing of the water such as bacteria or wetlands/ponds.
Can I combine or merge it with other objects?
The system could be combined with the water heating system so that everything related to the treatment of the water is in one central location. Also, the heated water could be conserved, thus saving not only water, but energy too.
What else is like it and is there something similar, but in a different context?
The system is similar to Heat Recover Ventilation systems in homes, where the heat from the interior of the home that was originally heated is conserved on its way out to the exterior through a controlled heat exchanger ventilation system. This could be applied to a water conservation system throughout the home that connects all of the outbound water that was used in the sinks to a central conservation system that cleans/purifies the water and recycles it back into the system during use. Also is similar to the brita water filter in that it purifies water.
What can be duplicated? Can I make multiple copies?
A large filtration system would require filters/membranes that would need to be frequently replaced to ensure the purity of the water. There would be the upfront cost of the system and frequent replacements of the filters as well as system maintenance.
Put to other Use
What else can it be used for?
A purification system could also be used to clean rain water to directly incorporate into the fresh water reserves for use in the sink or toilet region.
Can I use this idea in other markets or industries?
A home water recycling system could be used in commercial settings as well and would be especially useful in regions that are more or less water starved, regions such as Arizona, New Mexico and other desert regions.
What feature can I understate or omit?
A water conservation system might cause energy usage to go up due to the energy required to run the filtration system, but it could be displaced by the heat that is conserved when you avoid the energy required to heat the incoming water.
Are there other patterns, layouts or sequences I can use?
Instead of a central water recycling system, where many pipes from the sinks all go to the same filtration system, there could be individual filters for each sink
I often like to look to nature to see what sort of solutions she comes up with, after all she has had billions of years to perfect the systems to maintain harmonic balance (which ironically is based off of continuous flux, action and reaction). In nature, water is purified through filtration through layers and layers of sediment and rock. What if a water recycling system distributes the used, dirty water to the garden area which is designed to provide for great filtration. A gradient and piping system could be engineered underneath the layers of sediment to return the water for fresh water use. Or another variation of that concept could be layers of filter-like materials that the water seeps through gradually cleaning itself for reuse.