MAKE SMARTHOME APPLIANCES: 1000X BETTER
Two-thirds of the states in the US now face annual water shortages. Nearly a billion people worldwide don't have enough water. NASA now warns us of coming megadroughts. How can we help? See below how Flowmist's disruptive water and energy conserving innovation could be the easiest way to save billions of gallons of water--daily in homes & buildings, and save all the energy it takes to move that much water.
Three Issued US Patents - More Pending / Coming
For: IoT / SmartAppliances in Homes and Buildings
IP that Tackles 'The #1 Water-Using' Appliance
Q: What cleans its own> bowl -- so you don't have to? Using as little as a half ounce of water? Provides ultra-low maintenance and is almost never seen; requires no additional room-space; optionally responds to Smartphone, tablet and voice commands; and, could well be the easiest way to save billions of gallons of water in homes and buildings daily?
A: Flowmist's patented 'Zero-Footprint' In-Cabinet and In-Wall restroom, and commercial Wall-Mount fixtures.
* Avg. U.S. toilets use 1000x more water than this 0.5 oz. each day
A Little Microdroplet Magic (and its 1000x Disruption) Sometimes an elegant simplicity in design--just 'a different twist', can make all the difference in the world--if not justify an entire paradigm shift. Sometimes, there's a breakthrough moment, like what happened when we matched the magic of microdroplets with just a smooth receptacle surface of a prototype men's room fixture: by directing a cone-focused microdroplet misting onto its polished stainless steel surface (or onto ceramic surfaces). By instantly covering such surfaces with a thinnest blanket of misted-spray microdroplets, you suddenly get real hydrophobic magic. Meaning, waste-liquid hitting the microdroplet-coated surface, during use, gets no traction and instead, is instantly repelled.
And guess what else: No more toilet-bowl splash-back (floor-splatter) from a concentrated streaming of waste-liquid colliding with a wasteful* large pool of water (*i.e., when used solely for a waste-liquid use-cycle). Odors, also get sent right down the drain. In fact, one demo we do, starts with our coating a Flowmist SmartAppliance receptacle with a dense (very-fragrant) vanilla extract. We then run it in a typical 30-second rinse cycle (e.g., using an ounce of water). Flowmist's SmartAppliance microdroplet mist not only rinses away the extract, all of the odor vanishes too. This has not been the case with odors associated with waterless fixture-surfaces and drains (see also: 'Troubles with Waterless Urinals Reported' sidebar).
No Need to Gush-Flush--Just Mistify (see video at upper right). It used to be that the 'low-flush' gold standard for men's lavatory-wall fixtures was 1 to 1.5 gallon per flush 'gpf' (128-192 ounces). Just think, all of that ‘gush-flushing’ was being applied to just get rid of several ounces of waste-liquid. Not unlike using a fire-hose just to clean a car windshield! Some dual-flush toilet designs attempt to bring such brute-force liquid-waste flush rates down slightly--into the 0.8-1.1 gpf range. But in contrast, Flowmist's focused misting can provide 204-268 separate self-rinsing use-cycles using the same amount of water. We invite you to visit our Testing page for more details--see how we compare with the industry's #1 seller in the commercial market--using 1/256th the amount of water of the best-seller.
The Zero-Footprint Advantage: NO Space Required. In their 'Energy Down the Drain' article the Natural Resources Defense Council reports "Toilet flushing represents the largest single use of water inside the home" (up to 30%). And a majority of that water is used to flush ounces of waste-liquid--in 114 million U.S. homes. So that's where HUGE savings could readily be attained with our 0.5-1.0 ounce microdroplet-rinsing SmartAppliances: Homes. The trouble is, existing bathrooms and restrooms, being typically utilitarian in design, often leave little or no floor-space for an installing of another plumbing appliance (no matter how water-efficient). Another concern: urinals (like toilets) are often not especially attractive. And, who says restroom appliances always have to remain right in plain view? So among our first development priorities were: How could we make a billion gallons of water a day BIG difference in as little space as possible--or better yet in ZERO additional space (with simple motion-control options too)? How do we provide the cleanest, most aesthetic solutions available? Hey, and why not make it fun to use with its host of patented Smartphone, tablet and voice command features?
Consideration of 'all of the above' led us to our New 'Zero-Footprint' SmartHome Models ideally incorporating Flowmist's patented ultra-low water-use Smart-Appliances into new, existing, or makeover cabinetry, and within any code-compliant wall e.g., of a restroom. One of our single 'in-wall' SmartAppliance models is even accessible for use from opposite sides of a wall--in two adjacent rooms. Other models use available-water pressure 'to reveal' our SmartAppliance when needed e.g., triggered by a push-button, wireless-handheld device or voice command, and a simple spring to retract/conceal the appliance after each use-cycle (a full motion-control option with no electricity). See our comprehensive patent 8,561,219 for details.
