Closed Loop Shower System a Potential Game Changer

　　A number of years ago, while walking what was then called the International Hotel, Motel + Restaurant Show, I came across a company that had developed a system to recycle and reuse water from a shower. I don’t recall ever seeing that company again. Perhaps it was a technology that was just ahead of its time.

　　If you do some online searching today, you will find some companies with systems that cleanse and filter shower water for reuse for toilet flushing. I have occasionally come across these types of systems.

　　Greywater, the relatively clean waste water from showers, baths, sinks, washing machines, and other kitchen appliances, is most often not reused. According to this year’s Green Lodging Trends Report, a production of Green Lodging News and Greenview, out of almost 2,000 respondents only 23 percent said they reuse greywater.

　　This past week I reported on a company called Orbital Systems that has developed a closed loop Oas shower system that they say saves 90 percent in water and 80 percent in energy. Using highly advanced technology developed for NASA, the shower system analyzes water entering the drain 20 times a second. If the water is higher than a certain threshold, it is dumped down the drain. Most often, however, the water is clean enough to be sent through a filter and back up through the showerhead for immediate reuse before much of the heat is lost.

　　System Improves Water Quality

　　According to B.G. Weiss, V.P. of U.S. Operations for Orbital Systems, the Oas system uses a UV filter as well, making the water coming out of the shower the second time even cleaner than it was the first time.

　　The last time I saw a technology with such game changing potential was when Xeros introduced its highly efficient laundry machines that use polymer laundry beads.

　　Orbital Systems, which has U.S. offices in Sausalito, Calif., says it already has 45 installations, including some hotels. The U.S. version of the Oas shower will be available in mid-September.

　　Hoteliers are always interested in the quality of the shower flow. Weiss says the Oas system delivers up to 30 percent more water flow—the equivalent of increasing shower flow from 1.8 gallons per minute (gpm) to 2.5 gpm.

　　Ongoing maintenance is minimal for the system that has an ROI of about two to two and one-half years.

　　Orbital’s Oas shower system feeds shower data and savings to an Oas app, giving hoteliers the ability to monitor water use and savings by room, floor or entire hotel, in real-time. Data can also be displayed in rooms and hotel lobbies, affirming the hotel’s commitment to water conservation and sustainability. The app also allows one to see when a filter needs to be changed.