Figures from Shower power reveal that 53% of 18-24 year olds take 10 minutes or less in the shower, 20% take 15-minutes, 12% take 20 minutes and 6% take 30 minutes.
Spearheaded by former British Olympic and World champion runner Kriss Akabusi, on behalf of twelve UK water companies, Shower power is campaigning to encourage people to check the amount of time they spend in the shower.
According to Jacob Tompkins, director of Waterwise, the water industry body promoting water efficiency, having a shower is a contributor to CO2 emissions and a major use of water. Tompkins said: “Spending less time in the shower will use less water and less energy, therefore saving money on energy and metered water bills.” He continued: “A shorter shower will also reduce a person’s carbon footprint, which helps prevent global warming.”
Kriss Akabusi added: “Like me, a great many people take 5-minutes or less to shower, and it was good to discover so many students taking less than
10-minutes, but it is a worry to see the numbers who think nothing of taking anything between 15 and 30-minutes. Surely they’ve got better things to do with their time!”
With a typical electric shower using around six litres of water per minute and a typical mixer shower using nine to 12 litres per minute, lengthy showers can result in greater water usage than having a bath - which typically requires approximately eighty litres to fill.
“Hopefully those who are taking longer will think about how they might take less time” says Kriss: “I’m getting involved to raise awareness of how easy it is to use less water and still enjoy a shower.”
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