Another trend I noticed was a focus on how homes use a ubiquitous utility: water. Companies like Nudge Systems and Hydraloop have some intriguing ideas to help homeowners reduce water consumption.
The Nudge Systems Pleco sensor attaches near your water meter and gives you up-to-the-minute information about how much water you use and allows you to track and improve your habits over time. Because you know your day-to-day water usage, you won't have to reverse engineer your water bill for ways to enhance your water wisdom.
Hydraloop takes a different approach to level up your water-saving skills by recycling wastewater in your home. Wastewater, sometimes called greywater, is a byproduct of showering, washing dishes, and air conditioning. These activities require clean water, but that water's not necessarily useless after you use it.
Instead, Hydraloop cleans and disinfects wastewater for other uses like toilets, washing machines, swimming pools, and gardening, which the company says can recycle up to 85% of a home's water. Not only does this cut down on your water bill, but it helps save this increasingly scarce resource.
The Ampere Shower Power Speaker is another exciting piece of water tech from CES 2021. But rather than saving water, the speaker puts it to good use as a power source—think of it like a tiny little hydroelectric generator that happens to power a Bluetooth speaker. While there's still a small battery in the unit, you don't have to worry about the speaker losing charge as you hop in the shower.
If nothing else, these products show that there's always room for innovation and improvement with the ways we use water in our homes.
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