Doe Raining On Multi-spray Showerhead Manufacturers' Parade

Before the foreclosure crisis made the luxury home fixture market slow down to a crawl

, there were all manner of devices that ensured that you could have your own little Angel Falls right in the comfort of your own custom bathroom.However, the Department of Energy is cracking down on massive showerheads with new legislation that prevents multiple nozzle showerheads from emitting more than 2.5 gallons a minute.While showerhead manufacturers are angry about the new regulations, they aren"t getting much sympathy from DOE"s general counsel, Scott Blake Harris, who slammed four of their number with $165,104 in civil penalties for not complying with the new rules.

The recession, plus guilty consciences about the environment, made luxury bathroom fixtures less popular in recent years.Obviously, there was and is still a market for them, but only with people to whom dropping $30,000 on a bathroom remodel is considered a relatively minor improvement to the home.Now the privileges of those who can afford such indulgences is colliding with the Department Of Energy (DOE), which is holding the conservation of resources higher than the basic right to buy whatever an individual (or their credit card) can afford.

Up to now, the ability to own such a device was made possible by a loophole in the law regulating the amount a showerhead can deliver "" each nozzle was considered a standalone unit, so a multi-nozzle unit could conceivably deliver as much water as its individual nozzles could allow, up to 2.5 gallons per minute, per nozzle.Now, this dodge has been found out and closed up, so manufacturers are going to have to constrain their units to the federally mandated 2.5 gallons per minute *for the whole showerhead*.

On the flip side, there are those who view the whole debacle as infringing on their rights.Frederick Desborough, vice president of California Faucets, wrote to the DOE, "It was not the legislative intent of Congress to authorize DOE to regulate the bathing habits of Americans."This comes off sounding like DOE is enforcing mandatory 5 minute hose downs in the back yard of the county jail, but, no doubt, Desborough really means that the DOE is taking its energy conservation a little far "" rich people have to clean themselves up too, you know.

One can argue that it makes sense in cities in arid environments, such as San Diego, for people to exercise a little restraint in their showering privileges.In such a living situation, a showerhead like the Raindance "" 12 gallons of water a minute, 24-inch spray face and a triple-massage feature could rightly be seen as a shameless indulgence.However in areas liberally supplied by water, this might not be such a moral dilemma.

For homeowners looking at their 50-gallon-a-minute-multi-shower-head-massager-back-scratcher-with-pulse-function with trepidation, relax.There is no DOE multi-nozzle showerhead liberation army tasked with confiscating your monsoon-on-demand.The new rules only affect manufacturers.For those of you who are looking for luxury on a budget, a discarded Raindance Imperial 600 AIR or a Shower Rose may soon be available in a scrap-metal bin near you.

by: Joshua Sloan

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