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2FLOWS: A Smart Dual-Flow Sink

As the water infrastructure in the US is aging, with many water distribution pipes installed 50 or more years ago, the process of replacing such infrastructure is projected to cost about $1 trillion. Our project sponsor Xylem asked us to design a solution around such a wicked problem. The ME310 Xylem team conducted user needfinding, defined the problem, pivoted towards darkhorse prototypes, created funktional and functional prototypes, and finally developed the solution called 2FLOWS. 2FLOWS is a smart dual-flow sink that automatically detects and diverts greywater from blackwater, giving greywater a second life for purposes such as irrigation and other non-potable uses within the building (e.g., toilet flushing). As much of the water from commercial buildings are in fact reusable, the diversion and reuse of greywater effectively reduces the load on pipes to water treatment and also prevents unnecessary full treatment of the water. Through needfinding we found that there is a huge mismatch between water-saving intentions and actions, but our instances of user testing have shown that 2FLOWS brings about a unique user experience that allows already water-conscious citizens to bridge this intention-to-action gap. We also found that 2FLOWS brings the conversation and awareness of water-consciousness, which is the first step towards a more sustainable infrastructure. We envision 2FLOWS to be advantageous and vital to the decentralized paradigm that we introduce as the solution to the issue of aging water infrastructure.