Running Header: Hydrao Smart Shower Head

Hydrao Smart Shower Head

Nicole Schielzo
Shannon Keeney
Nick (Kyle) Race
Thomas Powers
Envl 4300
2020 Campus Proposal

Hydrao Smart Shower Head

Table of Contents:
Mission Statement
Abstract
Introduction
College-wide Objectives
College-wide Impacts
Action Plan
Timeline
Costs/Savings
Implementation Examples
Environmental Benefits
Conclusion
References
Appendices
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Appendix 3
Appendix 4

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Hydrao Smart Shower Head

Mission Statement:
To increase the amount of green infrastructure at Stockton University by installing
environmentally conscious Hyrdao shower heads in residential halls; and to educate the student
body about water use in an effort to promote sustainable water use practices at school, and at
home.
Abstract:
Hydrao is a new and innovative shower head that changes color as increasing amounts of
water is used for the duration of a shower. Hydrao smart shower has been tested and sold in
France, and is expanding to the United States later this year. This project proposes implementing
the new shower head in the residence halls on Stockton University campus. Students are more
likely to reduce the amount of time they shower if they know how much water they are using
while they shower. Implementing the Hydrao Shower head will reduce costs to the university as
well as making the community in general more environmentally aware. Stockton University has
about 3,000 students living on campus, the current shower heads use 1.5 gallons of water per
minute and many students take at least a ten minute shower every day, that is 150 gallons of
water per week per student. If Stockton University was to replace all current shower heads with
the Hydrao it would be an initial cost of $84,000 but the shower head would pay itself off in 14
months if it influences students to use 35% less water. After the shower head is paid off,
Stockton University will be saving $71,790 annually. The Hydrao shower head will add to
Stocktons green infrastructure and make the students more ecologically conscious.
Introduction:
Stockton University has always been focused on being New Jerseys Distinctive Public
University. Situated in the pine barrens of southern New Jersey, Stockton has earned this
distinction in many ways. It has greatly expanded its educational programs, provided many
services for the surrounding community, recently gained accreditation as a University, and has
also been recognized as New Jersey's green University. The green univeristy distinction is
quite important to many of the faculty and students who attend Stockton and here are some of the
things being done to further promote this goal. The new campus center finished in 2010 is a
LEED certified gold building. Much of the school is heated and cooled using a geothermal
system installed in 1994. A comprehensive forest management plan is being implemented to see
how to better manage the unique and important pinelands ecosystem which the campus calls
home.
All of these environmentally conscious decisions are great, however, in order to continue
to be a model green school within the state, more ecologically conscious innovations and ideas
must be constantly implemented within the University. This was the goal with Stocktons 2020
Plan which was implemented in 2008. This plan created four initiative teams that each dealt with
a specific portion of the plan. These initiatives are as follows Learning, Engagement, Global
Perspectives, and Sustainability or LEGS. The sustainability portion of LEGS deals with
increasing sustainable infrastructure within the campus, and also prioritizing sustainability in

Hydrao Smart Shower Head

plant operations and residential life. Residential life is a very important aspect of the college
experience, and ways to make it a sustainable aspect of the college plan are a priority in the 2020
Plan. (2020 Strategic Plan 2008)
With all of that in mind, the need for sustainable infrastructure in residential buildings
across campus becomes more apparent. One of the ways this infrastructure could be improved is
by dealing with water usage. Although water supplies are currently not limited in the New Jersey
pinelands, they are becoming a problem in other parts of the country and even the world.
California for example, is still suffering from one of its worst droughts in recent history. Water
restrictions have been put into place and even with near normal precipitation this year parts of
the state continue to be in extreme drought. Climate change threatens to alter weather patterns all
over the globe, and these changes could affect who gets water and who does not. This is why it is
important to put infrastructure into place now preemptively. One of the places where a huge
waste of water is present is in the shower. Even though our University has shower heads that use
1.5 gallons of water per minute, the amount of water used is still dependent on the amount of
time a person remains in the shower. This is a behavior that has to be changed in order to curb
water waste.
Changing the behavior of people, let alone college students may sound like a difficult
task, but this is where Hydrao smart shower head becomes a vital tool. This smart shower
actually changes color thanks to an LED light in the shower head, when different volumes of
water are used. This allows for a person to visually see the amount of water they are using while
they shower. Installing these shower heads in the residential housing areas of campus would be a
great way to encourage sustainable water use. Since the Stockton community is environmentally
conscious as a whole, it is our belief that they will actually begin to change their behavior once
they realize how much excess water they use.
College wide objectives:
1. Increase amount of green infrastructure as mentioned in the 2020 Plan
2. Prioritize sustainability in plant operations and residential life as mentioned in the 2020
Plan
3. Increase awareness of domestic and global water issues
4. Promote sustainable habits while showering on campus and at home
5. Become a model for other schools looking to implement environmentally conscious
shower heads in their campus housing

