A washing machine that uses only a cup of water to carry out a full wash, leaving clothes virtually dry, has been developed by British inventors.
Researchers say the technology, which uses less than 2 per cent of the water and energy of a conventional machine, could save billions of litres of water each year.
The machine, which has been created by academics at Leeds University, works by using thousands of plastic chips - each about half a centimetre in size - to absorb and remove dirt.
Around 44lb (20kilos) of the chips are added to each load, along with a cup of water and detergent.
During the washing cycle, the water is heated to help dissolve the dirt, which is then absorbed by the plastic chips.
The makers say the chips should be removed at the end of each wash, but can be used up to 100 times - the equivalent of six months washing.
The technology, dubbed Xeros, is already being compared to the Dyson bagless vacuum cleaner, which revolutionised the home cleaning industry when it was first released in the mid-1990s.
If adopted by many homes across the UK, the machine could save billions of litres of water each year.
Professor Stephen Burkinshaw, the machine's inventor, said tests have produced 'quite astonishing' results.
'We've shown that it can remove all sorts of everyday stains including coffee and lipstick whilst using a tiny fraction of the water used by conventional washing machines,' he added.
Dr Rob Rule, director of Xeros Ltd, a company created to develop and market the machine, said: 'This is one of the most surprising and remarkable technologies I've encountered in recent years. Xeros has the ability to save billions of litres of water per year and, we believe, the potential to revolutionise the global laundry market.'
(Abridged from an article in the Daily Mail)
jenray
Pro 
Yes, I saw this...bet it costs an arm and a leg as it's new to the market...great idea if it works...though looks like you'd have to pull the machine out to change the chip cartridge after a hundred washes and that would be a pain as ours currently sits under the work surface and not that easy to extract...