Local Startup Helping Households Save Water And Energy, Wins Smart Drop Certified Excellence Award
TouchGrid wins Smart Drop Certified Excellence Award for ShowerStar, helping Australian households take shorter showers to save water and energy and reduce their bills
By Godson Umejiego, Bureau Chief, The Americas & Julius Ewudo, Cyber Era NG ASEAN Region Representative
A West Australian startup in the water and energy efficiency industry TouchGrid Pty Ltd (TouchGrid) announced it has won the 2025 Smart Drop Excellence Award for its ground-breaking ShowerStar product.
TouchGrid is the inventor of ShowerStar, a product designed to make people mindful to reduce their shower time each time they shower. Reducing shower time saves water and energy for households, our communities and the environment.
“Water is a precious resource and hot water is even more precious as it consumes so much energy to heat it up,” said CEO of TouchGrid Bernard Emby. Emby added “Many Australian cities are experiencing pressure on their water supplies due to expanding populations, drought and climate change. We’re all attempting to save water and reduce our carbon emissions. Shortening shower duration is one of the simplest and easiest ways to achieve this with the added benefit of reducing household bills”.
ShowerStar is a simple DIY install product that connects to a shower head or pipe in minutes. It automatically senses when a shower starts and provides simple traffic light style alerts at the beginning, middle and end of a shower. Studies have shown a reduction in shower duration of 30-50 per cent.
“We’re really grateful to The Water Conservancy for this award and hope it encourages an increased focus on the enormous opportunity for water and energy savings by simply promoting behaviour change when showering,” said Emby.
