The Valley- A Solar Still Landscape Design

Singapore has a serious freshwater problem. Due to the small land area, extremely low altitude, short rivers in Singapore, there is no good underground aquifer, so the natural water resources are very limited. Getting fresh water from seawater is a good option, but advanced desalination technology comes at a very high cost. Therefore, this design speculates that passive desalination such as solar distillation can be realized through a part of the landscape design on Long Island.

The design reimagines coastal protection. In response to a 1.2m sea level rise 100 years from now, the design combines the sea wall with solar distillation to create a valley. Seawater can be piped into the valley, forming small ponds as the water level rises and falls. These ponds provide a location for the solar still. The topography of the valley also makes it a drainage area for urban waterlogging, which helps with flood management in the city. At the same time, the design, through the topographic design, will form a bay when the sea rises, providing an adaptive place for coastal activities

Direct Flow of Water

To collect water vapor from the evaporation of seawater, a large saran wrap dome was designed to trap the evaporating water and condense it back into fresh water. The curvature of the canopy is designed to allow water to flow in all directions. But the condensate that forms on a giant canopy is scattered across the surface and difficult to collect centrally. The design is inspired by leaf veins and magnetic fields. The veins optimize the flow of water, and the magnetic lines can form a concentrated line to collect water.

Accelerated Evaporation

Water that fills an entire pond is difficult to heat quickly by the sun. The design begins with the design of a passive heating device that can use the fluctuations of seawater to trap part of the seawater on its upper surface. In this way, the seawater that needs to be heated to accelerate evaporation is divided into a large number of shallower seawater, which is conducive to the sun heating them quickly, thus speeding up the evaporation of seawater, thus speeding up the overall desalination process. At the same time, the design references the shape of the coral reef, which can become a habitat for Marine life if it cannot perform its original function after the sea rises.