How can I conserve water in the shower?

 

Your daily eight-minute shower uses about 20 gallons of water. Take a shower once a day and it adds up to 7,300 gallons per year. With that much water, a typical family of four could fill its own medium-sized swimming pool, wash 4,152 loads of laundry or make 166,115 pots of Campbell’s soup. Thankfully, you don’t have to sacrifice your hygiene to conserve water in the shower. In fact, a strategic showerhead is the fastest, easiest and most affordable way to dramatically conserve water in your home.

 

WaterPik — creator of the original massage showerhead — recently introduced the Ecoflow. The low-flow showerhead utilizes the company’s patented optiFLOW technology to deliver a spray that’s comparable to most standard showerheads, yet uses 40 percent less water. Ecoflow ($34.99) uses 1.5 gallons per minute while the standard showerhead gushes out a whopping 2.5 gallons per minute. The showerhead also features a water pause switch so you can prevent waste while lathering up.

 

Evolve has designed a series of water-saving showerheads that run cold water until the temperature reaches 95 degrees and then stops the flow to a trickle. This way hot water doesn’t release until you actually step into the shower and turn the valve to release the flow. With Evolve you can shave, make the bed, bake cupcakes and catch the end of Oprah without wasting gallons of water and all the energy required to heat it. Multiple showerhead styles are available, including the Roadrunner low-flow showerhead, delivering strong water pressure with just 1.59 gallons per minute ($39.95 through Evolveshowerheads.com). The company estimates that the Roadrunner saves eight gallons of water for every five-minute shower when compared to standard showerhead models.

 

* * * 

Excerpted from Josh Dorfman's latest book, The Lazy Environmentalist on a Budget.

 

Got a question? Submit a question to Mother Nature and one of our many experts will track down the answer. Plus: Visit our advice archives to see if your question has already been tackled.