Saving water doesn’t have to mean sacrificing your precious showering experience (well, maybe it does if you follow our last recommendation on ways to conserve water.)
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the average American uses 80-100 gallons of water per day with showering being the second biggest offender - after flushing the toilet. While changing to a low flow shower head is the most recommended method to saving water, it's not really an approach that fellow shower enthusiasts like to follow.
We figured that we'd take an alternative approach to help you save water without having to shower underneath a light dusting of water mist. That's why we collaborated to find the 5 best ways to conserve water without resorting to a low flow shower head. We hope you'll find that saving water is not only fun, but can even enhance your shower experience.
Play Some Music!
Before you even get into the shower, put together a playlist that coincides with your desired shower length. Find 1 or 2 songs that you really like that are about 5 minutes in total length. When the playlist is over, you’ll know it’s time to get out of the shower.
But seriously stick to a few songs, or else you'll find yourself rocking out in the shower for way longer than you intended to.
Don't have a waterproof shower speaker? Check this out!
Kohler Moxie Shower Head With Bluetooth Speaker on Amazon
Limit Tub Spout Waste
If you have a tub and shower combination, the water will start flowing from the tub spout first before you divert it to the shower head. Unlike shower heads, the tub spout does not have a flow restrictor, so it can put out anywhere from 10-20 gallons per minute of unused shower water.
Simply by diverting the water flow immediately to the shower head, you’ll save a significant amount of water without impacting your shower experience. Since you'll already be in the shower, if you're following the previous step, it shouldn't be too hard to follow.
Install A Thermostatic Valve
We can get pretty picky about the temperature of the shower water before we are prepared to step into the shower. Most people turn on the shower and let it run for a couple of minutes so it warms up before they even get in.
What often happens is we start doing other things to get ready in the early morning madness and let the shower dump out far more water than is necessary.
Introducing a Thermostatic Automatic Shut Off Valve! Say what!?
Yea, that's a mouthful of words. This device attaches between your shower arm and shower head and shuts off the water automatically as soon as it reaches 95 Degrees Fahrenheit. Once you are ready to hop in, pull down the release cord and the water will start to flow again at a nice, hot temperature.
ShowerStart Water Saving Shower Adapter on Amazon
(Image from Amazon.com)
Look, if you save just 1 minute of shower time this way, you’ll cut between 2-5 gallons – depending on the age of your shower head. Check out how cool this shower adapter is in our YouTube demonstration.
Reduce The Flow When Lathering Up
When we are lathering up, we tend to step away from the flow of water. This is a great time to conserve water in the shower. Instead of just letting the water flow down the drain, you could pause the flow of water temporarily without shutting the water off at the valve.
This can be done by using a flow reducer valve or a shower head with a pause control feature.
The flow reducer valve option can be easily added to your existing shower head, or a new one. It is compatible with any standard hand held, fixed or rain shower head. All you have to do is attach the flow reducer valve to your shower arm (or hose) and then attach your existing shower head to the flow reducer valve.
Here's a recent video we shot showing me install and use this shut off valve.
Otherwise, you can buy a brand new shower head with a pause control feature. You'll most likely find this feature with hand held shower heads.
Cold Water Therapy
If you’re feeling adventurous, you should give a cold water shower a try. It’s becoming more and more popularized among the self-help community. It's not only a great way to invigorate yourself first thing in the morning, but it helps you to overcome difficult challenges that may present themselves to you over the course of the day.
After all, what’s more challenging than getting out of a warm, cozy bed and jumping into an ice cold shower?
You can either go all out with a complete cold water shower or you can just lower the temperature at the end of your shower to get you moving out of the shower quicker. We recommend that you do this first thing in the morning, as the benefits are just that much more powerful!
Of course, we're talking about ways to conserve water - which taking a cold shower technically won't save any more water than taking a hot shower. But, it's highly unlikely that you'll be taking a 10 minute shower if the water temperature is that frigid. Plus, you wont need to let the water run until it becomes hot. So it's a double score!
Need some inspiration? Check out what Tony Robbins has to say about the benefits of Cold Water Therapy.
Benefits of Cold Water Therapy
These are the 5 ways that we recommend saving water without using a low flow shower head. Make sure you share these tips with your Facebook friends!
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