Water Saving Shower Heads & Other Shower Ideas

Saving Water in the Shower

For those of us who enjoy long, hot showers in the mornings or evenings, we may find our water bills a little higher than we would like. 

Allowing yourself to enjoy a shower may be an essential part of your self-care routine. Rather than giving it up, consider investing in a few products that can help you mitigate the extra water use and reduce your water bills

Image Credit: High Sierra Showerheads

Low-Flow, Water-Saving Showerheads 

Typical showerheads use around 2.5 gallons of water a minute (gpm). Even a ten-minute shower would use over 20 gallons at that rate. 

Instead of taking shorter showers, consider installing a low-flow showerhead.

California requires new homes to have showerheads that use 1.8 gpm of less.

These water-saving devices can drastically reduce how much water you’ve used at the end of your shower. 

In most cases, you won’t notice any pressure difference. Many model designs compensate for the water pressure. The droplets’ speed and force will feel the same as before. You’ll be saving water without even realizing a difference. 

You may even find a water-saving showerheads with better settings and pressure than the one you have now.

Installing a new showerheads will also give your bathroom a nice fresh look.

Low-flow showerheads can range in price from ten to fifty dollars, depending on which model you prefer. 

Here’s a link to a line of water-saving low-flow showerheads from High Sierra Showerheads on Amazon.

Image Credit: dretec

Water-Saving Shower Timers

If everyone in your household agrees, you may want to consider using a shower timer. Limiting time in the shower can save water and money. 

You have a wide range of shower timer choices. 

1. Smart flow timers installed on the pipe will go off when they’ve measured a certain amount of gallons. 
2. Simple waterproof timers with alarms can be used. Your time runs out, the alarm goes off, letting the person know it’s time to rinse and shut off the water. These timers have mounting magnets or loops or use a stand. 
3. Showerheads with built-in timers or digital controls. These options are much more expensive, and it may be a while before you break even on the water use savings. 

Here’s a link to a Waterproof Digital Timer by dretec on Amazon.

Image Credit: KES Store

Showerhead Shut-Off Valves To Save Water

Water shut-off nozzles or valves are installed between the pipe and the showerhead. You may need a hardware store associate’s help finding a valve that is compatible with your showerhead.

Some showerhead models have built-in on/off switches.

To use a shower’s shut-off nozzle, you reach up and close the valve without turning the water off. While the water isn’t flowing, you can shave or lather soap, shampoo, or other bathing products.

Lathering without water flow saves you soap and shampoo too, and allows the product more time to work rather than immediately being washed away. 

When you’re ready, you can turn the valve, and the water flow will continue normally, allowing you to rinse off and finish your shower. 

Shut-off valves can be better than simply turning the whole shower off because the water doesn’t need to reheat, and the water pressure will be the same as before.

With these affordable devices and some mindful habits, you could potentially see a substantial difference in your water costs.

Here’s a link to a showerhead shut-off valve from KES on Amazon.

We hope that helps some of you save water and money while still enjoying your showers. Have a greta day!