To the immediate right (on this page) NASA now warns us of epic Megadrought battles ahead. Flowmist's Zero-Footprint and IoT SmartAppliances can help arm us to Go From 'Zero' to Hero--using zero additional-space to conserve enormous amounts of water and water-related energy.
See Also Our IoT-Enabled Sensing and Automated-Control
For NEW Connected Commercial Systems (below)
Flowmist - Unique Selling 'No-Brainer' Proposition: Would you rather (old way) scrub a toilet bowl and its splash-emitted footprint 50+ times a year? Or, (new way) forget all the stain-scrubbing, the splash cleanup, and use 1000th the amount of water? See video / elegant-solution:
Clean, Green and Seldom-Seen
Download a Copy of Flowmist's IoT World 2015 Handout
How About Energy Savings? Other reports show U.S. states allocating up to one-fifth of their electrical energy just on water-related electricity (e.g., supply, conveyance and treatment). Water is heavy. So it's no surprise that water-treatment facilities allocate 2/3 of their energy just in pumping finished-treated water. Such reports made it clear to us that a 1000x more-efficient SmartHome appliance, easily-manufactured, competitively-priced and aesthetically concealed/revealed could have a major impact.
Substantial Opportunities in Commercial Buildings: According to GreenBiz.com, commercial buildings alone use an estimated 9.5 billion gallons of water each day. According to the U.S. Department of Energy "Toilets and urinals account for nearly one-third of building water consumption, making the savings potential in this area significant." Remember, water is heavy, and there are a lot of high-rise structures needing to get water from underground plumbing all the way up to their highest floors, and it takes energy to do that heavy-lifting. So there is plenty of room to make a big impact in the commercial market as well.
Read About Our 'Connected Systems' for Buildings Too See our Models page high-lighting how features of our commercial SmartAppliances systems can transform entire lavatories, with: 24/7 full-automation, remote (anywhere) and/or on-site secure-access and control of each ultra-low water use Flowmist SmartAppliance at any facility. Via Smartphones, tablets, PCs (with 2D and 3D system depiction) and NFC cards and devices and control panels. These systems also include IoT and Smart-Connect modular plug-in components options2: simply plug in a modular 'monitor-and-report' sensor, timer, monitoring means, flow meter, valve-controller, etc., right into an available socket of your systems and they just get smarter (patent pending).
See Our Flowmist Wall-Mount Units Too:
Take a look at our Models and Video web pages and see for yourself how easy it can be to incorporate Flowmist ultra-low water-use SmartAppliances into new or existing homes and businesses.
NEWS! Apple's Tim Cook / Google's Eric Schmidt Back:
<4x water-saver for #2 home water-user: Video (Gizmag)
Great to see Nebia's smaller-droplet emitting showerhead backed by industry leaders: for a <4x water-saver of a #2 home water-user. Now, who'll back (own) a >1000x water-saver of the #1 home water-user?
Sidebar: Troubles With Waterless Urinals Reported
1. The Disadvantages of Waterless Urinals, eHow.com
Waterless urinals are intended to conserve water over flush urinals. While they have the potential to greatly conserve natural resources, there are real and potential hidden costs in training requirements, installation/maintenance and chemical damage..." Read More
2. Copper Pipes Must be Torn Out, Replaced with PVC
"Chicago's building code require commercial buildings to use copper pipes in indoor plumbing. But the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers specifically states that drainpipes for waterless urinals "cannot be made of copper pipe, which corrodes..." Read More
3. Green Experiment at City Hall Stinks. Chicago Sun-Times
"Waterless urinals installed to promote water conservation in the public men's room outside the City Council chambers have turned into a stinky mess. The odor got so bad that the "green" urinals are now being ripped out and replaced..." Read More
See How -- Water-Conveyance is Energy Intensive
If you've thought a conveyance of water wasn't energy-intensive SEE THIS: Water Energy Sustainability Symposium to get a quick overview of how just pumping water around is a BIG deal energy-wise, and also see how arid regions in particular pay dearly in energy for water.
NASA Warns of 20-40 Year 'Megadroughts': Video (CNN)
According to the latest NASA research, we haven't seen anything in terms of how severe droughts can get, and unfortunately not so far off.