Have you ever been showering and had a sudden thought of how much water a shower uses?
While many people assume that showering uses less water in comparison to a bath, is this true? Or, does taking a shower use up a lot of water?
In this article, we will be taking a closer look at how much water a shower uses. We will consider different types of showers and how water-efficient they are.
We will also be looking at factors that can cause you to use more water in a shower.
The Length Of A Shower
To begin with, let’s talk about the length of a shower. Understandably, the length of a shower is one of the biggest factors when it comes to how much water is used.
The longer you shower, the more water you will use and vice versa. While there is an average amount of time spent in the shower, this can vary greatly from person to person.
On average, a person showers for around 8 to 10 minutes at one time. This time the amount of water that is used is around 17 gallons. This is based on 2 gallons of water being used each minute. When looking at this rough estimate the answer is quite shocking.
While we assume showering uses up less water in comparison to bathing, this may not necessarily be the case, especially if you take longer showers. When considering the average if you are showering for 15 minutes, that’s around 34 gallons of water used, which is a significant amount!
The Type of Shower
The type of shower you own affects how much water is used. While some showers use less water, other showers are less water efficient.
Power Shower
Out of all of the different types of showers, power showers are the least water-efficient. On average they can use around 3.2 gallons of water per minute depending on the model of power shower you own.
While the extra power is great when you are showering, it is worth contemplating whether or not you could make the shower more water-efficient.
Electric Shower
Electric showers use the least amount of water when compared to the other two shower types. Depending on the make and model you own, it can use anywhere between 1 to 2 gallons of water per minute.
While this is still a significant amount, it is much more efficient in comparison to a power shower.
Mixed Shower
Mixed showers are the middle of the three showers when it comes to water usage.
These showers are controlled by water pressure. Given this, the amount of water they use can vary significantly depending on the strength of water pressure in your home. The higher the water pressure, the more likely you are to use more water while showering.
The amount of water used by a mixed shower can vary from around 0.87 gallons per minute to 8.5 gallons. Given this, it is difficult to gauge exactly how much water you are using.
If your water pressure is particularly high, Gold Coast Plumbing Experts recommend you purchase a flow restrictor to help reduce the amount of water used.
Ways To Reduce The Amount Of Water Used When Showering
If you are using a large amount of water when showering, your water bills can quickly skyrocket. Given this, you may want to be more conscious of the water you are using. While you could replace your shower with a model that uses less water, this is costly and not always possible.
Here are a few useful tips to help reduce the amount of water you use while showering:
Shorter Showers
While this may seem obvious, a lot of the time we are unaware of how long we are spending in the shower. What may seem like 10 minutes, may actually be 30.
A good way of keeping track of your shower time is to use a timer. This will inform you of exactly how long you have showered.
The Navy Method
While this method may not be for everyone, it can be useful. When you are washing your body and hair, why not turn the shower off? This is a great way to preserve water and not waste any unnecessarily.
Take A Bath
While many people assume that taking a bath is more wasteful than taking a shower, this is not always the case.
If you enjoy particularly long showers, it would be more efficient to take a long bath instead. When you are showering the water is running straight down the drain, but when you are in the bath, you are bathing in it instead.
When you lie in a bath, the water rises, giving the impression that you are using more water than you are.
Not only will the water stay warm for a good amount of time, but a bath only uses around 50 to 60 gallons of water, depending on how much water you use. If you do the math, a 20-minute shower can use around the same amount of water depending on the type of shower you use.
Given how long the water stays warm, a bath can be far more efficient if you are planning on staying in the shower for a long period, or if your shower is not very water efficient.
Summary
As you can see, the amount of water a shower uses can depend on several different factors. While there is no definitive answer, the longer you shower for the more water is used.
In addition to this, the type of shower you use can have a big impact on your water usage. But, on average an 8-minute shower uses around 17 gallons of water, which is a surprising amount.
If you want to reduce your water usage, you can try to take shorter or timed showers, replace your shower with a more efficient type of shower faucet or take a bath as an occasional alternative instead. We hope that you found this article insightful.
