Save Water And The Environment With A Low Flow Shower Head
If you’re looking to go green, one of the best places to start is by taking a look at one of our daily rituals: taking a shower. Have you ever paused to think how much water is used for showering and where it comes from?
The EPA estimates that showering accounts for 17 percent of indoor residential water use in the United States. That amounts to an astounding 3.3 billion gallons of water per day, and 1.2 trillion gallons per year. This torrent of water is being removed from delicate aquatic ecosystems and causing a great deal of damage on the environment. While some of this water eventually returns to the environment, much of it does not or does so only with pollution. It may be no surprise, then, that increasing water efficiency should be a high priority for governments and individuals seeking to make a difference for the environment.
One of the best ways to save water is to install a water-saving, low flow shower head. These showerheads are made with technology that manipulates a lower water flow so that you sacrifice none of the luxury you’re used to in your showering routine. Technology can vary from creatively designed orifices that focus the water stream and control water droplet size, to showerheads that inject air into the water to increase the blast.
Low flow shower heads typically use 1.5 to 2.5 gallons per minute (gpm). By contrast, older or non-efficient fixtures use more than 2.5 gpm, with those older than 15 years sometimes using more than 7 gallons per minute!
Not sure if you need one of these water saving shower heads? Perform this test: place a bucket marked in gallons under the shower head, then turn on the shower at the normal rate you would use. Use a watch to see how many seconds it takes to fill the bucket to the one-gallon mark. If it takes 20 seconds or less then you should definitely consider buying a low flow shower head because you’re using way more water than you actually need.
In addition to saving water, you’re also saving money. Whereas a low flow fixture could run you as little as $15 (a bit more for higher quality ones), the 20% or more in water savings you’d realize would translate to $50-$75 a year on water bills and another $20-$50 a year on energy bills for heating the water. In other words, the showerhead pays for itself in almost no time.
Installing a new shower head is easy. You usually just unscrew the old one, screw in the new one, and you’re done!
If going green matters to you, there is every reason to change to a water saving shower head. It’s so easy to do yet makes such a big difference for the environment and your wallet, all without sacrificing one bit of luxury.
