The benefits of a low flow shower head are numerous, the most important one being water conservation. Reducing water consumption in your home can easily be done by installing low flow shower heads. Hundreds of gallons of water can be saved with low flow shower heads instead of standard heads. Not only will you conserve water, you will also spend less money.
Many of us love long showers and we probably don’t think about all the water that is being used. Low flow shower heads do drastically decrease the amount of water you use and still provide you with a very nice shower experience. Flow rates for normal shower heads are 3 gallons per minute (gpm). Some manufacturers carry water efficient showerheads with flow rates as low as 0.5 gpm. And of course, shortening the length of your shower time, in addition to installing water reducing shower heads, can cut the water usage even more.
In a typical family, water use for showers accounts for 20-30% of the total usage. Let’s say you have two showers with normal shower heads in your place and your yearly water/sewer bill is about $400. On top of the expense of heating the water, your showers might cost you $120 yearly. 20 minutes of shower time each day means 21,900 gallons of water each year if you have normal shower heads. Installing, say the best low flow showerhead, instead of a standard head, can save you around $40 each year. You might think this is a drop in the bucket (pun intended). However, in addition to lowering your water costs, you will also save on fuel or electricity, because you have to heat less water.
You might have to get used to the experience of showering with a low flow shower head, because the water flow feels softer. The limited water flow on some low flow shower heads could make you feel like you are not really getting a good shower. So it is important to maybe pay a few extra dollars and get the best low flow shower head you can find. Oxygenation is one of the techniques applied in some low flow shower heads. These kinds of shower heads add air to the water stream so that it feels like more water is supplied and these showers also feel very refreshing.
Having efficient showerheads usually has a 1-2 year payback, depending on the sort of low flow showerhead you have and on the cost for water/sewer where you live. A reduced payback time can be expected with an increase in water/sewer costs. And of course, the lower the low flow shower head gpm is, the more money you will save and the faster the payback.
We must start to reduce our water consumption now. Replacing inefficient high flow showerheads with low flow showerheads reduces water usage and saves money.
