GREENSBORO, N.C. — Whether you shower in the morning or at night, chances are, money is going down the drain, literally.
According to the EPA, the average family uses up to nearly 40 gallons of water a day to shower. That accounts for nearly 17% of residential indoor water use.
"You can save a lot of water and energy just by limiting your shower time to about five minutes,” said Paul Hope of Consumer Reports.
Maybe you're not willing to shorten your time in the shower, so how about this, change out your shower head. The Environmental Protection Agency's WaterSense label limits your shower's output to no more than two gallons a minute.
It can help save 2,700 gallons of water per year, and it also reduces demands on water heaters, which also saves energy, and therefore, money. If you have an electric water heater, that can add up to enough savings to power a house for 11 days.
"In many cases, you really may not be able to tell the difference. To qualify for the WaterSense label, a showerhead has to have certain spray patterns and feel, and meet criteria that are at least as good if not better than other showerheads in the market,” said Hope.
It seems every brand has a WaterSense showerhead. For example, the EPA webpage gives a list of brand names. Check one and the page gives you the brand make and model numbers for you.
Consumer Reports has several articles about saving water. One of them reminds folks to turn off the water when brushing their teeth:
You Don’t Need Water to Brush Your Teeth
In the same way, a constant stream of water isn’t needed for baths, my parents would insist on turning the running water off while brushing their teeth. So now, I quickly rinse my toothbrush off at the start, turn the water off as I brush, then turn it back on to rinse. The 2 to 3 minutes between brushing and rinsing saves me roughly 3 to 4 gallons of perfectly good water each time.