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Published: 30 January 2013
Hollow drops save water at shower-time
As Australians battle another hot, dry summer, a new shower nozzle that uses up to 50 per cent less water while maintaining the sensation of full pressure could provide us with guilt-free showers – simply by adding air.
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Scientists have come up with a design for a smarter, water-efficient shower nozzle. Credit: seraficus/istock
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CSIRO fluids specialist, Dr Jie Wu, says the Oxijet nozzle feels as wet and strong as a full flow shower, but uses much less water. It also differs from traditional ‘low flow’ devices.
‘Traditional flow restrictors reduce flow and pressure, whereas Oxijet uses the flow energy to draw air into the water stream, making the water droplets hollow,’ Dr Wu said.
‘This expands the volume of the shower stream, so you can save the same amount of water, while still enjoying the illusion of a full-flow shower.’
With Melbourne’s daily water use this summer doubling from the former target of 155 litres per day and the price of water going up, the new shower nozzle could provide some cost effective, water saving relief.
The device was recently trialled by Novotel Northbeach in Wollongong and is planned to be installed across the whole hotel.
Mr Walter Immoos, General Manager of Novotel Northbeach said: ‘With over 200 rooms, we go through over 10 million litres of water per year, so any saving we can make is very important. We’ve found our customers prefer Oxijet over other “low flow” shower heads, because it gives the illusion of full water pressure.’
Oxijet was developed by New Zealand company Felton in collaboration with CSIRO and can be fitted to most existing shower heads. It is accredited by the Australian Watermark and Water Efficiency and Labelling Standards and is available for purchase across Australia.
Source: CSIRO
