Risk Exposure during Showering and Water-Saving Showers

Hélène Niculita-Hirzel; Sami Goekce; Caroline Eliane Jackson; Guillaume Suarez; Luc Amgwerd

doi:10.3390/w13192678

Water (Sep 2021)

Risk Exposure during Showering and Water-Saving Showers

Hélène Niculita-Hirzel,
Sami Goekce,
Caroline Eliane Jackson,
Guillaume Suarez,
Luc Amgwerd

Affiliations

Hélène Niculita-Hirzel: Department Work, Heath & Environment, Center for Primary Care and Public Health (Unisanté), University of Lausanne, Route de la Corniche 2, 1066 Epalinges, Switzerland
Sami Goekce: Department Work, Heath & Environment, Center for Primary Care and Public Health (Unisanté), University of Lausanne, Route de la Corniche 2, 1066 Epalinges, Switzerland
Caroline Eliane Jackson: Department Work, Heath & Environment, Center for Primary Care and Public Health (Unisanté), University of Lausanne, Route de la Corniche 2, 1066 Epalinges, Switzerland
Guillaume Suarez: Department Work, Heath & Environment, Center for Primary Care and Public Health (Unisanté), University of Lausanne, Route de la Corniche 2, 1066 Epalinges, Switzerland
Luc Amgwerd: Gjosa SA, La Haute-Route 78, 2502 Biel/Bienne, Switzerland

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/w13192678
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 13, no. 19
p. 2678

Abstract

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Eco-friendly showers aim to lower energy and water consumption by generating smaller water droplets than those produced by traditional systems. To evaluate the risk of users inhaling the contaminants associated with such water droplets—namely, chemical components or opportunistic bacterial pathogens such as Legionella—we modeled the behavior of water droplets aerosolized by water-atomization technology at a flow rate of 2.2 L/min and compared the results obtained using this model with those determined experimentally in a typical shower stall. Additionally, we monitored the number and mass of inhalable water droplets emitted by twelve showerheads—eight using water-atomization technology and four using continuous-flow technology—which have distinct characteristics in terms of water flow rate, water pressure, spray angle, and number of and diameter of nozzles. The water-atomizing showers tested not only had lower flow rates, but also larger spray angles, less nozzles, and larger nozzle diameters than those of the continuous-flow showerheads. We observed a difference in the behavior of inhalable water droplets between the two technologies, both unobstructed and with the presence of a mannequin. The evaporation of inhalable water droplets emitted by the water-atomization showers favored a homogenous distribution in the shower stall. In the presence of the mannequin, the number and mass of inhalable droplets increased for the continuous-flow showerheads and decreased for the water-atomization showerheads. The water-atomization showerheads emitted less inhalable water mass than the continuous-flow showerheads did per unit of time; however, they generally emitted a slightly higher number of inhalable droplets (1.6 times more), including those large enough to carry a bacterium each—only one model performed as well as the continuous-flow showerheads in this regard. Further experiments are needed to assess whether this slight increase in the number of inhalable water droplets increases the biological risk.

Published in Water

ISSN: 2073-4441 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Technology: Hydraulic engineering; Technology: Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering: Water supply for domestic and industrial purposes
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/water/

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