Kids Come Up With Idea of Capturing Rain to Clean Windscreens, Ford Steps In

Their entry in the competition? An innovative system that would help capture rainwater and sent it to the windscreen washer reservoir. Although not entirely new as an idea, the system created by the two kids caught the eye of Ford.

Having gotten the idea when traveling through heavy rain and with an empty reservoir with their family last summer, the two kids decided it would be a good idea to capture some of the drops and use them at a later date, instead of water from the tap.

They tested their idea in an aquarium and using a Ford Focus RS model car. It worked, and the news reached Ford, so the company decided to do a dry run with a full-size model, using a windscreen and parts.

That worked too, so the two mini-engineers and Ford installed a fullsized device onto a Ford S-MAX test car.

The system is fairly simple and effective. Rubber pipes are connected to the bottom of the windshield, allowing rainwater to enter the reservoir.

“Daniel and Lara’s idea has been staring drivers in the face for decades – and it has taken one moment of ingenuity to bring it to life. In less than five minutes of rainfall the washer reservoir is completely full,” said Theo Geuecke, Ford Europe responsible for exterior hardware.

It’s not clear what Ford plans to do with the idea, but judging by the level of excitement the carmaker expressed in an official press release on the subject, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see such a system featured on future Blue Oval vehicles.

According to Ford, an average driver uses 20 liters of water a year to keep their windshields clean. Multiply that by 291 million cars in Europe, and you get almost six billion liters of water recycled each year.