Fabrication and analysis of a novel and sustainable set-up for safe and economic hydrotherapy

Abstract

Hot water immersion therapy has been found a promising therapy that offers several potential benefits to the human body, including pain relief, wound healing, improved blood circulation, stress relief, and improved sleep. However, the therapy is not widely used by the general population, especially the middle-class and lower-middle-class populations. The reasons for this could be the accessibility and cost of the therapy. This article introduces an innovative hot water immersion therapy set-up designed to increase the therapy's accessibility to a broader audience. The proposed set-up is engineered for easy home fabrication and installation without requiring special tools or skills, ensuring user safety through the use of electrically leak-proof components. A significant benefit of this set-up is its integration with a standard household geyser for water heating, which obviates the need for a dedicated geyser typically associated with commercial hot water immersion therapy systems, thereby reducing the overall initial, operational, and maintenance costs. The set-up has been successfully fabricated, installed, and tested, proving its effectiveness and efficiency. Among the four modes experimentally analyzed, Mode 4, a mix of regular and hot water with a combined flow rate of 8.06 L/min, leads to minimum waiting and geyser on-time of 19.85 min. In addition to the direct benefit of reduced liquid petroleum gas consumption, choosing Mode 4 contributes to an overall lower environmental footprint. This study aims to raise awareness of hydrotherapy and make it accessible to the general public.