Are showers better than baths?

A recent study found that some modern day showers waste so much water, that in fact we’d be better off having 20-30 mins soaking in the bath. As it appears a bath uses half as much water as some power showers. As some power showers can use twice as much energy and hot water as having a bath. Even having a normal everyday shower for 8 minutes is nearly as wasteful as having a bath . This effectively means that clean drinking water simply goes down the plughole. Apparently and according to the study, a typical Brit uses 150 litres/33 gallons of fresh water every day on everything tasks such as the morning wash and washing clothes. This is the equivalent of 2 baths for every person. And let us not forget that this water has been filtered, treated and then chlorinated so that it is safe for us to use. Historically, our water usage has been increasing decade after decade due to new gadgets and our newly adopted lifestyles. As simply watering your garden uses 7% of an average person's water consumption. We used to wash our clothes once a week, now we wash them every day in our washing machine. We used to bath once a week, now we shower every day. According to Waterwise our consumption is so high here in the UK because only 40% of our homes have meters. Countries that have lower water usage have water meters. Where typically does our 150 litres of water go? Well nearly 33% of the drinking water piped into our homes goes straight back into our sewage system. Our toilets flush up to 2 billion litres of water daily. And 7 million of that is because of the old-fashioned type of toilets release more than 13 litres in just one flush alone. Bathing, washing and brushing our teeth uses approximately 20% of a household’s water. A running tap uses 6 litres of water every minute. A bath typically holds 80 litres, whilst a conventional electric shower uses 62 litres of hot water in a typical 8 minute shower and costs well whatever the water and electricity charges are these days. Having a shower uses 12% of our daily water usage. But an 8 minute power shower uses around 136 litres of hot water. In some cases power showers used as much water as a bath. However, modern power showers are however often fitted with regulators or aerators to reduce water waste. Washing machines once upon a time used as much as 150 litres per wash. But technological advancements over the past 2 decades mean that modern machines now use 50 litres. A fully-loaded modern dishwasher uses less water than washing your dishes by hand. Clothes-washing accounts for around 15% of the water we use in our homes. However, experts say that most people under-fill their washing machines with clothes and so some ‘half load’ settings use just as much water as doing a full load. Washing the dishes uses 8% of our daily water usage. And a fully-loaded modern dishwasher uses less energy and water than washing the dishes by hand. Without using a dishwasher, the most efficient method is to use 2 bowls — one soapy water and another with clean water. Just like some of the modern kitchen sinks we see these days. 4% of tap water used in a day is intended to be drunk. Waterwise estimates that waiting for a tap to run cold to pour a drink uses as much as 10 litres of water, whilst more is wasted in over-filled kettles and saucepans boiling without lids. Watering plants and lawns etc uses 7% of the average person’s water use spread over the year. On hot days, outdoor water use uses upto half of our daily consumption. For more information on this, please click on: http://www.waterwise.org.uk/ For more information on this, please click on: http://www.ofwat.gov.uk/