Residents of California are feeling firsthand what life is like with a limited water supply as they face the current drought. But the resource crisis extends far beyond one state: according to water.org, a child dies every minute due to a water-related disease and a staggering 750 million people (or the equivalent of two and a half times the U.S. population) lack access to clean water. It’s no wonder that plumbing-fixture manufacturers are continuing to research how to make products that reduce water usage. New on this scene but already garnering wide support on Kickstarter, including from Apple’s Tim Cook, is Nebia.
The San Francisco startup is aiming to launch a new easy-to-install showerhead with integrated hand-shower wand that will supposedly use 70 percent less water than typical models yet still provide a full, satisfying shower experience.
Nebia’s team essentially re-engineered the showerhead using computational fluid dynamics software that’s normally applied to the study of jet engines. The result is a ring-shaped fixture that atomizes the water stream to produce millions of tiny droplets, a technology that they’ve dubbed H2MICRO. This technology actually achieves a surface area 10 times more than regular shower sprays all while using a fraction of the water: whereas the average eight-minute shower can use upward of 20 gallons, eight minutes under Nebia only uses six.
The timing couldn’t be better for California, where the Energy Commission voted just this week to implement a limit of 1.8 GPM on showerheads sold in the state’s stores. This strict limit will be imposed beginning July 2018; Nebia is slated to launch in mid-2016.
Other notable tidbits:
The unit is constructed of high-density polymer with thermoplastic polyurethane, while the back bracket is matte anodized aluminum.
The head will rotate up to 45 degrees, and the bracket arm will adjust 27 inches up and down the bracket to accommodate child and adult heights.
The hand wand has a five-foot-long hose.
Users should be able to install the unit without the help of a plumber as no tile/enclosure demolition is required provided existing shower is wall-based.
500 people with diverse hair types and lengths have already tested the shower — at venues such as Equinox gyms and Stanford University — with none experiencing any issues in hair rinsing.
Currently the pre-sale price is $299.