Water-wise two-week shower use showcased at the SXSW

18th March 2016

Hotaru

Enaie Azambuja

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A Tokyo-based company promotes the importance of thinking more carefully about water resources. "Our ancestors were born in the rainforest," said the promotional video, "and our civilisation developed around the great rivers. We drew water from the river. We dug wells. Our evolution depended on securing water. Today, we're running out of it. Water is a source of life. It also confines life to a fixed location. Until now."

Hotaru has come up with a portable water purification system as a compact package, which enables us to recycle used water—not just once or twice but as often as we like.

That frees a person to go anywhere, without worrying about access to water supplies and water shortages—maybe even for going to live on another planet.

Hotaru also has a new video about its water shower. Shohei Okudera and Riki Kitagawa, founders of Tokyo-based Hotaru, were at the SXSW event in Texas to present it.

Hotaru's shower can be used anywhere—in the middle of a room, or at outdoor construction sites, on mountains and in deserts. It can be stored and folded in a compact box. It is easily carried in a car. It is capable of recycling used water with its purification system.

The amount of water used by a family of three goes up to 840 liters in two weeks, said the video. With this system, it can be covered with 20 liters (5 gallons).

"Take a family of three: They can use 5 gallons to take 5-minute showers each day for two weeks".

The company website said, "with just 5 Gallons, you can take 50 showers. That's equivalent to 160 Gallons or more than 150 Gallons in water savings."

In general, showering is not just energy-intensive but water-consuming. Puiu noted that, according to Jonah Schein, technical coordinator for homes and buildings for the EPA's WaterSense program, an American typically showers for eight minutes, and every minute uses at least 2.5 gallons of water.

Hotaru's plastic base holds the water. There is a pop-up nylon tent. A pole keeps the handheld shower head in place. Water is collected from the drain in the floor and pumped through water purifying filters. Filters need changing about every two months.

The company claims its device can recover 95% to 98% of the water used in the shower. The shower is outfitted with various sensors and alerts to ensure proper water purification.

Hotaru is off-grid and can be powered by a generator or AC hookup. The company plans to have the product in market in 2017 for $3,000.