An almost waterless washing machine has been created by Stephen Burkinshaw who is a professor of Textile Chemistry here in Leeds, England. The eco-washing machine could be one of the best kitchen gadgets ever if launched.
Due to it's eco-friendlyness it could potentially have an environmental impact of taking two million cars off the road. That's a HUGE amount.
The machine only uses 1 cup of water for cleaning clothes which is a big saving. The small amount of water is used for humidity purposes only.
As well as using 1 cup of water it uses thousands of nylon polymer beads that attract dirt. By using just the 1 cup of water and the nylon beads the washing machine uses 30% less energy and 90% less water then the average washing machine. But, the energy savings do not just get saved in the washing machine alone. With it using just 1 cup of water and all the nylon beads the clothes come out a lot drier then normal which requires less energy to dry them.
The nylon beads are not just limited to 1 wash only. A special drum system is used that collects the beads after each wash so that they can be used repeatedly over many washes.
'To prove the technology's environmental credentials, Xeros commissioned an independent Life Cycle Assessment from URS Corporation. That report found that the process has the potential to display a significantly smaller carbon footprint than that of a conventional wash.
The eco friendly Xeros washing machine should be on sale next year to the commercial industry which will then roll out to domestic.
Details can be found here and here.
Via: Inventor Spot