This article appeared in the March 2021 Technology Designer Magazine monthly newsletter:
By Steve Panosian:
LIKE AIR QUALITY IN THE HOME, water quality is an equally important consideration for any new construction or restoration. Both are susceptible to contaminants and both can be addressed with peace of mind solutions. In this article, I will continue to explore the evolving benefits of water purification, monitoring solutions and smart water usage solutions for the home. Undoubtedly, water quality is vital to our health and the subject continues to be a challenge even in today’s modern civilization. The existential expectation within the confines of your home is rather simple – brushing your teeth with clean water is as equally important as enjoying a breath of fresh air. As we evolve, so does technology, and so does our quality of life.
Water Quality Today
The first Technology Designer Magazine article on this subject shed light on water treatment throughout history. Most civilizations figured out how to eliminate unwanted substances for achieving better tasting water. By the 20th Century, most developed countries had established standards for water quality supply and continues to evolve in making water even cleaner, better tasting and rid of unwanted elements.
Today, it is apparent the pandemic has precipitated several realities revolving around safety and health. The more time spent at home, the more we realize the importance of the most basic needs. Despite the popularity of bottled water driven both by health consciousness and mobile lifestyles, the emergence of microplastics is present everywhere in the environment and drinking water is the primary source of microplastics for humans. This has prompted the WHO’s recommendation to outfit homes with an effective water filtration system. Simply passing a home’s water through an advanced filtration solution will remove most contaminants with a drastic reduction in microplastics content.
Smart Home Kitchen Water Solutions
The kitchen is where new automation solutions solve many aspects of controlling water needs and TD Magazine believes the evolution of home automation concepts and today’s health concerns will fully embrace these new AI technology solutions offered by several leading brands. The latest water purification technologies are seen across many brands of water purification solutions and water faucet brands that now employ sensors for usage monitoring and touch free operation.
Water filtering and control of water usage can be integrated and the technologies available today provide the technology designer with a growing number of options for custom designing the evolving practical and health requirements and needs today.
The GE GXWH70M Smart Whole Home Filtration System filters out lead, chlorine and particles depending on which filter cartridge is used. This affordable solution provides an app that controls the valve on the filter, monitors water flow, and provides alerts if it detects a leak or freezing temperature. What’s interesting is the mobile App can turn off the water remotely.
The KOHLER Konnect® Smart water and filter monitoring provides confidence in water quality—and how much is used. Their Aquifer® Refine™ filtration system reduces more than a dozen contaminants and automatically sends notifications when it is time to replace the filter. Addressing water usage, Phyn by KOHLER tracks the water used over time, helping to find possible waste, and sends notifications when there is indication of abnormal water usage. Their tag line “create a smarter routine”, KOHLER promotes the Sensate® faucet with KOHLER Konnect® which acts as a virtual kitchen assistant. The use of a sensor controls on and off plus voice commands will deliver measured amounts of water needs and other hands-free help.
Kohler Smart Kitchen (link: https://www.smarthome.kohler.com/smart-kitchen-faucets)
Delta Faucets drives home “Command Your Kitchen” with their VoiceIQTM Technology that pairs with a connected home device to provide the exact amount of water needed with features like metered dispensing and custom container commands. Compatible with any Delta Touch2O® faucet manufactured since 2018, all that is required is their VoiceIQ™ Module, Amazon® Alexa®- or Google® Assistant-enabled device, and of course a home Wi-Fi network.
Delta VoiceIQTM (link: https://www.deltafaucet.com/VoiceIQ#Overview)
I particularly like both the automation and notification aspect of controlling water usage and its purity. As we work through the evolution of spending more time at home, managing quality of life is the challenge and clearly, smart living begins with a smarter home, and the smarter home must also be a healthier home.