A UNIVERSITY graduate from Notts is in the running for an international design award after inventing a generator which creates electricity using waste water.

Tom Broadbent, of Cropwell Butler, who recently completed an industrial design degree at Leicester's De Montfort University, entered his prototype for the James Dyson Award.

The device, HighDro Power, is an electricity generator that harnesses the energy of falling waste water from high-rise buildings, and can be used to supplement the power supply and reduce energy bills.

The 23-year-old said it was a "eureka! moment" when he came up with the idea.

"I did a Pennine walk with my dad in the summer and one day we stopped at a hotel. As I emptied the bath, I found it emptied really quickly – it actually sucked my hand into the plughole," he said.

"So I had an idea that it was a lot of force that is going to waste and it could be used to generate electricity.

"That was the starting point of the idea. I researched into whether there were any such products and couldn't find any so I did it for my major project at university."

Tom is currently in talks with the university about installing the device in the soil pipes of the Fletcher Tower, where its art and design facilities are based.

He calculates the electricity generated could save a seven-storey building £926 a year.

The device uses four turbines connected by gears to ensure the maximum amount of waste water hits the turbine blades.

This means that only one generator is needed at the base of the building, keeping the cost low.

Dr Guy Bingham is the university's senior lecturer for the Faculty of Art and Design and programme leader for the Industrial Design course.

He said: "Tom's idea is truly an innovation in the area of energy micro-generation and the actual prototype is simply fantastic; I hope to see this go into production very soon."

Tom would like to invest in the development of a generator designed specifically for the device and install prototype units in buildings to further study the amount of power generated.

The James Dyson Award – set up by the inventor of the Dyson vacuum cleaner – is an international design award that celebrates, encourages and inspires the next generation of design engineers.

Tom is competing against entries from 19 countries for a £20,000 prize which would enable him to take the device towards production.

Last year's winner Automist – a fire extinguisher which fits directly onto a standard kitchen tap – is now on the market due to the award's support.

The final national shortlist will be announced on August 3 and the international winner on Tuesday, October 5.