College wide impacts:

Almost three thousand students live on Stockton Universitys campus, every shower head
on campus is shared by at least four students. (Stockton University, 2016) The shower heads in
the residential buildings use 1.5 gallons per minute, Housing 1 holds approximately 1130
students, that is approximately 16,950 gallons of water used per day in Housing 1, based on

Hydrao Smart Shower Head

every student taking a ten minute shower. The Hyrao shower heads would tell students how
much water they are using while they are showering and it would influence them to take shorter
showers. The shower heads hydro powered lights will change colors to warn the student as they
use more water: blue means that the student has used less than 10 L (2.64 gallons), orange means
that the student has used less than 30 L (7.9 gallons), and pink means that the student has used
more than 30 L of water during his or her shower. The amount of water that is used on campus
will be greatly reduced and save Stockton money. It will reduce Stockton University's ecological
footprint on the planet. The Hydrao shower head will also make more students environmentally
conscious.
Action Plan:
To ensure that the shower heads will make students conscious of their water usage, we
will start by adding them to three of Housing 1s courts, this will include D Court, which has five
people per apartment, this will give us and plant management an understanding of how students
will react to the shower head. Then plant management will add them to the remaining Housing 1
rooms and to the Housing 2, 3, 4, and 5 showers. Residential Assistants will hold mandatory
meetings to educate the students on the new shower heads, also outside of every shower there
will be a sign on the wall that serves as a key for the shower head colors. After the Hydrao
shower head has replaced every shower head in housing, incoming students will be educated on
them during the introduction meetings and events.
Timeline:
Hydrao is available for purchase in the U.S. September 2016 on Kickstarter. The
company was in the process of developing a wall mounted shower head for the American
market, but has already invented, created, and tested a European (hand held shower head).
Once the shower heads are installed in the outline housing for test trials, the residents in
that housing will use the shower head for approximately two months. Two months will give
enough of a sample size (times and duration of showers) for the entire apartment to show the
impact the shower head makes.
After the data has been collected the students will be asked to answer questions about
their experience using the shower head and if they changed their showering habits because they
could see how much water they used. This data would then be presented to Plant Management
and Residential Life in hopes that Hydrao would be implemented in every shower on campus. If
the shower head is found to be a success then it will be added to the remaining showers on
campus over the 2016-2017 Winter Break.
Costs/Savings:
Costs
Hydrao shower head...$100 each
(currently at an unsubsidized rate)
Over 600 shower heads on campus will be replaced......>$60,000

Hydrao Smart Shower Head

(currently at an unsubsidized rate)

Installation by Plant Management...$40/ hr of work
(32 apartments in D court X 1hr of work @ $40.00 = $1,280, plant
management will be able to do more than one shower head per hour, this
is
an overestimation for one court)
Total cost: $84,000 (cost assuming it takes plant management 1 hour per shower head
replacement and rate includes full cost of shower head at unsubsidized rate)
Cost of water (at Stockton)..............................................................................$.31 / 1000 gallon
Savings
Hydrao shower head used four times a day would take approximately 14 months to pay off with
water savings. (Based on an unsubsidized shower head rate)
Annual profit with Hydrao used 4 times a day...$119.65
(Based on 35% reduction of water used per person. See Appendix 4)
Total annual profit with Hydrao: $71,790
(Based on 35% reduction of water use for every on campus resident
assuming they shower once a day)
(Hydrao, 2016)
From our survey we have concluded that the majority of people take showers daily and
for 10 minutes or more. For instance, if 1 person showered daily, for 10 minutes they would use
105 gallons of water showering that week. 105 gallons used is out of the 1000 gallons Stockton
pays $0.31 for. For one person to shower daily for 10 minutes Stockton is spending
approximately $.03 with the current shower heads in place.
We could assume that most people would reduce their water use habits if they knew how
much water they were using. 60% of the people who took our survey stated that they would use a
shower head that changed color to tell them how much water was being used. If Hydrao was
installed, for one person to shower for 5 minutes daily it would cost Stockton approximately
$.02.

