Speed Reads

The Future Now

This 'space-age' shower lets you luxuriously bathe in your shower runoff, guilt-free

The Orbital Systems "Shower of the Future," inspired by NASA's Mars mission, promises to cut water consumption by 90 percent and save up to 80 percent on energy costs. It does this by recycling your shower water, filtering it before sprinkling it back on you. When Orbital Systems made these savings claims in 2013, they were largely theoretical. But now that the Swedish company's showers have been tested out on real people at a Swedish resort, and are available for preorder, Reuters highlighted the "space age" showers in this video tour. If you can get past the idea of bathing in your own shower runoff, the Shower of the Future's payoff are long, hot, high-pressure showers without worry of drought or electric bills. Which is how the future should be. —Peter Weber