MNN - Mother Nature Network

After testing the umm, sexxxy communal water in Canada a couple years back, purveyor of gross personal care products for men, Axe, has launched its controversial, college student-targeting Showerpooling water conservation campaign here in the States. 

 

The Showerpooling concept is rather straightforward one with unlimited desperate frat boy appeal: Instead of taking a wasteful solo shower, why not recruit a friend or two — preferably “like-minded acquaintances or attractive strangers” — to join in? After all, Showerpooling isn’t just “environmentally friendly, it’s all kinds of friendly.”

 

Alrighty then. From what I understand, dudes who use Axe products are prone to having their clothing ripped off by passing females who have picked up the intoxicating scent of Freeze Itch Relief anti-dandruff shampoo/conditioner. In scientific terms marketing speak, this extremely unlikely phenomenon is referred to as the “Axe Effect.”

 

So with all of this Axe-fueled shedding of clothes and potential group showering going, you might as well do a bit of laundry while you’re (going) at it, right? Right. At the very least, you'd probably want to erase the stench of Dark Temptation Body Spray from your clothing.

 

Meet Washit, a conceptual shower/clothes washer hybrid developed by a team of college students from Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey. Washit recently won top honors in the Hansgrohe Prize 2012: Efficient Water Design, an international design competition for students revolving around the topic of “My Green Shower Pleasure." Having scored the €1,500 prize during the iF Design Awards in Hamburg, the Washit team now plans to create a prototype of the concept.

Called “an interesting combination that is very realistic for today and makes sense” by the competition judges, Washit is “a combination of a shower and a washing machine. The water used for showering is captured, cleaned by filters and collected. The water treated in this way can be used immediately for a load of washing or once again for a shower.”

 

After the sudsy waste water passes through the shower drain, a pump pushes it through three different types of filters (carbon, organic, chemical) and a UV filtering system before it winds up in a storage tank. From there, the cleaned water is re-heated and can either be used once again for showering or, of course, used to launder soiled knickers in the small, integrated clothes washer attached to the side. The washing machine component is connected to a water line and automatically refills in the event that more water is need.

 

Designed for both public (airports, festivals, gyms, etc.) and domestic use, the Washit also features vents in the top of the unit that release steam, LED filter replacement indicators, and an integrated showerhead that “offers pleasure.” So much pleasure going on!

 

Cleverly, the washing machine component is accessible from inside the shower stall and includes a drying mechanism when configured for public use. Basically, you strip, shower, and load your laundry in the drum all from inside the unit. In domestic mode, users load their laundry before or after stepping into the shower.

 

While the main aim of Washit is to recycle wastewater, it also eliminates the need for bulk laundering — you wash the clothes you were wearing while showering instead of throwing them into a hamper and waiting until you've run out of underpants and are given no other alternative but to launder 'em. That said, it's also assumed that the Washit washing machine itself is on the smaller side and meant for a single pair of clothing. But you never know, with all this rampant Showerpooling going on, another larger unit designed to accommodate both larger parties and larger loads could be on the horizon.

 

 

Via [Gizmag], [Behance Network]