WaterTile by Kohler
by Justin Thomas, Virginia on 09.28.05
This new, stylish WaterTile showerhead from Kohler is wall-mounted and uses a maximum of 2.5 gallons per minute (as a comparison, most showerheads before the 1990s used five to seven gallons a minute). Style and efficiency — a great match. The price can't make a triparted winner though — it's available for $199. :: Kohler
I was really suprised to see this ficture on Treehugger.
While it might be true true that ONE of these spits out 2.5 gal per minute, I don't think Kohler ever envisioned someone useing just one.
The picture on the linked page as 11 of this little gems. Hmm.. I think that bumps it up to 27.5 GPM. You might need to bring in a new 3 inch line to your shower to feed these beasts.
A nice shower,I'm sure. Conservation minded? Only if you being 4-5 friends in the shower with you.
I have to agree with Mike...if you read the brochure part below the photo, it seems these are targetted towards the "rich and famous" style houses. "Hand Showers"??
Here is one line I noticed:
"New MasterShower® XVII thermostatic valves deliver a big 17.2 gpm flow rate."
I guess bigger flow rates equate with better showers :(
Paul
2.5pgm is baseline fixture performance set by the 1992 energy Policy Act. This Kohler fixture is not a water saving fixture. (In fact, I've met with people at Kohler numerous times, and was ultimately informed that they are re-examing their shower division after realizing how "non-green" it actually was.)
There are other showerheads, albeit not quite as nice looking, that are readily available on the market that achieve flow rates of around 1.5gpm. When you think of someone taking a ten-minute shower, daily, for one year, using a 1.5gpm showerhead saves . . . 3650 gallons/year! And that's just for one showerhead! Imagine if an apartment building that housed 1000 people featured only 1.5gpm showerheads v. the "conventional" 2.5gpm model. Now, that's a green idea.