FEATURES
47
Perhaps most impressive is the warm-up and pause
feature. This pauses the water flow once the shower
reaches your desired temperature.
“Showering typically comprises 29% of a household’s
monthly water consumption. To better manage water
usage, PUB aims to provide information to customers to
make informed decisions, especially in areas of higher
usage,” said Michael Toh, Singapore’s National Water
Agency PUB’s director of water supply, in a press release.
For a totally different type of showering experience, users
of the future may choose to adopt a concept called the ‘Fog
Shower’. The Fog Shower is a showerhead that consumes
much less water than conventional showerheads. The
water is heated and sent under pressure to an ultrasonic
vaporiser before being forced through perforated metal
plates. An intelligent sensor system aims the water vapor
in different angles, depending on the movements of the
person showering. Conventional showerheads consume 26
litres of water for a five-minute shower. By creating a fog of
microscopic water droplets, the Fog Shower consumes only
two litres of water for a five-minute shower.
While the Fog Shower manages to replicate the
showering experience of a low-flow shower, someone
who is looking for something more traditional in terms
of a full-pressure shower should look no further than the
Orbital shower — provided they can pay the staggering
current price tag of R70 000.
The trick to this device lies in its ability to recycle its own
water. The OrbSys system filters out particulate matter
and microbes from drain water and then sends it back
through the showerhead, allowing users to take a shower
for as long as they want with just five litres of water.
The purification system at the base of the shower is in
fact so effective that the water ends up returning to the
showerhead cleaner than when it left. After each shower,
all the water is ejected, which is what results in the five
litres being used.
SMART TOILETS
Smart toilets have theoretically been on the market since
the early eighties, at least in Japan: the Washlet, found in
over two-thirds of the country’s bathrooms, is controlled
by a remote and features a self-opening, auto-heated
seat, and a bidet-style cleaning system that “reduces
www.plumbingafrica.co.za
SmartBall
New showers being installed in Singapore feature
either a panel display of real-time water consumption in
numbers or colour codes at the showerhead to indicate
consumption level. They also allow users to set their
own water conservation goals and monitor their water
consumption history, among other things.
paper consumption”. The Washlet is arguably one of those
cultural anomalies which visitors to Japan often discuss
on returning. The head of the company who manufactures
the Washlet believes that they have not previously caught
on in the West “because of the cultural taboo over talking
about toilets”, which is understandable.
Looking like a blue bowling
ball, the magic of SmartBall
is in the centre. The device
is inserted into water pipes,
travels along them, and can
detect weakened pipes
before they become bursts.
Yet, with the rise of the Internet of Things leaving no
home accessory unsmartened, smart loos are one
modern bathroom technology whose time seems to have
finally come.
Probably the most famous technological toilet is the
Kohler Numi, which at roughly R75 000 includes a bidet
and heated dryer, heated seats, foot warmers, custom
settings for individual users, and a built-in music player.
The latest version also features a Bluetooth receiver
that allows users to stream music directly from their
smartphone, an SD card and slot for users to create
playlists, or program a personalised greeting — who
wouldn’t want their toilet to say hello when they sit
down? Another new feature is ambient lighting, which
includes seven different colours. Users can have the
Numi cycle through each of the colours, or have a
different colour set for each day of the week.
The new Numi also includes a battery pack that can
support up to 100 flushes, so even in an extended power
outage, the toilet will still function as normal. Like the
original Numi, everything on the new model is controlled
through a wireless remote. Even the lid of the toilet seat
is opened and closed through the remote.
The final new feature comes in the form of a USB port
on the back. This allows service technicians to come out
and update the firmware on the toilet. That’s right, the
toilet has firmware.
February 2019 Volume 24 I Number 12