According to Reuters, washing machine usage is on a steady increase (up 23% in the last 15 years), and is up to about 21 liters per household per day in the UK. So what better time to invent a “waterless” washing machine?
A group from the University of Leeds asked themselves the same question, and after inventing the product, spawned Xeros Ltd. for the sole purpose of selling the product.
It actually uses around 1 cup of water through a normal cycle, but mostly uses plastic chips to take out the normal dirt and stains that might have accumulated. Not only does this mean that the amount of water is drastically reduced, but it requires no energy to run a clothes dryer either, because it is essentially a dry-clean process. Pretty smart thinking!
Unfortunately, Xeros’ machine won’t be available until next year in the UK, with no expected release date for North America yet. The good news is that now that the technology’s out there, it can’t be long before we see a whole crop of waterless products popping up soon.
Maybe the World Water War isn’t imminent after all?
