Many people (though not enough) are willing to make considerable lifestyle adjustments to reduce their personal carbon footprint. But ask someone to change his or her showering habits in the name of the environment, and you will likely encounter some resistance. The fact is, there is something almost spiritual about a really good shower. The intensity of the water pressure, the reliable and consistent temperature, the wide coverage of the spray. Any mention of "water-saving" shower heads may conjure up images of standing under an anemic drizzle of lukewarm water.
But most showers really are big water wasters, with Americans taking showers in 20 gallons of water on most days, which uses both a lot of water and a ton of fuel to heat that water. While the 2.5-gallon-per-minute shower head has been the legal standard for a decade, consumers often remove flow restrictors, which takes minutes to do and gives a big boost to water flow. Others bypass the restrictions by installing multiple shower heads, creating a kind of "car wash" effect in the shower stall.
Some regions, especially those in drought-prone areas, have enacted stricter rules about water usage, of course. But what about the rest of us? Are there ways to take a "green" shower that will leave us invigorated instead of bitter?
Because it is hard to convince Americans to take less showers — or even shorter showers — companies have been busy developing new technologies to reduce water consumption without sabotaging water pressure. Some devices force air into the shower head, which aerates the water to maintain high pressure without as much water usage. The downside is that aerated shower heads may make hot water feel cooler, which could prompt you to use more hot water, driving up energy costs. Other devices save water by addressing that period of time you wait for your shower to warm up. The Evolve adaptor senses when the water is hot, then stops the water flow down to a trickle. When you're ready to get in, you pull a cord and water resumes.
We want to hear from you: Do you have a water-saving shower head? What brand is it? Are you satisfied? How's the pressure? Any changes to your bottom line?
For more information, see this article in the Wall Street Journal and this compilation of reviews from Consumer Search.
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I have a water-saving shower head (I live near Chicago), and you know what it is that I hate about the stupid thing? It's the type that has a hose so you can hand hold it, but when you don't need that, it's SO HARD to keep the darned thing in the holder and not falling on my toes!! As far as water pressure, it really wasn't much of a noticeable difference to me because it's a little more high pressure.
I have a good friend in San Diego who I visit often, where I've been told they have pretty stringent regulations about shower heads. Good lord, it's ridiculous to take a shower there. Any water that is "saved" by the lack of pressure is just used again in the amount of time it takes for me to finally get all the shampoo out of my long hair. I am all for finding ways to conserve water, but we really need some better technology in this area.
I tried a water-saving head but it was awful - talk about a miserable shower.
I use this Delta shower head:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/test-lab-delta-h2okinetics-sho-117794
I used to have to turn the hot water almost all the way up, now I only go about halfway and it's still almost too hot, so I think their claim that it makes the water seem hotter works.
I also use the lower-flow and it's still very powerful. The higher flow setting almost stings.
We switched from a normal shower head to a water-saving water head and I didn't even notice a difference, so I would recommend that :)
However, we moved 3 years ago and installed a big rain shower head, so that's not ecological at all, but it feels so much better and really is more relaxing than a normal shower head.
To make it more ecological, I wouldn't switch the rain shower for a water-saving water head, but instead, re-use the used shower water for the toilet, laundry, ... just like rain water or gray water (I don't know how you call it English :)). But I don't know the effects of all the shampoo etc. on your plants though
Drink one less cup of coffee every day and shower in guilt-free bliss! Every cup of coffee takes 32 gallons of water to grow and deliver -- as much as a 10-minute shower with good pressure. Also those extra napkins you take but don't use at fast food places, the bottled water, the sugar packets...there are so many ways to reduce your water footprint without sacrificing your beautiful shower. http://www.waterfootprint.org/?page=files/CoffeeTea
I removed the water-saving thingie from my showerhead and haven't looked back! My showers are at least 25-percent shorter because the water pressure actually does something. That has to save water.
Or you can go meat-free one day a week and shower to your heart's content for the rest of the week. One pound of pork takes 375 gallons of water to "grow." That's like 2 solid hours of showering!
I've been using the same low-flow showerhead for 10 years and love it more than any other shower I've ever used. And I have very thick longish hair, so rinsing power is absolutely key for me. I couldn't find my exact model, but this seems to be the updated version:
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-25ecodZ5yc1v/R-202812746/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=shower+head&storeId=10051#.UDze0o4yqwo
The construction is very solid (all metal, no chromed plastic), has a button to slow the flow to a trickle (if you want to take a "navy" shower to truely conserve H2O), aaaand.... it's only 10 bucks!!!
