My 18-year-old son is notorious for taking really long showers. When I say “really long,” I’m talking close to 30 minutes. That’s precious water and money down the drain. How much water and money, exactly? I’ve never really taken the time to investigate, but I’m sure it’s more–much more–than is reasonable. With the addition of the Hydrao showerhead from Smart & Blue, I could finally have the ammunition to convince my kid that these marathon showers are detrimental to his college fund and the environment.
The Hydrao attaches to any standard shower, and comes equipped with LED lights that change color to notify users of their current water consumption. For example, green could signify that 5 gallons of water have been used, yellow for 7 gallons, and red for 10 gallons (according to Smart & Blue a 7-10-minute shower requires a minimum of 20 gallons of water). Using a companion smartphone app, personalized showering thresholds can be set for as many four people, and the app converts the usage into dollars and cents, so each person knows how much money they’ve spent to take a shower. Even if you exceed your set threshold, the water continues to flow, making this more of an educational tool than a strict regulator of water use.
According to Smart & Blue, nearly half of all water consumed in a home is used in the bathroom and 20 percent of that water is flushed down the toilet while the other percentage is comprised of showering and sink usage. If used daily, Hydrao can save users up to 5,000 gallons of water a year, per person. “I created Hydrao with the idea in mind that i could educate my little girls on the important of saving water; I needed to make bath time fun and educational in order for them to develop good habits,” says Gabriel Della Monica, CEO and co-founder of Smart & Blue. “Shortly after seeing the positive effects it had on them both, I decided to bring the same knowledge and excitement to other families around the world.”
Tom K says
Hmm. I don’t think an 18 year old boy taking a long shower is really thinking about water conservation and I’m fairly certain making it a disco won’t change that.
Qualification: I was once an eighteen year old boy who took long “showers”.