22 October 2026

^{Photo: Orbital Systems}

 

We heat clean drinking water, stand beneath it for a few minutes, then send it down the drain while it is still warm. Much of that warmth leaves with the wastewater after the water has been used just once.

Sweden’s Orbital Systems takes a different approach. Its shower collects water, assesses its quality, treats what can be reused and returns it to the showerhead. The ambition is to preserve the pleasure of a warm, generous shower while reducing the resources passing through it.

That combination of water reuse and lower heating demand helps explain its appeal to the European Commission. On 19 October 2026, the Commission selected the company’s OrbitalHPM-2026 manufacturing project for support through its Innovation Fund. Orbital has been invited to prepare a grant agreement, taking the business towards a new stage of production while its shower technology is already installed in bathrooms.

 

How Orbital’s recirculating shower works

 

Reusing water raises an immediate question about hygiene.

Orbital uses monitoring and treatment to manage the loop. Water reaching the drain is assessed: what meets the system’s criteria passes through filtration to capture contaminants and ultraviolet treatment to inactivate microorganisms before returning to the showerhead. Water judged too contaminated is discharged, with fresh water replacing what is discarded or lost during use.

Because the retained water is already warm, bringing it back to the selected temperature requires less heating than continually warming fresh supplies. The system reuses water during an individual shower session, then empties it. The next person starts with fresh water.

This connects water conservation with energy efficiency. Keeping warm water circulating reduces both the volume drawn from the mains and the energy needed to heat its replacement.

 

Why the European Commission is interested

 

The Innovation Fund uses revenues from the European Union’s Emissions Trading System to help bring innovative low-carbon technologies to market. Its objectives combine emissions reduction with stronger European clean-technology manufacturing. Projects are assessed on innovation, maturity, potential greenhouse gas savings, replicability and cost efficiency.

Orbital’s proposal brings those objectives into the bathroom. The selected project concerns manufacturing the Orbital Heat Pump Module for domestic hot-water systems. According to the published project description, it targets an 85% reduction in the energy needed to warm shower water and 90% water reuse, with approximately 144,950 tonnes of avoided carbon dioxide emissions over the project’s lifetime.

The manufacturing plan is central to that proposition. It combines semi-automated production lines, moulded components replacing machined parts, digital production management and in-line quality checks. Together, these changes aim to cut production costs by 50%, supporting wider market deployment.

The connection to European policy is straightforward: reducing hot-water demand can lower energy use and emissions, while more efficient manufacturing could help bring the equipment into more buildings. Water conservation adds another benefit alongside the fund’s objectives of climate impact and industrial scale.

 

From space habitats to bathrooms

 

Orbital Systems, founded in 2012 by Mehrdad Mahdjoubi, grew out of his work in industrial design at Lund University. That year, he visited NASA’s Johnson Space Center through an academic programme examining the challenges of astronaut habitats, including a prolonged stay on Mars.

The experience prompted him to reconsider water use on Earth. The original Oas shower was commercially launched in 2017.

The space connection extends beyond inspiration. NASA has documented how the early shower incorporated NanoCeram filtration, developed by another company with support from NASA research contracts. Orbital combined purification with sensing, controls and recirculation to create a bathroom product.

Its commercial proposition is to make conservation compatible with comfort, rather than requiring users to accept a weaker stream or finish washing sooner.

 

Orbital Shower installations in hotels and spas

 

There are installations behind that proposition. In January 2023, Orbital reported completed rooms equipped with its showers at Stockholm’s Miss Clara by Nobis hotel. A retrofit model allowed installation without rebuilding the bathroom or breaking its waterproofing layer, according to the company.

In September 2026, Orbital announced a six-month pilot in one guest room at voco Zeal Exeter Science Park, with possible expansion afterwards.

Hotels provide a practical testing ground because water, heating and wastewater charges recur across many guest stays. Orbital’s monitoring platform tracks consumption and savings, allowing operators to examine performance during use.

An example comes from Stockholm’s Sturebadet spa. In a February 2023 case study, Orbital reported that five installed showers together saved an average of 40,000 litres of water and 1,000 kWh a month compared with ordinary showers.

 

Competing shower technologies and practical trade-offs

 

Orbital is not alone in recirculation. Denmark’s Flow Loop also sells a shower that filters and treats water with ultraviolet light before reuse, with users able to switch recirculation on or off. Buyers consequently have competing systems to compare on treatment design, installation and upkeep.

Simpler alternatives tackle parts of the problem. Low-flow showerheads reduce water consumption at the outlet. Drain-water heat recovery transfers warmth from outgoing wastewater into incoming cold water, keeping the streams separate. These approaches offer savings without treating water for another pass through the showerhead.

Recirculation introduces its own maintenance requirements. Orbital’s user guide calls for filter replacement, descaling and drain cleaning, with suggested intervals varying according to usage and water conditions. Installation also requires electricity, water connections and accessible space for servicing the treatment unit.

A retrofit model can avoid wholesale rebuilding, as the Miss Clara installation illustrates, but suitability depends on the bathroom and configuration. The financial comparison therefore includes running and maintenance costs alongside the initial equipment and installation.

Orbital’s existing installations show how recirculation can become part of an everyday bathroom. The Commission-selected project addresses the next challenge: making the equipment cheaper to produce and easier to bring to a wider market.

With water-heating costs weighing on household and hotel budgets across Europe, there is something appealing about getting more use from warmth that has already been paid for. Keeping it in circulation could make a hot shower a little less expensive, and a little gentler on the planet, too.