There are some great water-saving showerheads available. We love our 1.6 gpm showerhead that was recommended in the comments of this very website (a Delta, I believe). And Amazon reviewers seem to enjoy this one: http://www.amazon.com/Alsons-655CBX-Fluidics-Saving-Shower/dp/B00112X51W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346166890&sr=8-1&keywords=1.6+gpm+shower+head quite a bit. Not all showerheads (water-saving or otherwise) are created equal. Maybe look around a bit before you give up?
My water saving shower head was actually detrimental to the flow of water required to make my tankless water heater maintain a constant temperature! It was awful-- hot cold hot cold hot cold. Now I take shorter showers because the pressure is so awesome and I can enjoy a consistent temperature!
I tried one, it was awful. When someone makes a low-flow hand-held shower head with serious oomph, I'm all in.
Ecandle96 is right about low-flow shower heads and long, thick hair. A nickel-sized portion of shampoo would take 10 minutes to get off my scalp, because the water couldn't get through the hair. I now wash and rinse my hair under the bathtub faucet.
@Ms. Tart, by that logic I should be able to keep a stable of gas-munching Hummers, take 40-minute showers three times a day, and douse everything with chlorine (the ozone, dears) with impunity...because I have set aside the majority of my property's acreage as managed forest, I drive a handful of miles per week, I don't use products with ozone depleting substances, i don't keep a lawn, and I rarely consume coffee. It makes no sense to do the equivalent of carbon offsets for water consumption (in fact, carbon offsets are absurd as well, but that's another subject). Showering in a continuous flow of potable water, and using it to flush toilets, is sinfully wasteful. Something over a billion people worldwide lack access to clean water. It is a precious resource no matter where you live.
I use a good low-flow shower head that's "rain" style, but for maximum pressure with minimal flow, you can't get better than Speakman shower heads.
I grew up with well-water that often went low or even dry in the summer. We were very water conscious, taking showers that involved turning off the water between rinses. The worst part of that was having to go through the cold water to get back to warm each time.
This shower head eliminates that issue: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Peerless-Power-Shower-Head-Chrome/15149026
With a press of a button, the flow slows to a tiny trickle, but stays the same temp. I don't take "country" showers anymore, but I still use this shower head, it comes in handy if I forgot my towel or shampoo and have to get out of the shower in mid-stream. Also, it adds pressure, reduces flow, and costs so little. I've taken it with me each time I moved, it has been the best shower head I've ever owned.
...and, Ms. Tart, per your other comment...I'm vegetarian. I guess I could just stand in the shower all day?
We don't re-use gray water, and that alone in every household is a horrible waste. It can be used for flushing toilets, the first suds in the washing machine or dishwasher, instead it all goes down the drain. We have never owned a car, eat meat twice a week, and generally I try hard to conserve, reuse and recycle. If ONLY the US cared enough about reusing gray water to have readily available options so that households could reuse rather than waste, the combined savings in water and processing would be tremendously beneficial. Water bills would go down too. This bums me out a lot.
I'm kind of dismayed by the attitude of "to hell with it" that seems to pervade this group regarding ecological issues. We can get away with it in the moment, but longer term, we could easily be faced with serious cutbacks in our water usage, among other things.
I have low flow shower heads (4 total in my house) and they work just fine. My showers are usually about five minutes long. My hair is very short on purpose, half for comfort and half to eliminate the need for hair-care issues like blow-drying, massive rinsing after shampooing, and use of hair products like mousse. I have low flow TOTO toilets. We try to be conscious of our habits and use only what we really need.
I wish everyone would start to embrace the fact that we only have one planet and that it's past time we took care of it.
ecandle96 and SkippingDaisies you make good points. My current shower head is mediocre at best and I do spend more time rinsing that scrubbing. What gives with shower heads? The toilets keep lowering the amount of water used and are getting more powerful at the same time. I just bought two that only use 1.28 gallons per flush, amazing.
Rural and rueful, you said a mouthful and hit the nail on the head.
I do what I can, when I can, where I can, to save paper, gas, food, electricity, and yes, water and try not to judge others for what I perceive they do or don’t do. The 10 seconds once a week that I see my neighbor putting a box in the wrong dumpster doesn’t mean they are not recycling. I learned my lesson by being righteous and going back later to take the box out of the trash to put in the recycling dumpster. The recycling dumpster was over filled. I sheepishly put the box back into the trash dumpster.
Live by example and people will notice,
MsPicky raises a very good point. Most of us 'do good' when it is easy.
Example: carrying reusable Chico bags has eliminated my need to ever accept a bag for a small purchase, and reusable grocery bags has eliminated my use of grocery bags. Very easy changes. If it were easy to have our shower water fill the toilet tank or something like that, I'd do it. I'm a renter, and it isn't easy, so I'm not going to do it (but I wish I could).
