Whilst researching potential final projects for my son’s product design degree, I discovered an industrial

device which accelerated water and turned it into droplets. Modifying a low-power vacuum cleaner and a

noisy.

A lower power centrifugal air pump was sourced, but the design of the shower head was problematic.

Numerous prototypes demonstrated that there was a relationship between the velocity of the water droplets

and the noise produced.

Two further problems encountered were the spray pattern and the back-pressure exerted on the water

source. As the power of the air pump was increased to speed-up the water droplets, the internal pressure

within the shower-head increased too. This became a major problem for installations that had low water

pressure. Although 5 litres per minute flowed at low air pump settings, this was reduced (due to back-

pressure) at higher settings.

Due to the limited engineering resources, we were unable to accurately manufacture precision components,

we therefore had to seek out similar sized components from other sources and modify them.

As is often the case with product development, one of the major breakthroughs came about by accident. My

son and I sourced one component from a garage in Philadelphia, USA and upon returning to the UK, jet-

lagged, we fitted the component the wrong way round. The effect of this was to radically speed up the

shower spray, whilst quietening it too!

The last problem to be solved was the reduced water flow, due to back pressure. One aspect of my ‘day-job’,

requires a working knowledge of aerodynamics. Whilst Working on a project regarding the ‘Theory of Flight’, 

I realised that one of the effects could be used to overcome the back-pressure problem - It worked!

Development of the Velocity Shower - Page 1