“When you're travelling to a new planet it becomes very easy to plan everything from scratch,” says Mehrdad Mahdjoubi, industrial designer and founder of Swedish technology startup Orbital Systems.
Ambitious entrepreneurs are famously prepared to reach for the stars in a metaphorical sense but relatively few are in a position to get up close and personal with technologies designed to facilitate interplanetary space travel and then apply them to the problems we face here on earth. Mahdjoubi, however, worked on a NASA project back in 2012, developing systems for a possible Mars mission. And as he points out, when it comes to long space flights, preservation of limited resources is an imperative. Water being a case in point.
So fast forward to the present day and Mahdjoubi's company has developed a shower system that cuts water usage by – the company claims – a dramatic 90%. It does this by creating a kind of loop. Conventional showers are incredibly wasteful in that much of the water they pump out is simply washed away without touching skin or indeed soap. The Orbital Systems product uses sensors to detect water that is uncontaminated and simply loops it back round to be reused.
Now that's ideal for astronauts, but according to Mahdjoubi the same system can be used to preserve resources and cut consumer and industrial water bills here on earth.
The Road To Market
So far so good. Applying the “motherhood and apple pie” principle, very few people would argue that a system offering to use 90% less water while also reducing utilities bills is anything other than a good thing. Nevertheless, Orbital Systems is aware that it is not coming to the market with a product that will immediately appeal to the mass of consumers.
As Mahdjoubi explains, the company has already sold some units to individuals in California, an area where incomes are high and water is increasingly scarce. However, he acknowledges the cost of a bathroom/shower room unit - in excess of £3,000 - is likely to be too expensive for individuals in parts of the world where incomes are lower, even if water is in very short supply. Equally the costs may deter affluent consumers in wetter parts of the world where there is less of a preservation imperative. Yes consumers, may see a considerable long-term saving – the company estimates more than £1,000 a year – but that has to be weighed against the upfront cost.
So the business plan – initially at least – is focused on targeting customers who use water in industrial quantities. “We're about to begin marketing to gyms, hotels, fitness centers,” he says. “Customers who are high consumers of water and who will be able to see a clear cut ROI.”
Industrial Production
In order to target customers – either commercial or consumer – the company has had to develop its own production facilities in Sweden, plus an operation in the US. Outsourcing manufacturing wasn't an option.
But that has meant Orbital Systems facing its own considerable upfront costs. Initial research funding came from the Swedish government, enabling the company to prove its concept. Building a factory required not only investment but also investors who – as Mahdjoubi puts it “shared the vision.”
To date Orbital has raised £25m (£12m in the latest round) and its backers include former Tesla executive, Peter Carlson, Skype Founder, Nikklas Zennstrom , Karl Johan Persson of H&M, Stena Ventures and members of the Jochnick family who founded the Oriflame make-up brand.
Of course, most companies that secure large sums of money can point to at least one or two heavyweight investors and, aside from the cash, their presence provides a kind of validation. But Mahdjoubi sees his investors not simply as famous names with deep pockets but also as individuals who bring their own experience of bringing ambitious and often hugely expensive projects to market. “There isn't any standard for what we're doing – we've had to develop our own standards and our own industrial processes,” he says. “People like Peter (from Tesla) have done this sort of thing before.”
Since its commercial launch – around two years ago – Orbital Systems says it has saved over 10 million litres of water and it is the company's ambition to set a new standard for shower technology. As costs come down there will doubtless be opportunities to capture more of the consumer market through installation in new build homes or when the relatively affluent upgrade their facilities.
But in the meantime, the race is on to recoup an investment by focusing on big users of water.
