5 new trends in plumbing to consider for your home

While plumbing is often thought of as purely functional, designers and engineers have recently been taking it to new and exciting places. If you're going to be remodelling a bathroom or kitchen soon, consider incorporating these five plumbing trends into your design.

• Hands-free faucets are no longer just for public facilities. These days, touchless faucets are available in home kitchens and bathrooms.
• There are touch models that will turn on or off when your hand makes contact with the spigot.
• A more sensitive, motion-activated model turns on and off if your fingers come within several inches.
• This is great for those concerned with bacteria or who often have hands covered in sticky dough.

• Shower stalls have already been getting more minimalistic over recent years.
• The most recent innovation is a shower that has virtually no framing, hardware or accents whatsoever. These showers exude chic, minimalist design with floor-to-ceiling designer glass.
• "The Wet Room" effect takes this a step further; with no shower walls at all, a wet room shower is a designated space or area in your bathroom.
• It's artfully delineated using architectural steps, tiling effects and tiered drainage.

• Dual flush toilets offer two flush settings; one for a large volume and the other a lower-volume flush that helps conserve water.
• While this has been around for a while, it is quickly becoming popular due to how much water it saves.

• While the movable, flexible shower head is nothing new, there are now shower heads that allow the user's choice of multiple pressure settings.
• Spray intensities can range from a soft mist to a vigorous blast with just a twist of the handle.

• Beyond the frameless shower, designer glass, wet room and contemporary accents is the shower sound system.
• You can now safely listen to your favourite music or audio programme while you're in the shower.
• Modern shower stall designs also include water pressure, steam and temperature adjustments operated via an LCD screen mounted to the shower wall.

While the plumbing in our homes is something we tend to take for granted, modern innovations have made cutting-edge home plumbing a reality. When it comes time to remodel your bathroom, consider including some of these hot home plumbing trends.