If you were bathing in the wild, under a glorious waterfall, it could be considered taking a shower. If you stood in a bathtub and had someone standing above you, pouring a bucket of water over your head, it could also be considered a shower. In fact, it is these two concepts that joined together to create the concept of the shower as a bathing ritual as we know it today. Before the idea of indoor bathrooms, it was commonplace to bathe in nature. Waterfalls simply provided a constant source of pressurized water to aid in the bathing process. Over time, within various cultures, this wonder of nature was brought indoors. From the Greece to Egypt, it became a standard practice for nobility to have their slaves stand above them while bathing to pour buckets or pitchers of water over their heads, designed to better mimic the natural effects created by waterfalls. Since the concept of showers remained popular across a multitude of cultures, modern shower heads exist as we know them today.
What Is A Showerhead?
In its most basic design, a shower head is a device that funnels water from a water source into a bathtub at a point above the bather’s head. The water flows from the showerhead and into the bathtub drain. In some cases, the shower is designed as a standalone unit, not as part of a bathtub and shower combination. Showerheads come in a variety of styles and designs, ranging from simple to elaborate and priced from affordable to costly.
What Is The History Of The Shower Itself?
If it weren’t for the continued practice of showering, the modern shower head would not exist. The first example of a complex shower unit dates back to 1810. Known as the English Regency Shower, it remains one of the most elegant shower constructions ever made, regardless of the fact that it was a fairly simple design. It consisted of a bathtub like base in which a person would stand. Above the bather, a large water tank was mounted that contained a supply of bath water. The tank was mounted twelve feet above floor level and attached to the tub unit by a series of poles, or pipes. As the water flowed down from the tank, it was drained in the basin and then pumped back up into the tank. The water continued to be cycled through the unit until the bathing process was completed.
Before the creation of the English Regency Shower, people from other cultures had to be slightly more creative with their showering methods. In Greece, servants would simply stand on platforms with large vases of water and pour them over their master’s heads while they bathed. For those citizens who could not afford the luxury of servants, a similar effect could be achieved by bathing in the water than ran off decorative fountains around the city. The people of Egypt also used this same technique to enjoy the benefits of the showering process.
As cultures advanced, showers moved closer to the design that we know them by today. The Babylonians use of aqueducts centuries before other civilizations afforded them the luxury of automated showers before anyone else. Access to this construction design, however, was reserved for the nobility and the upper class.
While progress continued to be made with regards to bathing and showering apparatuses, the concept of indoor plumbing was introduced in the early 1800s, the same time period the English regency Shower was constructed in. This was also around the time that the process of heating water for use in indoor plumbing came to be. The shower head itself, as we know it today, wasn’t created until 1889. An iron works company owned by JL Motts created the shower head, designed specifically to take a concentrated flow from a water source and spread it over as wide an area as possible. This involved breaking the flow into several smaller flows, just as our current shower heads do today.
Evolution Of The Shower Head
Once the basic design of the shower head had been designed, various bathroom fixture designers and manufacturers relied on research and development teams, as well as consumer needs, to improve upon the basic design. Since personal preferences regarding showering practices varied so greatly, a wide range of shower head variations have been introduced over the years.
Variable Pressure Shower Heads
One of the simplest differentiating features among modern shower heads is the pressure at which the bath water is pushed through into the shower unit. While many consumers prefer higher pressure shower heads, believing that the increased force aids in the cleaning and rinsing process, others prefer lower pressure designs, often for the more relaxed nature of the lighter water flow. For households that contained multiple users with different preferences, some basic shower head models are equipped with a lever of sorts that allows it to be changed from a high pressure to a low pressure setting. The lever basically changes the sizes of the openings in the shower head that the water is pushed through.
Hand Held Shower Heads
One of the most common designs for shower heads are the removable, hand held models. Instead of being fixed onto the pipe connected to the water source, these hand held pieces are attached via a water hose. Mounted on a bracket, the shower head can be disconnected from its mounting in order to increase the area that can be reached with the water. Hand held shower heads are particularly useful for consumers who appreciate versatility. Many people use these to wash their pets in the bathtub, wash their hair without having to take a shower, or even aid in the bathtub and shower cleaning process. Hand held shower heads are also ideal for consumers with limited mobility to rely on shower chairs for bathing purposes. This allows them a greater flexibility during the bathing process to accommodate for the fact that they are restricted by the presence of the shower chair itself.
Multi Setting Shower Heads
In a further attempt to appeal to consumers with varying needs, the multi setting adjustable shower head was created. This variation allows the user to choose between a range of settings, typically ranging from three to six in number. The most common settings offer a standard showerhead setting, emitting a medium pressure, medium range output, a massage setting, emitting a pulsating, high pressure concentrated output, and a mist setting, emitting a low pressure, wide range water flow. The multi setting shower head is often found in conjunction with the hand held shower head design for added convenience.
Water Saving Shower Heads
In recognition of the growing desire to protect the environment and conserve our natural resources, water saving shower heads were introduced. These typically work be aerating the water output through the shower head. This allows the required water flow to be reduced, while still creating a wide range, medium pressure output for comfortable bathing requirements.
Rain Showers
When it comes to luxury, one of the designs with its inspiration closely rooted in nature is the rain shower head. These pieces are significantly larger in size than a standard shower head, creating a much wider water output. As its name would imply, this shower head mimicked the effects that would be achieved if one were standing in a rain shower. This design became very popular for spa settings, as well as with consumers who preferred to use their showers for relaxation purposes, as well as simply cleanliness routines.
Steam Shower Heads
In a similar spa inspired design to the rain shower head, steam shower heads were marketed to a higher end audience. Because of the nature of the shower head design, the prices tended to found on the more costly end of the price range. These shower heads were designed to act as a standard shower head, but had an additional setting. It contained the workings needed to take the hot water from the plumbing source and continue to heat it until steam had been created. The steam was then released form the shower head, in conjunction with the shower water to produce an extremely therapeutic steam room experience. The steam feature could be used independent of the shower feature as well.
Dual Shower Heads
As master bathrooms became larger and larger, so did the bathroom fixtures installed within them. Bathtubs and showers, in particular, were commonly doubled in size in order to be able to accommodate two people at one time. This led to the invention of the dual shower head. Instead of relying on one water source for both bathers, the dual shower head consisted of two separate shower heads, one installed at each end of the shower, that both drew form the same water source. In order to better conserve water, dual shower heads did tend to produce slightly lower pressure water outputs than that of other designs.
Waterfall Shower Heads
In the most apparent nod to the original source of the concept of the shower itself, the waterfall shower head was created. This shower head produced a lighter version of a traditional waterfall. Instead of the water being forced through a shower head, it was allowed to flow over the shoer head, being dispersed in more of a natural wave format than a concentrated flow. Since this method of bathing was not always practical, relied more heavily upon for relaxation, waterfall shower heads are typically an integrated component of another style of shower head, offering the bather a choice between practical bathing and therapeutic bathing.
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