What about regular showers?

[Rye]

In Star Trek, we saw both water showers, as well as sonic showers. Sonic showers were used from TNG onward, if I am correct, but at the same time I must think, did any ships have water showers equipped?

Think about it. In Voyager, Neelix took a water bath. This would suggest that a water shower might be available to those who want it. Anybody agree, or have any information?

 

[JarodRussell]

Starfleet showers have three settings: sonic, water and chocolate.

 

[Dream]

I don't know why they even bothered with sonic showers, since it would obviously be easy to replicate water.

 

[Rye]

Maybe because it is quicker to get in and out. No need to dry and what not.

 

[scotpens]

In Trek TOS, we never saw anybody take a bath or a shower. Or use a toilet. Except for the dead guy on planet Psi 2000 who was taking a shower fully clothed.

 

[Tosk]

In Star Trek, we saw both water showers, as well as sonic showers. Sonic showers were used from TNG onward, if I am correct, but at the same time I must think, did any ships have water showers equipped?

Think about it. In Voyager, Neelix took a water bath. This would suggest that a water shower might be available to those who want it. Anybody agree, or have any information?

We've also seen water used in sinks and Troi's bathtub, so I don't see why not. The use of sonic showers would surely be a convenience or cleanliness issue rather than a problem with resources.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

It's probably easier to put the sonic generator unit into an enclosed space like crew quarters.

I don't think replicating water would be an option, because it would probably use more energy than a sonic. Plus the water would still have to come from somewhere - replication doesn't create things out of nothing.

Although regarding sonic showers, I still keep wondering how they would actually work. I can see how high frequency waves would physically get the dirt off you, but do they actually get you CLEAN? Do they take care of the sweat and the stink? I just don't see how they could do that. I'm sure it actually feels much better to take a water shower than a sonic one.

 

[T'Girl]

I don't know why they even bothered with sonic showers, since it would obviously be easy to replicate water.

Deanna Troi has a bath tub in her quarters aboard the Enterprise D, and either she or Riker has a tub on the Enterprise E.

From the scene at the beginning of First Contact, where Picard walks into the bathroom in his quarters and splashes water on his face, I believe that starship's have a "regular" pressurized water delivery system. My impress is that the water (because it's delivery was immediate) wasn't being replicated as it flowed out of the faucet.

Post-TOS the starships did seem to be geared towards providing creature comforts to the crew. Taking a water shower, beside simply getting you clean, is a pleasurable experience. And might be available just for that reason.

 

[QuinnTV]

Starfleet showers have three settings: sonic, water and chocolate.

Chocolate rain?

 

[SWHouston]

It seems to be a somewhat limited commodity, several water basins, but very few "copious" applications. Seemed that rank had it's privileges as well.

 

[Tiberius]

Ilia was in a sonic shower in TMP.

 

[mos6507]

The sonic shower is "futuristic". That's why it's there, which is fine with me. I also think a small amount of water would probably be necessary after whatever it shakes off of you falls to the bottom. Running water of some kind is a necessity in the quarters, beyond what you get when you order a beverage out of the replicator. I also think a sonic toilet would be even more implausible than a shower. Maybe a sonic bidet. Doesn't sound appealing.

And how exactly is laundry processed?

 

[Robert Comsol]

I do think the analogy the producers might have had in mind would be something like wet shave vs. electric shave.

Did they think back in the 1960's or 1970's that by the year 2000 most men would be using electric shavers exclusively?

In this case and knowing what we do know today sonic showers might just be an option (one that Deltans possibly prefer ).

For TOS the problem is rather this:

The Season One crew quarter studio set had a side door possibly leading to another adjacent room (i.e. WC and shower, except for the cut scene from "The Corbomite Maneuver" where this door was part of Kirk's closet).

By Season Two they often had a corridor at this location, except for "Elaan of Troyius" (and "Mirror, Mirror").

