Comparison of the Physical Properties of Showers that the Satisfaction of Shower Feeling among Users in Three Asian Countries

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to construct a scheme that makes it possible to compare the relationship between water usage, satisfaction, and physical properties in three countries. The physical properties of the shower were measured using physical properties testing apparatus of water-saving standard or scheme for showerheads issued in several water-saving countries and data for users satisfaction evaluation was acquired through bathing experiments. In this paper, we analyzed the result from Taiwanese and Vietnamese individuals to compare them to of Japanese subjects analyzed in the previous study. We compared the physical properties of showers assessed low in satisfaction by Taiwanese, Vietnamese and Japanese subjects. It was assumed that spray pattern tends to decrease satisfaction when the water volume ratio within 100 mm and 150 mm of a measuring device is located a 450 mm distance from the showerhead is low, and that, because all three countries showed the same value, it was imagined that there were no differences in the water volume ratio of high-satisfaction showerheads among three countries. On the other hand, the values of Spray Force-per-Hole, Temperature Drop, and Spray Angle were different among three countries. We speculated that these differences are affected respectively by ethnic differences in pain tolerance, thermoregulatory response and bathing habit.