For some people, a shower is a quick pit stop. For others, it’s a spa, therapy session and concert venue all in one.
Now scientists have weighed in on how long we should actually spend under the water current.
According to Dr. Pablo Pereira-Doel, an environmental scientist from the University of Surrey, people who only use a body shower need just three minutes to get the job done.
“Three minutes is a sensible target for a body shower, and another two minutes if you wash your hair,” he told the Daily Mail.
‘That also includes recreational water, which means enjoying the shower.’
Ultra-conscious swimmers who turn off the tap while lathering can cut this down to just one minute for a quick body rinse, two minutes if you add shampoo and three minutes with conditioner, he said.
Experts say people should spend a total of four to five minutes in the shower to reduce water consumption
According to Dr Pereira-Doel, showers in Britain last on average about 7.5 minutes.
However, studies have shown that showers regularly last longer than 10 minutes, with some people spending almost 40 minutes under the water stream.
“As for why people are sticking around… the answer is that for a lot of showers, the intention is not to get clean,” he explained.
‘More than four in ten showers in our sample were taken for reasons that have nothing to do with hygiene: relaxation, self-care, warming up on a cold morning. If a shower does that job, its length is not a decision anyone consciously makes.”
People in areas with soft water shower on average one-fifth longer than people in areas with hard water, he said.
“The likely explanation is that shampoo lathers more richly and rinses out more easily in soft water, making showering feel better and people linger,” he added.
Morning showers also tend to be shorter, because most people have somewhere to be. Meanwhile, there is less time pressure during evening or weekend showers.
Low water pressure can also prolong showers, “because people can compensate for a weak stream by staying in longer and feeling well rinsed.”
Researchers have found that someone else paying the bill, living in areas with soft water and shampooing twice increases water consumption
Experts predict that Britain will face a water shortage of five billion liters per day by 2055, with very real risks of supply disruptions.
Instead of relying on products like water-saving showerheads, experts say changing daily habits can be just as effective.
“Shampoo once, not twice,” said Dr. Pereira-Doel. “This is the clearest thing in our data and one of the easiest changes anyone can make. Most people who double-froth do it out of habit and not out of necessity.”
He also recommends using less product, because overdosing means more foam, and more foam means more rinsing.
A device that provides real-time feedback, such as a shower timer, could help reduce shower time, he added.
And tackling long showers – say, those on the weekend – will be more effective than shaving 20 seconds off the weekday showers.
Professor Ian Walker, an environmental psychologist from Swansea University, is acting as a key behavioral science advisor to the Let’s Save Water campaign.
The campaign asks people to try to limit their showers to four minutes or less, he said.
“When my colleagues and I measured 70,000 showers in the real world, we found that the average was quite a bit longer,” he told the Daily Mail.
‘More interestingly, we discovered that there is a lot of variation from person to person.
‘We suggest that most people have their own shower routine, which they repeat pretty much ‘on autopilot’ when they’re in the shower.
‘These routines often end up very different from other people’s, because showering is so private, meaning everyone develops their shower routine without knowing what other people are doing, or what is ‘normal’.
“It might not be a bad idea if people get this out more and start comparing their notes with others.”
Showering typically uses around six to fifteen liters of water per minute, and with the average Briton spending 6.7 minutes washing, that equates to a potential total of 100 liters of water.
The government is currently aiming to reduce water consumption to 110 liters of water per day by 2050, meaning a long shower could blow up your entire daily water budget.
One study found that installing shower timers reduced the time people spent underwater by 26 percent.
