Julie Brugier, 2014
The project Domestiquer l’eau offers to reintroduce into the domestic space a second hand water cycle from the recycling of our wastewater. It leads us to rethink our activities according to the level of hygiene they require — washing dishes or floors does not require the same quality of water. How then can a new relationship with “waste” water be offered by the object?
Each water point in the habitat is redefined, as well as the links that they have between them, generating a new relationship to this resource. Sinks, and showers become filter receptacles, allowing wastewater to be recycled and stored instantly for later use in other, less “refined” activities. Each basin is equipped with two taps. One for drinking water, connected to the conventional network, and a second hand water tap connected to the storage tanks of the sinks. The second hand water can be redirected to the toilet flush to supply it. A small water point, directly discharged to the sewer, is intended for body toilets (to brush your teeth for example) — activities too filthy to consider recycling water. This new domestic network thus induces a more hierarchical water management in the habitat and establishes a less consumptive relationship to this resource.
Thus, Domestiquer l’eau seeks to rethink the objects of our everyday urban life in an eco-systemic and sustainable way, putting the individual in real contact with his resources (food, energy, etc.). It engages a re-reading of our domestic habits in order to appropriate the habitat as an economical and generous living space. It proposes a daily ecology through the reintroduction of domestic resource management, transforming the habitat into a place of production.
Credits
Project completed after a three-month immersion in an Indian eco-village (Tamil Nadu).