Unique sink concept, designed by Yan Lu, encourages users to save water.
When in use, the level of water in the fishbowl gradually decreases (but never fully drains out); it will go back to normal once you turn off the water.
To protect the fish and provide clean tap water, the bowl is connected to its own dedicated pipeline.
Also check out: iMac Aquariums and Super Mario Aquarium
chelseafc
Good idea, but how would the fish deal with constant water changes?
Sep 19th, 2010
jack
I love this. This is a great idea very cool and very green. Cant wait till its out and about.
Sep 19th, 2010
archatas
Poor fish :)
Sep 19th, 2010
Bajo
Cool
Sep 19th, 2010
Tom Cotter
Great idea. Fun especially for children.
Sep 19th, 2010
alex
this is cool, but there should be a filter from the fish bowl to the faucet. if its really mend for fish inside coz it will gives a fishy water..
Sep 19th, 2010
MMM
At first glance it seems green, but what about all the fish water just getting flushed away each time some one washes their hands? Be really green if they could harness that fish water for watering plants.
Sep 19th, 2010
Kevin
Sad thing is, I know too many Jack@$$es who would let the fish die.
But a great idea for the other 99% of the population :)
I love it!
Sep 19th, 2010
dave e.
Nothing like cleansing before a good meal with fish poop.
Sep 19th, 2010
woops
Poor fish… its as if a ceiling is temporarily lowered on a person.
Sep 19th, 2010
julie
dave e. can’t actually tell if that’s sarcasm or not but the bowl has a dedicated pipe it says, its just to give the user the impression that they’re using up the fish’s water. I think its pretty cool, but I do agree with MMM that they should find a use for the water from the bowl being drained away, maybe have that going in to flush the toilets?
Or maybe they’ve thought of something already, I’ve not checked out the linked page yet
Sep 19th, 2010
chibc
very interesting but poor fish….
Sep 19th, 2010
pete
Good ideas but poor little fish is suffering and crying. :—(
Sep 20th, 2010
torjan
Award winning idea… but the tank should not refill in front of people… should deploy some sensor mechanisms
Sep 20th, 2010
Ben
I love fish crap on my hands
Sep 20th, 2010
Pete
That’s way too small a bowl for that fish. Not only is it cruel to keep the fish in there to begin with, but lowering its water level is even worse.
Goldfish are especially messy fish. They poop a lot and fill up the water with a fair bit of ammonia over a short amount of time. Goldfish in proper conditions live over 10 years.
They survive, because they are hardy, but they certainly don’t thrive. Having one in a bowl, with no filter, and nothing to hold denitryfying bacteria is like telling a person they have to sleep in a bathtub filled with toilet waste in a bathroom filled with cigarette smoke. Sure, you’ll live, but it’s yucky, and you’ll die soon.
I’m 100% against this.
Pete
Sep 20th, 2010
Zunny
i see a lot of dead fish in this product’s life.
it’s actually well intended, but pretty cruel, probably better if it was a digital fish tank, or a robo fish
Sep 20th, 2010
Daniel
Cool idea, but the “fun for children” could be the idea against the initial idea.
Sep 20th, 2010
hamid
cool!!!!!!!!!!
Sep 20th, 2010
Atavar
It’s an interesting concept. What outwardly looks cruel is actually a very controlled environment but i feel there is far too much relying on technology here. If the pump that returns the water fails then fishy isn’t going to be very happy. Also, having owned a pair of goldfish for 10 years now, when draining water for a partial water change they get very stressed when the level drops.
If i were to see this, i’d probably not wash my hands rather than use the sink. That in itself would definitely save water but it would not be very hygienic at all, i hope he has designed a door you don’t have to touch to go on the front of the conveniences which contain these sinks.
Sep 20th, 2010
Iain
It seems like most people commenting here haven’t read the text at the top about how it works!!
The fish bowl is NOT connected to the faucet & the bowl water is not wasted & does not change every time.
Sep 20th, 2010
Gem
cruel
Sep 20th, 2010
Vandana
Awesome innovative s*** man!
Sep 20th, 2010
Ben
Thanks Lain, I was just going to say that !
Sep 20th, 2010
Laura
I think that it is a good idea but the bowl seams a bit boaring for the fish.
Sep 20th, 2010
linojon
Reminds me of the Sesame Street cartoon with the fish
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtcZbN0Z08c
Sep 20th, 2010
??
great design, i agree with the fish problem too, but you don’t have to put a fish there do you? just put an imitation fish or stones.
Sep 20th, 2010
Natashaz5
As a concept this may make an instant impression…
But do we have to torture a fish in the process? Or even imply the possibility?
Sep 20th, 2010
old man
NO cruelty to animals!
Sep 20th, 2010
Mapache
Does toxel.com hate fishes?
Sep 20th, 2010
Kirvi_Inci
Are there really that many people who cannot read simple English? *facepalm*
Sep 20th, 2010
Gert
Many of you vastly overestimate the cognitive abilities of the average goldfish.
Yes, it will get stressed, then about three minuets later it will get over it because it won’t remember the experience at all.
Also, there may be a filter in the recycle tank in which case draining the bowl actually might do the fish some good.
Oh yah, and carp is yummy, dead fish problem solved :D
Sep 20th, 2010
Nat
Too stressful for the fish. No fish can live long without a filter and thermostat. Aweful idea!
Sep 20th, 2010
Jacqueline.C
Poor fish. But maybe it can remind ppl of saving water while washing hands-unless u wanna kill the fish!
