Did you know that showering is the second largest water use in the home? Showering accounts for 19% of total residential indoor water use. That's approximately 15,336 litres per person per year, which is enough to fill over 2,300 Olympic-sized swimming pools per year across the capital region.
What is a high-efficiency showerhead?
High-efficiency showerheads use 5.6 - 7.6 L/min or less.
High-Efficiency Showerhead Benefits
- Save water, energy and money. Older showerheads have flow rates as high as 20 litres per minute (L/min) compared to new showerheads using between 5.6 - 7.6 L/min! A family of three can save 11,000 L of water or more or $25 a year by installing a WaterSense labeled high-efficiency showerhead. Reducing water in the shower will also save you money on your water and energy bills since less water needs to be heated.
- Enjoy a high quality shower. High-efficiency showerheads reduce water use without sacrificing the quality of the shower. Many high-efficiency models feature multiple flow settings.
- Help preserve the environment through reduced resource use. By saving water, you’re saving water for fish and aquatic ecosystems and saving energy too!
Showerhead Flow Rate
- To measure how many litres per minute your current showerhead is using place a bucket* under your showerhead.
- Turn the shower faucet on full and run the water into the bucket for 10 seconds.
- After 10 seconds, measure the volume of water. Multiply your measurement by six to get the amount of water flow per minute. For example, if you ran your shower for 10 seconds and captured 1.9 L of water in your bucket, your showerhead would have a flow rate of over 11 L/min.
- If you have a flow rate of more than 7.6 L/min, consider replacing your showerhead with a high-efficiency model.
*Alternatively, contact us to receive a shower bag that you can use for measuring instead of a bucket.
High-Efficiency Showerhead Installation
Installing a high-efficiency showerhead is an inexpensive way to save water and money. Decide between aerating or laminar flow showerheads. Aerating showerheads combine water with air to provide a more substantial feeling flow while using less water. Laminar flow showerhead use individual streams of water.
Check out this video starting at 1:04 or follow these steps.