NASA Partner Releases Water-Recycling Shower

The shower of the future may not look like something you'd see on The Jetsons.

It will have "a lot less to do with gizmos and lights and a lot more to do with something a little more important -- saving water," according to CNET, which says the "shower of the future" is already here.

The shower is available for preorder from Swedish company Orbital Systems. Designed with some assistance from NASA, the shower aims to both purify and recycle water.

How does it work?
"When you start up the shower -- which comes either as a standalone cabinet or a floor-integrated version -- the closed system fills with 5 liters (about 1.3 gallons) of water. That water then flows out of the showerhead, over your body and down into a special drain filled with two filter capsules: a micro capsule and a nano capsule," CNET reported.

"The micro capsule eliminates larger particles from the water stream like skin flakes, sand and hair particles, while the nano capsule eliminates smaller contaminates such as germs, metals and emulsified oils and makes the water cleaner than what comes out of most home taps, according to Orbital Systems. Once filtered, the water is pumped back up to the showerhead. So you basically get a closed loop of water that will let you shower for as long as you want (providing that's not until all the water evaporates)," the report continued.

How does it look in practice?
"The OrbSys shower removes more than 99.9% of contaminants, and actually pumps out cleaner water than the water entering your house from the main water supply," ExtremeTech reported.

"The process is capable of retaining most of the heat in the water, resulting in huge energy savings. The system can operate in real time at up to 24 liters (6.3 gallons) per minute — more than enough to sustain a strong, invigorating flow of water (your shower at home probably uses around 15 liters per minute)," the report continued.

For more water reuse ideas, visit Water Online's Water Reuse Solution Center.