A Chinese designer has come up with an idea to get people to use less water that will no doubt have fish lovers up in arms.
The design, called 'Poor Little Fish' basin features a fish bowl above a sink. As you wash your hands the water gradually drains out of the fish bowl - although it never completely empties - in theory threatening to suffocate the fish if you use too much water. Once the water is turned off, the tank gradually refills.
Of course the fish bowl and the sink are not actually interconnected. The bowl drains into a hidden reservoir and the water for washing hands comes from mains water.
The Poor Little Fish basin has been created to highlight the issue of water conservation, and remind its users that their actions can affect the environment around them.
Designer Yan Lu says on his website: "As consumption is incalculable, saving is often neglected through daily consumption.
"Rather than forcing people to consume less, thus depressing the using experience, Poor Little Fish basin offers an emotional way to persuade consumers to think about saving water, by making consumption tangible.”
Despite his admirable concern for the state of the planet, one has to feel for the fish which is likely to be stressed by the constant draining and re-filling of its environment.