Gallery: A Plan to Funnel LA's Runoff Water Into a Beautiful Pool
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Liquifying Aquifers is a project from architect Lujac Desautel that envisions turning runoff water in California into clean water—and a swimming pool.
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It would use a system of wells to divert water from the Tujunga Wash, a tributary of the Los Angeles River, into a series of three concrete structures, each shaped like an inverted pyramid.
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Two of those inverted pyramids would use plant-based biofilters to clean the water. A third would serve as a community swimming pool.
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After a little water goes into the pool, the rest would be pulled into the aquifer underneath the ground, through a series of pumps.
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It's all about making sure Californians can keep living an outdoor life. That idea is echoed in his project’s architecture: The inverted pyramid shape Desautel envisions creates a massive overhang, underneath which he imagines an ecosystem of community programming and retail shops surrounding the public pools.
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Instead of people owning private swimming pools, communities could share one. Instead of stigmatizing pools, they could be an incentivizing mechanism for making the region healthier.
