iQ Student Accommodation and Kelda
Working with one of the largest providers of student accommodation in the UK, Kelda has demonstrated that reducing water for showering by 50% did not increase shower duration.
No. of Showers Monitored
21
Water Reduction
50%
Shower Duration Data (Current Shower)
5m 20s
Shower Duration Data (Kelda Shower)
5m 35s
About iQ Kingston
iQ Kingston offers high-quality student accommodation in Kingston-upon-Thames, a short walk from the campus of Kingston University.
Situated in the centre of the town, iQ Kingston provides modern accommodation for 230 students. It has its own onsite gym, as well as a social space with a TV and games area, giving students a place to meet fellow residents.
Project summary
Kelda was invited by iQ Student Accommodation to help assess the water-saving potential of Kelda’s innovative Air-Powered™ shower technology at its busy iQ Kingston site.
In addition to water-savings Kelda was also challenged to demonstrate whether using 50% less water had any impact on shower behaviour, and in particular, shower duration.
A total of 21 student rooms were identified for the purpose of the shower trial. It was agreed that Kelda’s data loggers would be used to assess the water consumption of the current showers for one month, prior to fitting Kelda’s Air-Powered™ showers, for another month. Two months was deemed to be a reasonable amount of time to collect shower data on shower water usage. The comparison of before and after would allow the team to draw conclusions on Kelda’s water-saving potential and the impact on shower behaviour from using less water.
About Air-Powered™Technology
Kelda are the pioneer of high-efficiency Air-Powered™ showers that reduce carbon emissions by using significantly less water and energy. Designed in the UK, a Kelda shower is proven in the health and leisure sector to deliver a better shower experience using less water.
Conventional aerating showers simply mix air with water through a small hole, limiting flow but offering no real boost in spray force.
In contrast, Kelda’s patented Air-Powered™ technology uses fuel injection principles, combining a microprocessor and digital fan to deliver water into a high-velocity air stream. This creates hundreds of larger droplets – 2.5× the size of a standard shower – giving 15× more impact for a powerful, efficient shower that rinses shampoo faster while using less water.
Installation
Existing wall-mounted showerheads supplied by concealed TMV mixers were first audited to establish a baseline. Flow rate testing across 21 conventional showers recorded an average flow of 9.72 l/min, with data loggers installed to monitor usage over one month.
The showers were then replaced with Kelda Air-Powered™ Flex™ showerheads, chosen for their simple wall-mounted installation and adjustable design.
Each Kelda shower was fitted with a 5 l/min flow regulator and monitored for a further month using the same data logging approach. Post-installation testing recorded an average flow rate of 4.85 l/min, confirming a 50.1% reduction in water used for showering, with before-and-after data analysed to assess behaviour, performance and potential annual savings.
Paul Ravnbo-West, Marketing Director, Kelda Showers.
“The iQ Kingston shower trial has been extremely important in demonstrating that our Air-Powered™ shower technology can deliver an acceptable shower experience whilst using significantly less water (net 48%).”
Headline Results
- Average shower duration: 5m 20s (Conventional Shower), 5m 35s (Kelda Shower)
- Average water consumption per shower event: 52 litres (Conventional shower), 27 litres (Kelda Shower)
- 48% water-saving (net)
Conclusion
The shower trial has clearly demonstrated that despite reducing the flow rate of the student’s shower by 50.1%, shower duration has not changed significantly (4.7% longer during trial). In fact, taking into account that the total water usage per shower reduced by 25 litres, Kelda’s Air-Powered showers provided a net water-saving of 48%.
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