Guests try the “air hand-washing device”. [Photo/ifeng.com]
Zheng Xiaotong’s “air hand-washing faucet” with outstanding water-saving performance recently made an eye-catching debut on a Beijing Television (BTV) show.
The China Pharmaceutical University graduate said his faucet, compared to ordinary ones, can reduce water consumption by at least 90 percent.
The device utilizes an infrared ray induction system, detects the presence of hands, and then sprays a light water mist along with a strong gust of air.
In this way, people can get their hands cleaned as effectively as the regular way, while using only about 10 percent of the water.
The figure was once again proved at the show, as Qin Jun, a guest and experienced investor, tried the regular and novel hand-washing ways and used 2,500 and 220 milliliters of water respectively.
Zheng said he was inspired by his friend Chen Puyang, who first came up with the idea while washing his hands at a school canteen.
“It takes a lot of water to wash hands; would it be possible to replace water with air,” Chen asked.
Others may not have given the question a second thought, but Zheng and his friends decided to check it out.
They put different kinds of dirt on their hands and washed with water. It turned out that 95 percent of the water is used to flush away dirt while only five percent is used for dissolving.
The device features a water atomizing system and an air compression set. [Photo/iqiyi.com]
The figures were amazing as they continued estimating that Chinese people wash hands on average five times every day.
“If we say that every Chinese person uses 600 ml of water every time, our country uses an annual of 1.75 billion tons [of water] only for hand-washing, it’s about the water storage of 121 West Lakes,” Zheng said.
“But if we save 90 percent of the water, we can use it to generate 670 gigawatt hours of power, irrigate one million hectares of farmland, or meet the basic water needs of people living in West China for one year,” Zheng added.
He saw the great potential to save water, as well as the great business opportunities lying behind his idea.
Practice makes perfect. Now with a concentrated water atomizing system and an air compression set, both winning China’s patent recognition, Zheng’s automatic faucet can give users an easy and enjoyable feeling of hand-washing.
“This is only a sample model, we will continue to upgrade our product and develop it with more and more friendly features,” Zheng said.
Investors from Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University, the Yinchuan municipal government, the United Nations Development Programme, and China Capital Museum have expressed their interest to Zheng.
“We are now focused on serving establishments with large flows of people, such as shopping malls, railway stations, airports, highway service areas, and tourist spots. We will price at about 1,000 yuan per faucet and the market assessment is about 10 billion yuan,” Zheng said.
Zheng Xiaotong (R) and Huang Yaxuan (C). [Photo/ifeng.com]