Sep 21st, 2010
used
Poor fish
Sep 21st, 2010
Stuart Halliday
You’re all forgetting that the Japanese have a very different attitude to their animals than people in the West.
Goldfish are thought of in a kind of spiritual way with it being an object containing good-luck and good fortune (which is why they use them in their products and offices).
But they care very little for the actual life of the creature.
For example the Chinese gave away dozens of baby goldfish sealed in a small bag of water on a keyring for visiting Journalists during the last Olympics.
It was suppose to be a symbol of good luck,etc. but it back-fired on them.
Needless to say the Western Journalists were horrified.
Few people realise a goldfish is hard to look after correctly. It can grow up to ~12+” long if looked after correctly and live for 30+ years. But few get to that size or live that long due to ammonia poisoning by people not realising their special needs.
Sep 21st, 2010
Orion1977
Oh my!
Never happened to you? You have an idea and for some reason you forget about it… times later it appears in real world, from the idea of someone else.
Should I be happy or sad?
(well, at least now I know there are more insane minds in this world) =)
Sep 22nd, 2010
Rosie
hey. i read this on Digg ages ago. the water doesnt empty. it just lowers. they dont kill fish.
Sep 23rd, 2010
Mike
One thing I like about this site and is distressing at the same time is how this site’s comments can show the ignorance and quick to judgment of people. Society is getting dumber. For all the people that are concerned about the water in the fish bowl and how it is icky being used for the water faucet and that is being changed every time the sink is used have not taken the time to read the article and how this is NOT the case. Or just use your brain for once.
And for all the fish right advocates out there…
They are not CATS so the internets don’t care!
Sep 24th, 2010
secret
its cute…but the poor fish
Sep 25th, 2010
Raads
LOL @ Gert, i totally agree bout the 3 minutes memory (or in my version, its 3 seconds..)and @ Jacqueline.C, thats the whole point of it. its ‘green’ (as they say it) because it makes it as if: if* u use more than half of the water, then the fishy is going to die, which is not the case, rather, its going to live [see what i did there ;)] and if you people think its unheiginic, start learning to wash your hands with less water (and it goes through a pipe thingy, so no fish poo comes out)
* i didnt do a typo with the 2 ‘ifs’, just in case u thought i did, cuz they were needed XD
Sep 26th, 2010
derek
You people are really stupid. If you actually read the text you will understand that the water from the bowl doesn’t actually pour out of the faucet. There is a regular water line connected. It works like a regular sink. There is simply just a visual correlation to your usage and the lever in the fishbowl. The fishbowl water goes down a seperate drain and never sees your hands. It is a visual trick.
Sep 27th, 2010
Domina Elle
People! Please look at the diagram and READ the description of this sink. The ‘fish water’ is separate from the water you get to wash your hands in. The diagram really shows you how it works.
This is very interesting though not practical. What I find most interesting is how the designer is hoping this sink will make people want to conserve water. I think the opposite is true; people will be using it more in order to watch it function! haha. I like the ‘public’ sink version. FUN.
Sep 30th, 2010
Pete
If the water was filtered for the fish, that still wouldn’t clean it enough. In fact, the water needs to be continuously filtered for the ammonia from the waste and food to be transformed into nitrates and nitrites by bacteria. (learn about the nitrogen cycle in fish tanks for more info)
Goldfish are some of the dirtiest fish. Seriously, their waste output is significant enough that they require a special level of care. They’re one of the worst beginner fish, despite being sold as such.
You have to change the water regularly to remove the nitrite/nitrate that builds up in an unbalanced system. I have a 55 gallon tank. I have to change 90% of the water every other week for three large goldfish that started off as carnival feeder fish. All are 6+ inches now.
So, it has less to do with people not reading the article and thinking you might get fish poo on your hands, and more to do with the fact that the fish is *swimming in the poo* (and its broken-down component parts and byproducts).
Also, goldfish prefer cooler water, in the low 70s and high 60s. Fancies can go a bit warmer. Either way, the ambient temp in the bathroom (which is usually hot) will be higher than the goldfish will thrive in.
When not slowly poisoned to death, goldfish grow to be 12+ inches in length and live to be 20+ years (some much longer). That’s a serious lifetime. The ones that die much younger do so because we insist on this idea of a “goldfish bowl” when there are actually fish that do reasonably well in that situation, just not goldfish.
Pete
Oct 1st, 2010
nicole
someone’s thinking too much. :))
Oct 7th, 2010
Definitely animal cruelty
Disgusting in numerous ways. Fish are so easily stressed by changes in their environment, and draining their oxygen source (even if it never fully depletes) is definitely cruel. Like keeping a dog in a crate with a fluxuating size. The bowl is tiny to begin with, and then it gets even smaller? And a highly social animal living in isolation? This should be prosecuted.
Oct 7th, 2010
Sydney
Some 1 that washes there hands alot..would kill there fish!!!
Jan 22nd, 2011
Daniel
Como poupar água
Jan 26th, 2011
herschel
People need to read the article more carefully. You’re not going to get fish water on your hands; the fish tank bowl is connected to its own pipeline separate from the sink pipeline. Also, there must be some sort of way to provide a filtration system since it has its own dedicated pipeline.
Jun 19th, 2011
someone
yea, ur right… the fish won’t get killed!!!! c’mon people!!! why ur just looking at the picture?? read the article!!!
Oct 25th, 2011