Objective: To design an automatic water-efficient rice washer/cooker that collects rice water for multiple reuses minimizing negative impacts upon the environment through the conservation of water, energy, materials.

Description: Water pollution and water shortages have become serious environmental problems in many countries. In East Asia, rice has been the most important grain for thousands of years. People wash and cook rice everyday. Ancient Chinese housewives reused the water from washing rice to clean dishes. "Rice Water" is highly effective because it can dissolve the grease and oil clinging to dishware. But now people use dish detergent and threw away the "rice water". Dish detergents are not only costly but also cause water pollution and increased solid waste from the bottle containers. This ancient and wise practice of rice water recycling can be an ecological opportunity for design.

To minimize unnecessary water waste during washing and cooking rice. I have designed an automatic water efficient rice washer/cooker targeting the East Asian households and other users in water pollution and shortage areas.

The rice cooker I designed automatically stores and cooks rice, as it also supports the function of washing rice. Most importantly, my cooker easily collects daily "rice water" from washing rice, so people can take advantage of it. The user adds water to the water tank according to a direct volume incremental display. Then, the water is pumped into the cooker for washing the rice. After washing, the "rice water" drains to the water collector for reuse. The remaining tank water will be pumped into the cooker for cooking rice. The cooker also comes with "set time programming" functions, so users can set up the wash/cook/warm time in advance to save energy. The rice cooker will be produced with recycled content material.

I estimate, my rice washer/cooker with its precise measurements of water volume and controlled water/energy cooking method will reduce the water consumption per household up to 5%. People using the water-efficient rice washer/cooker will realize increased water savings and a continuing reduction in costs from waste-water outputs.