I have an EVOLVE showerhead and I love it. If I get caught up with something while I'm waiting for the shower, I know I'm not wasting water. It has great pressure, better than the regular flow head. Well designed water saving shower heads build up pressure. It makes sense, if it's shooting out less water than is coming from the pipes, then the pressure will build up behind it. My guess is that if you have poor water pressure with a water saving head, you either have a cheapo showerhead or had bad water pressure anyway.
Our building bought anyone who wanted one of these showerheads and in a 16 unit building, maybe 10 people took them. We save over $100 a month in water costs, so financially it was an easy decisions.
They tried putting in one of those flow restrictors in my last apartment. I could have gotten a better shower with a watering can. I promptly took it off. As they took my old shower head, and the replacement was still anemic, I took it off and used the water straight out of the pipe. I figure it took me half the time to shower, so the water usage was about the same.
In California, agriculture uses 70% of the water, so I don't totally buy the whole conservation thing.
We live in a rural area and pump water from our well. As some people have pointed out, the amount of water coming out of your shower head also depends on your water pressure. We do use the gray water from our shower on the fruit trees but it is an amazingly small amount of water even with daily use and my long, heavy hair. Our new, unrestricted shower is definitely not putting out 2.5 gallons a minute. It should be easy to test and if you are concerned about water use you should get a bucket and check it out.
When we moved into our new house we bought a $10 low-flow shower head from the hardware store. It rocks, seriously. More spray than shower, but it rinses my long hair fine with minimal effort. Very pleased and green too!
I was forced to use a low-flow shower head during the two years I lived in a university dorm. I'm all for being eco-friendly, but not when it takes me 10-15 minutes to wash shampoo out of my hair. My current apartment has a normal shower head, so I spend less than a minute rinsing my hair out. Showers with a normal shower head end up lasting only 5-10 minutes (five if I just shampoo and use body wash; ten if I add conditioner.) With low-flow, I spent a good 20 in the shower.
I grew up in a house with a vintage Speakman Anystream shower head from the 1940's powered by an oil burner hot water furnace. The shower head was probably 6" in diameter and it wouldn't surprise me if the flow rate was 10+ GPM. A 10 minute shower would waste more water and spew more CO2 emissions than a Prius will in its lifetime.
I'm sure the planet cringed every time I cut the water on, but hands down it was the best shower you could take. Speakman still makes a great shower head, but it isn't what it used to be.
Thanks for this post! I have such weak water pressure where I live now, it takes me forever to shower and shampoo - or at least, it feels that way to me, compared to my prior place's flow and nice strong shower. I've gotten used to it for the most part, but I'm going to check out some of the recommendations above.
I got a water-saving showerhead BECAUSE I had trickling pressure that made my showers miserable. Now, I have satisfying showers with my Alsons 655CBX Fluidics Water Saving Shower Head, as do my tenants. It only uses 1.6 gallons per minute, almost one gallon less than the standard 2.5.
HATE water saving shower heads. I'm actually moving out of my current apartment because of the miserable showering. Quick breakdown:
-shower takes several minutes running to warm up
-showering takes 2x as long to rinse shampoo & conditioner out of my hair. I used to be done showering in 15 minutes. Now It typically takes 30-45, excluding shave time.
-pressure isn't good enough & showerhead isn't adjustable enough to spray shower walls, & I don't have a tub, so I need to wait over 5 minutes holding a bucket heavy with water at chest level under the faucet to fill up when I need to clean my shower walls (which is frequent, cause there isn't enough pressure to rinse soap off the walls). No I don't have a hose & the other sinks aren't deep enough for a bucket.
-shaving is impossible. My legs are a sea of ingrown hairs & my expensive razors need to be tossed after one use. I'm nearly 30 and have never experienced this before this year, with this terrible shower head.
I do have to agree with what others are saying about it taking longer to shower with some of the water-saving shower heads, but there are shower heads out there that have good water pressure. There are also other ways to save water, such as low-flow toilets, only running the dishwasher when it's full, don't leave the sink on when brushing your teeth, etc. My husband and I recently redid our landscaping to remove some of the grass and put in native drought resistant plants that require a lot less watering.
My college dorm has water-efficient showers with non-detachable heads. It's the worst thing in the world. The spray doesn't get through my long, thick hair and it cools the water very quickly because it's so light. I take 5-7 minutes in a normal shower, but at school it's 15-20 minutes of shivering and not being able to shave my arms or legs because of all my goosebumps. This is anything but efficient.