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We're
the High Pressure Experts! |
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Shower
Head Testing
Our
testing has shown that there are three main factors which determine
if a shower head will provide a powerful spray:
1)
Stream Integrity: Do
the streams of water stay cohesive with a precise, uniform and
symmetrical flow or are they inconsistent, random or even colliding?
Are there renegade streams plotting their own courses? Does
the stream pattern stay the same at very low water supply pressures?
2)
Flow Efficiency: Does
the shower head convert all the available water supply pressure
into shower head pressure? This is particularly important in
low water pressure areas.
3)
Spray Dispersion: Does
the shower head spray stay focused or does it disperse at a
wide angle?
Powerful,
soothing shower heads will excel in each measure, not just one
or two. A garden hose, for example, would have an extraordinarily
high flow efficiency but provide a lousy shower, while many shower
heads have the proper spray dispersion but provide poor flow efficiency.
Of the three measures, the first two are the most important and
very few heads perform well in both these measures.
Measuring flow efficiency and testing the integrity of the streams
at various lower pressures requires special test equipment.
We developed
this testing criteria with the goal of measuring shower head performance
in an objective way that exactly matched the practical but subjective
measure of how strong and powerful the streams feel in the shower.
After much trial and error, some head scratching and several equipment
redesigns, we arrived at our current methodology.
Photos
Stop-action
photography can reveal flaws and problems with streams that the
naked eye can't catch:
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Here
is a bad example of stream integrity.
The stream paths are not defined and the streams collide with
each other in their nearly-random dispersion. Also, a slight
droop in the trajectory is already visible less than a foot
away from the shower head. Compare this image to the bottom
photos showing the Large Ultimate, the Perfect
and the Ultimate. The difference is dramatic!
(We guarantee these are run under identical supply pressures
and flows and all photos are of brand new showerheads adjusted
to their peak performance) |
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From
the same test, the pressure gauge shows this awful stream
is coming out of a shower head getting a full 60 psi.
That's unacceptable! |
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Now
this is what stream integrity is supposed to look like!
This is our Large Ultimate showing off what
it does best. Notice the precision of the streams and the
lack of "renegade" streams going in different directions.
Each stream has it's unique and defined path and does not
collide with any other streams. The flows are continuous streams
rather than large drops burping out randomly. (The Brushed
NIckel and Polished Brass are internally
identical to the Chrome Large Ultimate and have the same great
stream integrity) |
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This
photo shows the regular Ultimate. Basically
an identical pattern to the Large Ultimate, as you would
expect - defined, symmetical and precise, but with fewer
streams resulting in slightly greater pressure per stream.
Remember
that with all our High Pressure Shower Heads these basic
stream patterns remain intact at pressures as low at 20
psi! (Normal is 60 psi and very few areas are below 40 psi)
The pressure of the streams will drop under these
extreme conditions, of course, but the stream integrity
is preserved. |
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This
photo shows the stream integrity of our Perfect
shower head. Very similar to the Large Ultimate. Again you
see excellent definition, continuous streams of small drops,
no renegade streams and no pressure-robbing collisions. |
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Our
Testing System
We have developed
our own system to be able to reproduce most conditions and any
test pressure from 10 - 80 psi. Our standard testing begins by
measuring a shower head's performance in the three key criteria
(stream integrity, flow efficiency and spray dispersion) at 60
psi, the most common water system pressure in the United States.
Then we examine the shower head's performance at 40 psi, to duplicate
a typical low-pressure water supply system, and finally we torture
test it at an awful 20 psi. Most shower heads only dribble at
20 psi. The best-of-the-best can maintain stream integrity at
extremely low pressures. This testing isn't just so that we know
how well a shower head will perform under a dreadfully low pressure
like 20 psi, but it is also a fantastic indicator of which shower
heads will perform great at normal pressures.
Finally, we
combine the measurements from the 20, 40 and 60 psi tests and
determine the overall rating.
A note about 70-80 PSI
We're sometimes
asked why we don't do any testing above 60 psi, and there are
three simple reasons:
1) Too few households have water supply pressure at 70-80 psi
for the information to be very useful. It would be the equivalent
of reading about a new sports car that was tested using high octane
racing fuel. Sure, it performed great in the test, but what about
when I put 87 octance in it and turn on the air-conditioning?
The tests need to be real-world and applicable to a high percentage
of likely users.
2) Many municipalities
are now standardizing on 60 psi. Some cities with the ability
to supply a higher pressure than 60 psi are choosing to reduce
the pressure to the 60 psi standard.
3) The lucky folks with 70-80 psi water supply pressure probably
aren't looking to our website for help. They're probably in the
shower.
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