The water that you unleash when you take a shower (with the “hot” knob closed) has two properties: pressure and temperature. You can change pressure, but to raise its temperature you usually need extra energy. Regularly, you don’t shower with the water knob turned to the maximum, so a certain extra pressure exists in the tubing, creating friction.
An international team of designers (Sebastian Jansson from Finland, Fernanda Pizi from Mexico, Victor Stelmasuk from Brazil and Natalie Weinmann from Germany), projected a shower that uses that extra pressure and friction, transforming it into heat by using the piezoelectric effect (pressure applied to a material transformed into electricity).
The designers called it “The Piezo Shower“, and their invention won the 2nd prize at the 1st edition of the SaloneSatellite Awards.
They installed piezoelectric nanowires in the shower’s tubing, generating electricity from the friction occurring as the water circulates. The nanowires are currently being developed at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
The designers divided the tubes into several pathways, forming a “vein-like” network that mimics the human body’s blood circulation system, both in terms of its macro structure and micro ramifications.
The shower also features a waterproof touchscreen that can regulate the temperature and pressure and that can monitor the water consumption and time spent under it.
