A hand holding a Gjosa showerhead in a bathroom

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Gjosa

A powerful shower that spends a fraction of the water.

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Challenge

Standard showerheads throw 10 to 15 litres a minute. Typical eco heads just restrict the flow - a weak drizzle - or mix in air that cools the water. Hair salons have it worse: rinsing shampoo can take around 8 litres a wash, and heating that water is a large share of the energy bill. Named Gjosa - Icelandic for “to gush” - the company was co-founded in Biel with Elmar Mock. The brief was to keep the feeling of a powerful shower while cutting the water, and the energy used to heat it.

  • The shower we refused to give up - full spray, a fraction of the water
  • Jet-Fusion® turns two high-speed jets into a dense, wrapping mist

Solution

Eco heads cut mass. Jet-Fusion® keeps the feel by raising velocity instead: kinetic energy is ½mv². Inside the head, two micro-jets accelerate to about 150 km/h and collide head-on - droplet fractioning borrowed from rocket engines. The stream shatters into droplets ten times smaller than a normal drop, then leaves at 40–50 km/h as a dense mist, around 2 litres a minute. For salons, In-Flow doses shampoo into the stream so the micro-droplets hit the hair already carrying product, and rinse off with far less water. L’Oréal also developed easier-to-rinse shampoos applied through the head, taking a salon rinse from about 8 litres down to 1.5.

  • Three nozzles, Jet-Fusion® inside - the collision happens in the head
  • A universal fit: unscrew the old head, screw Gjosa onto the hose, open the tap
  • Quick install, same hose - no plumber, no new pipes

Results

Prototypes ran in L’Oréal’s laboratories and in salons in South Africa and the USA. The partnership tightened at the end of 2019 to industrialise the head; it launched at CES 2021 as Water Saver, made TIME’s 100 Best Inventions of 2021, and took a CES 2022 Honoree. The home head is designed for a 65% cut in water and energy at a typical 2 bar, about 4.5 litres a minute. L’Oréal later acquired Gjosa to put the technology into hair salons worldwide.

  • The GS3 with its Jet-Fusion® pack - Swiss technology, built to save
  • Out of the box: the showerhead ready to swap onto an existing hose
  • Up to 65% less water and energy, conceived for about 4.5 l/min at 2 bar

At a glance

Founded
Biel, Switzerland - co-founded with Elmar Mock
Core technology
Jet-Fusion® - colliding micro-jets
Awards
TIME 100 Best Inventions 2021 · CES 2022 Honoree
Partner
L’Oréal - Water Saver for professional salons

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