SEVAS Water

SEVAS responds to a familiar but poorly resolved problem: saving clean water while the shower heats up. Many households already try to do this with a bucket, but the workaround is awkward, unattractive, spill-prone and poorly suited to contemporary bathrooms. It can also be difficult for children and older people to carry safely, and its visual presence often discourages consistent use.The challenge was to design a solution that people would actually want to live with: one that fits neatly in the bathroom, is easy to carry and pour, and makes water reuse feel practical rather than inconvenient.

Developed over 15 months, SEVAS was refined through prototyping, sampling and extended in-home testing. Final design integrates a broad catchment area, ergonomic side handles, controlled drainage, a foot-operated plug and an interchangeable watering can spout to make capture, carrying and reuse simple.Its slim profile allows it to sit neatly in use and store vertically, reducing visual clutter and improving safety in compact bathrooms. The final size was determined by filled weight: at approximately 6kg, it could be comfortably lifted by both a seven-year-old child and a 73-year-old user. A key roadblock was finding sustainable manufacturers committed to low-waste production.

SEVAS demonstrates how great product design can support sustainable behaviour by removing friction from everyday use. By creating a fit for purpose product, our mission is to get as many people as possible saving this wasted water at home. One SEVAS holds up to 5L of otherwise wasted water per shower and helps households reuse that water for plants and other domestic tasks, saving up to 1,800 litres per year when used only once daily. At time of entry, we have sold 8893 units, which is a collective saving of 16,007,400L of domestic water waste per year.

SEVAS brings a familiar conservation habit into a more resolved product experience. Its low, broad profile helps capture shower warm-up water while fitting within standard shower spaces, and its slim vertical storage position keeps it out of the way when not in use. Integrated side handles improve lifting comfort and control, while the internal slope and enlarged drain opening encourage smooth water flow and reduce backflow under varying shower pressures. A push-latch plug allows the water tank to be opened or closed with minimal effort, and a removable watering can spout turns the unit into a practical watering can for reuse around the home.The product was intentionally sized around inclusive handling, based on family testing that considered both children and older adults. Material selection also formed part of the design response: SEVAS is made from recyclable HDPE and supported by biodegradable packaging and a water-efficient manufacturing process using closed-loop cooling. The result is a product that addresses function, storage, transport and reuse in one domestic object, while sitting comfortably within modern bathrooms rather than competing with them.