Shower heads are generally not very different one from another. Sure, you can get a different pressure, a different type of water jet, some have temperature control, but all in all, they’re the same thing. But now, a San Francisco start-up wants to change that: they’ve developed a new shower head that consumes 70% less water, while cleaning you up just as well.

Image via Nebia.

According to Nebia, they’re designing products that the world needs – starting with the shower. Instead of one focal point up top, they’ve got three, and a second output of water that can be adjusted to hit you squarely in the back or stomach. They explain:

“Our technology uses nozzles designed to atomise water under extreme pressure, so that a stream of water is broken up into millions of droplets. The surface area of these droplets is 10 times that of a normal shower water droplet, enabling the shower to use much less water but get you just as wet.”

The average man uses 20 gallons (75 liters) of water, and the figure seems to be going up. In 1999, we only used 6 gallons (23 liters) on average, so finding a way to reduce wasted water is extremely important, especially as more and more areas of the world are experiencing water shortage.

So far, Nebia’s initial tests have been very promising – people don’t experience any discomfort.

“We have tested Nebia with over 500 people, optimising for the greatest diversity of hair type and length. Our results show that people with this hair type have no problem rinsing their hair with Nebia.”

Much more time and testing is still necessary before this product can be declared a success, but any attempt to reduce wasted water is a laudable effort.

In the mean time, you can check out their Kickstarter and support it, if you deem it worthy.