Showerloop NG

This is the source code repository for showerloop NG, an updated version of showerloop which is girlfriend/wife approved.

The idea is simple and comes from the original showerloop project: collect, clean and reuse the hot water from your shower that normally flows down the drain.

Updates

• 06/08/2018: Documentation update - savings added
• 01/08/2018: PoC working! Updated documentation
• 19/07/2018: First release of software with MQTT and OTA update support
• 16/07/2018: first release on github
• 08/05/2018: Finished major hardware

How does it work?

1. Using water flow sensors on both the cold and hot water supply, we see whether somebody is showering
2. If water flow is detected, we wait until the hot water is warm enough using a temperature sensor
3. If the hot water supply is hot enough, we close the drain valve
4. Once there is enough water collected (detected using a water level sensor):
   1. the water pump starts and builds pressure
   2. a UVC lamp starts to kill viruses and bacterias
   3. the cold water supply valve closes
   4. the recuperation water supply opens
5. You can enjoy a really nice, warm and long shower. Thanks to the use of a thermostatic shower valve, only a bit of warm water is used to keep the water temperature constant. The two water level sensors keep the water level constant and open the drain valve a bit, if needed.
6. Once you stop your shower (this is again detected by the water flow sensors), the following happens:
   1. the water pump stops
   2. the uvc lamp switches off
   3. the drain valve opens
   4. the recuperation water valve closes
   5. the cold water valve opens
7. It publish stats (water consumption, water reuse, ...) about your shower to an MQTT broker of your choice
8. And everything is ready for your next shower!

Will this save me some bucks?

So, now is a good time to see whether this project will save me/you some money. Apparently the average person takes a showser of 8.2 mins and I wanted to calculate how much water/energy is taken by a normal shower to vaidate the idea. I took some pictures of my water and gas meter before and after a shower which I timed on 8.2 minutes.

Normal shower

So, we pay 0.3134 € per shower for 1 person. If we say a family exists out of 4 persons and that each family member on average showers every 2 days, this results in: 4*(365/2)*0.3134=228.78 €/year

Next step: measure savings with showerloop.

Sources:

• Average water price
• Average gas price
• Normal shower water usage: before shower and after shower
• Normal shower gas usage: before shower and after shower

Warning

• This is a work in progress, there will probably still be some bugs in the software
• You are combining 220V with water. If you're not experienced in electricity and plumbing, please stop now
• The hardware items may not be final
• I do not take any responsibility whatsoever when you try to build this yourself

Video showing the shower prototype

Here is a video showing a working prototype of showerloop

Some photos

Part list:

• PVC Tubing
• DN40 Electric Motorized PVC Water Valve
• DN20 Electric Motorized Brass Water Valve x 2
• Hall-based Water Flow Sensor x 2
• Contactless Liquid Water Level Sensor x 2
• Water Filter
• UVC Sterilizer Lamp
• Water Pump
• ESP32 Wemos Lolin
• Relay boards
• ...

Build instructions

will follow... first, I want to create a decent PCB design