Implementation Examples:
According to the Hydrao website, there was a study completed early 2016. The study
supplied 1000 people with Hydrao shower heads to test in their homes.(Hydrao 2016) Each
household had varying family sizes as well as varying ages. According to the inventor of Hydrao
they (the surveyees) feel they have saved an average of 6 gallons (22 liters) of water per
shower and that they feel very positive about the shower head.
Hydrao was designed to be used in homes and hotels. We are proposing to use Hydrao in
the resident halls because they resemble hotels as a large living space with a large population.

Hydrao Smart Shower Head

The shower head comes connected to an app that breaks down the amount of water used for one
shower head. (Abt. 2016)
Environmental Benefits:
Looking past the financial benefit of the Hydrao shower head it can help the environment
in a number of ways. The Hydrao shower head fits under the category of a low-flow shower
head. A low-flow shower heads reduces the amount of water that passes through the tap.
Compared to a normal shower head, low-flow ones cut the water take in half which in turn can
save a household thousands of gallons of water each year just by installing one. In the past
shower heads put out 5 to 8 gallons per minute and the current standard for shower heads is 2.5
gallons per minute which is a drastic change. Low-flow shower heads go even further hitting 2 or
less gallons per minute. For example the current shower heads used at Stockton only use 1.5
gallons per minute.
Showers also use energy in order to heat up the water. Cutting back on our water use will
also lower our energy use and heating costs. Using less energy for heat will also help the
environment. When we heat water it puts carbon dioxide out into the air. With the need for
warmer water decreasing as a result the levels of carbon dioxide being released will decrease.
We mentioned before that this shower head changes colors as you use more and more
water. This is a new creative way to get residents more involved by saving water through a daily
task like showering. Hydrao will help students understand the importance of saving water. The
implication of apps on smart devices can get everyone more involved in their water usage.
Having the ability to actually see how much water you use in one shower or in one month, adds a
whole new element to the way we can educate communities about water issues. Even though
Stockton currently has low-flow shower heads installed, giving residents the ability to see their
water use will help educate them even more on the matter. We live in a visual world where
actually seeing the issues with our own eyes can make all the difference.
Conclusion:
Stockton Universitys 2020 Plan includes increasing sustainable infrastructure within the
campus. One way to improve the Universitys sustainable infrastructure is to make residential
life a part of the 2020 Plan. With about 3,000 residential students, who use the Universitys
resources, the plan should influence the students to use less of these resources. Students can
easily reduce the amount of water they use if they take shorter showers and are aware of how
much water they are using. The Hydrao shower head can change the behavior of the Universitys
students by influencing them to reduce their water use. The initial cost of the Hydrao shower
head will be costly, but the shower heads will be payed off in 14 months and the University will
be saving money after Hydrao pays for itself. Stockton University is New Jerseys green
university, changes are constantly being made so it can be ecologically conscious. Stockton
University will save money, water, and reduce its carbon footprint by adding the Hydrao smart
shower head to all residence halls.

Hydrao Smart Shower Head

References:
Abt. (2016). Start & Blue Hydrao Smart Shower Head - Abt CES 2016. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyXOnUhOMWs
Brothers. (n.d.). Shower Accessories & Hardware. Retrieved from
http://www.brothersplumbing.com/plumbing/benefits-of-using-a-low-flow-shower-head/
Hydrao. (2016). Hydrao. Smart Shower for Smart Savings. Retrieved from http://www.hydrao.fr/
Nosillacast. (2016). CES 2016: Hydrao Smart Shower Head. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7PsxlaCKN0
Stockton University. (2016). Housing Options by Location. Retrieved from
http://intraweb.stockton.edu/eyos/page.cfm?siteID=128&pageID=217
2020 Strategic Plan. (2008). Stockton University's 2020 Strategic Plan. Retrieved April 07, 2016,
from http://intraweb.stockton.edu/eyos/page.cfm?siteID=201
Appendix:

Appendix 1(above): Hydrao shower heads uses alternating colors to indicate different levels of
water being used. Here in this photo we see it is yellow which depending on the user settings
normally means they have used around 20 L (5.3 gallons).

Hydrao Smart Shower Head

Appendix 2(above): Components that make up the Hydrao shower head. As water moves
through a small turbine inside the shower head which generates the power used by the shower
head.

Appendix 3(above): Hydraos calculated savings for Stockton University students for a shower
head used 4 times a day. (Hydrao, 2016)

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Appendix 4(above): Hydrao app in action. Keeping track of how much water is being used. As
the water drop begins to fill it keeps track of your personal settings making sure you are on
schedule so you dont waste any water.