Emergencies can strike at any moment, and one of the first services to fail is always the distribution of safe water. Meanwhile, the idea of going camping has a certain appeal, but the lack of basic access to sanitary facilities becomes a limitation for many people. The Hotaru project aims to respond to these and other situations with a portable shower capable of recycling up to 20 liters of water over a two-week period.
A solution for power outages and camping
A problem I have seen very often is the lack of water linked to a power outage. In some cases, the disruptions can last for days, and it is not hard to imagine someone's mood when they have no way to cook or take a shower. Now, consider a more pleasant situation: going camping. Getting away from the city for a while has many positive aspects, but access to a ready-to-use shower vanishes depending on the region. Then add construction zones, accidents, and a long list of others. The concept of a portable shower has a very interesting value, and that is how we meet Hotaru.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/8s1nNofSaoATwo weeks of showers for a family of three
This development from Tokyo was making its rounds at the 2016 edition of the SXSW convention, which runs through March 20. The plan is that, with the help of this portable shower, a family of three can take daily five-minute showers over a period of two weeks, recovering and purifying just under 20 liters (18.9 to be exact). According to its creators, Hotaru manages to recover between 95 and 98 percent of the water used, and a series of sensors indicate when the tank has reached its recycling limit.
Powering Hotaru
As for energy sources, Hotaru draws on a car battery to process the water and offer cold showers, while for hot water, users will need to add a generator to the setup. Currently, Hotaru is little more than a refined prototype, robust enough to support public demonstrations at SXSW, but it is expected to debut on the market next year, with a price of three thousand dollars.