So unless you want to see the captain take a shower with his crewmen, the turntable cubicle in the quarters would not only hold the mirror shelf and the drawers but possibly a WC and some kind of shower (darn, whatever happened to McCoy's "rank hath its privileges"...)

Bob

 

[Timo]

We really have no idea what sonic shower is or how it works. For all we know, showers in the future have the option of adding sonication, just like showers today have the option of adding hot water; few people would choose to ignore the hot water setting now that it has become available, and virtually nobody would choose to disconnect his shower from the hot water system even if preferring cold showers. But even a sonic shower would be a water-based device fundamentally. Or some other suitable solvent, at any rate.

The one "unrealistic" aspect here would be people calling their showers "sonic showers" when nobody in his right mind would call his shower "hot water shower" let alone "tapwater shower" today. The extra word is unnecessary and uncommon usage.

But who does call the device "sonic shower"? It's a DS9/VOY thing exclusively. Perhaps Terok Nor did not have a sonication option installed originally, so showers with this otherwise commonplace feature retrofitted by Starfleet are specifically savored. Ditto for the shot-to-hell Voyager which might have suffered loss of sonication systems, forcing most people to subsist on old-fashioned water-only showers, and Torres (the only one to use the term, really) would be rubbing it in that being a skilled engineer carries fringe benefits.

The one TNG exception is "The Game", where Starfleet Academy at Earth is credited with sonic showers - and they can be programmed to spew mud! Also, we know from "Body and Soul" that sonic showers come in hot and cold varieties.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[scotpens]

But who does call the device "sonic shower"? It's a DS9/VOY thing exclusively.

The concept, of course, certainly predates DS9 and Voyager.

Link

Note paragraph #5.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

But who does call the device "sonic shower"? It's a DS9/VOY thing exclusively

No, it isn't.

The first mentioning of the phrase that I can recall is TMP, when the probe-Ilia first shows up. We hear the computer voice say "Intruder location: A sonic shower".

 

[FreddyE]

I don´t think a sonic shower is realistic at all. The sound pressure needed to remove anything that sticks to your skin would be pretty great and if not unhealthy then at least unpleasant.

 

[scotpens]

I don´t think a sonic shower is realistic at all. The sound pressure needed to remove anything that sticks to your skin would be pretty great and if not unhealthy then at least unpleasant.

Dentists have been using ultrasonic devices to clean teeth for decades, but skin is way softer and more sensitive than tooth enamel.

There's an old thread on this topic. The original idea behind a "sonic shower" is that it minimizes water use, not that it uses no water at all.

 

[T'Girl]

Taking a water shower ... is a pleasurable experience

Maybe a sonic bidet. Doesn't sound appealing.

Just like a water shower, a sonic bidet can be a pleasurable experience (and it cleans too).

I also think a sonic toilet would be even more implausible than a shower.

Post TOS, the toilet bowl would be a collector for the replicator recycler.

And how exactly is laundry processed?

Bolians.

 

[Timo]

The original idea behind a "sonic shower" is that it minimizes water use, not that it uses no water at all.

As even this idea isn't explicit, the basic reason for the "sonic" part may be that it intensifies the cleaning effect or makes the experience more pleasurable, without affecting water consumption at all.

After all, it should be fairly trivial to set water consumption of a conventional shower to zero, by perfectly recycling a volume of water, say, ten liters of it. The life support system of a starship must be capable of far greater feats of recycling than that, at high reliability that would make any attempts at minimizing water consumption through more vulnerable technologies such as "sonics" look pretty ridiculous in comparison.

The first mentioning of the phrase that I can recall is TMP, when the probe-Ilia first shows up. We hear the computer voice say "Intruder location: A sonic shower".

Ah, good spotting - that one isn't in the transcripts. (Odd wording, though... Why the indefinite article?)

There's no real limit for when sonic showers might have been introduced. Perhaps they were commonplace in the 1950s already, in the Trek universe? But they play no role in dialogue until TNG "The Game", and after that they go unmentioned until DS9/VOY.

Timo Saloniemi