Recirculating Water Showers
How do you shower for a longer period of time but use less water? Seems a little tricky until you start to understand the science behind recirculating water showers. The technology of recirculating water showers is still very new with only a couple of companies trying to create an industry out of it. Nonetheless, it is still a very exciting idea that, if successful, will lead to a very large reduction in water usage across the world.
What is a recirculating Water Shower?
A recirculating water shower is a new technology that is capable of recycling water through a semi-closed loop system for reuse during showers. It was NASA-inspired technology that combated the issue of water scarcity in space. Since water scarcity is also becoming a larger and larger issue on our home planet there is a real-world use-case for this technology. In order for the water to be reused it has to be filtered, cleaned, UV treated, and reheated in order to maintain the correct level of purity and temperature humans enjoy today. In fact, due to the filtration steps in this technology, they claim that the water is more pure than the domestic water supplied to the system, pretty neat!
Savings numbers for a recirculating water shower
Supposedly, the savings numbers for this technology are staggeringly high for water and energy. The claim is that this technology can save up to 90% in water and up to 80% in energy compared to a conventional shower system. Since these systems need to operate in a semi-closed manner (sometimes draining to maintain proper levels of purity) that is where the 10% usage of water comes in. The combined savings in water and energy would be pretty awesome for a high use shower system!
Like any new technology, the cost to manufacture is high
Since the technology is still fairly new, the cost to supply and install is high. In checking Orbital Systems’ (the current leader in this space) website, they are selling their standard unit for 3 899 pounds (or $6 650 CAD). This is only for the supply of the system. Once the technology gets more commercialized and streamlined this cost will go down, but will still be more expensive than a normal shower.
Is this product currently available in canada?
Not yet, but it looks like there are plans to expand to the North American market. So far it looks like only a few European countries have supply chains for the product (Denmark, Sweden, Great Britain).
Possible applications for when the technology comes to north America
Where I see this technology thriving at first will be in higher-use shower applications, that is where people will realize a return on investment first. Places like gyms and hockey arenas where there are communal and frequent use of showers. The next area will be in homes that are targeting net-zero or better energy usage. Since the shower saves on both water and energy, this will be a great way to gain the net-zero accreditation for sustainable homes.
Conclusion
I cannot wait to see when this technology hits the North American market, and I will try to update the content in this blog once that day comes.
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BVM Contracting is committed to finding and writing about innovative technology, products, and services that are transforming the home and construction industry. In order to be the best General Contractor and Home Builder that we can be, it is important to stay in the loop on new trends and give people insight about the fun and exciting things coming to your home in the future!
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