How much water does a shower use in Australia?
In our ever growing knowledge around water and conservation, knowing how much water does a shower use, is one of the things that will allow you to be a better global citizen. On average older style, showerheads can use anywhere between 15-20 litres per minute. So a 15-minute shower will use approximately 300 litres of water or over 100,000 litres of water per year per person.
The usage of water in a shower depends on your equipment
It is actually quite amazing when you realise how much water a shower can actually use, but the above figure is based on old inefficient shower heads and all new establishments have minimum efficiency ratings. A three-star showerhead will cut your water usage in half to around 9 litres of water per minute. That in effect would save around 50,000 litres of water per year per person.
The truth of the matter is that bathroom in general is an extremely water intensive room, especially the toilet. When you think about the clean drinking water that we flush down the toilet everyday, it seems kind of crazy. These are the privileges we do have living in such a great nation, but these are also the things we should consider when being good global citizens.
How much do you use in 5 minutes?
At the rates mentioned above a 5 minute shower would use around 100 litres of water.
How much do you use in 10 minutes?
To figure this out we just double the amount you would use in 5 mins so the number would be around 200 litres of water.
How much do you use in 15 minutes?
If we keep following the rules from above a 15 minute shower will use approximately 300 litres of water.
Tips to reduce water use in the shower
- First and foremost update your showerhead, get the best water efficient shower head to save what you can.
- Try taking shorter showers. Invest in a shower timer to help monitor how long you shower for.
- Try collecting excess in a bucket while you wait for the shower to heat up.
- For those that shave their legs, try doing so beforehand and not in the shower.
- When upgrading your hot water system next, consider investing in an instant hot water system which will prevent wastage when waiting for the water to heat up.
How much water does a low flow shower head save
You want to reduce your water usage so you have decided that you want to install a low flow shower head. The question is how much water does a low flow shower head save? Well according to the stats you will dramatically reduce the amount of water you use. In fact the chances are you will halve your use if you install a low flow shower head. Your usage will drop from around 20 litres per minute on a traditional or old shower head to around 10 litres per minute.
So if you were to say have a 10 minute one per day over one full year you would save 36,500 litres of water per year. This number is quite staggering when you think about it. The question is what do you lose? Well obviously the opulence of having that strong flow of water. I guess the question you need to ask yourself is whether or not you would like to choose the indulgence or would you like to be more resourceful and save money. The reality is the usage rate of water is actually rather cheap at $0.002 per litre, so in actual fact you would only really save about $90 a year. The point is not about saving money though it is about using less water and I guess that’s why you are here.
Information Resources
Hunter Water: Save Water
Australian Government: Water Efficiency
