This genius contraption catches water while you’re warming up your shower

Australians dramatically reduced their water usage during the Millennium Drought in the 2000s. It was one of the longest recorded droughts in Australian history, and in some places where sprinklers weren’t allowed, people watered their plants and grass with shower water. Like turning off the faucet while brushing your teeth and using shower timers, keeping buckets in the shower became a part of daily life during the drought.

Now a newly designed device seeks to update that water-saving impulse with a watering can specifically designed for the bathroom.

The 17-by-17-inch Sevas water catcher is about the size of a bathroom scale, and holds 5 liters of water. The contraption lies flat over the shower drain to capture falling water as it heats. A silver push-latch plug can open or close the container with the push of your foot, and its sloping design funnels water into the container.

Slim and easy to carry, the Sevas water catcher weighs about 2.6 pounds empty and up to 13.6 pounds when full. When not in use it can be stored vertically without taking up much space. There are wide handles on two sides; to pour the water out, there’s a separate opening where a removable watering spout can be attached.

The water catcher is made out of fully recyclable HDPE plastic with a stainless steel plug. The Australian brand also commits to planting two trees and offsetting carbon with every product sold, claiming that if its contraption is used once a day, it can save 1,800 liters of water annually.

Though the “big dry,” as Australians came to call it, broke by 2010 and water restrictions eased, old habits die hard, and water usage across cities in southeastern Australia remains lower than before the drought. The Sevas taps into those practices, and it’s had resonance outside Australia too. The brand, which launched last summer, sold out its U.S. stock in October.

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