#HTE

The RainStick Shower Recirculates Water to Provide Strong Flow with Less Water

I’m skeptical of this, but find the concept interesting: RainStick is a showerhead replacement (sort of) that promises to blast you with 3 gallons per minute, while using 80% less water than a standard 1.8 – 2.2 GPM shower.

How is that possible? Because the product is not just a showerhead, but a housing that contains plumbing that extends down to the drain.

It recirculates the water that’s just rinsed off of you, passing it through a filter to catch “larger hair and debris,” hitting the recirculated water with UV light, then sending it back out of the showerhead, mixed with a smaller amount of fresh hot water. The company says each “drop” is recirculated “up to six times” before it goes down the drain for good.

I like the idea of using water in more efficient ways, but the info presented on how clean the recirculated water is seems a little skimpy. The company says the UV light “disinfects water from any bacteria or viruses from the shower.” Okay, but if I’m washing oil, grease or soot off of me (I’m on a farm, so your needs may be different), does it take longer to get it off, because it keeps coming back? If I’ve got urushiol oil from poison ivy on me, does that get recirculated?

Another red flag is that the system of course needs to be wired for electricity…and connected to Wi-Fi. Why? “The usage data is…sent to the cloud,” the company explains, “so that you can view your water and energy savings on the web and on the app.” What am I, on the International Space Station?

In any case, if you want a RainStick you’ll need to start out with a tiled shower floor, as it’s not possible to install one in a tub or shower pan. The set-up runs $3,495, plus whatever installation costs are. There are no reviews yet, as the RainStick is still in the pre-order stage.