Scots Urged To Save Water By Taking Shorter Showers

Scottish Water Blog

Kriss Akabusi Shower Power campaignScots spend longer in the shower than those in the rest of the UK, according to the findings of a new poll.

The survey by Scottish Water and other UK water companies also disples the myth that women take more time in the shower than men.

Findings of the ICM poll show that more than a third (35%) of Scots said they take ten minutes scrubbing, shampooing and sprucing up in the shower. The UK average is just 28%.

Some Scots go even further in their quest for cleanliness, with eight per cent admitting to a decadent 20 minutes getting squeaky clean and five per cent taking 15 minutes. However, over a third (34%) of Scots take less than ten minutes. And 23 per cent take a swift five minutes or less to scrub up.

The research, performed on behalf of 12 UK water businesses, including Scottish Water and also reveals that on average women spend just 39 seconds longer in the shower than men.

The vast majority of women (71%) take showers of 10 minutes or less; and a quarter of women (26%) manage to take showers of 5 minutes or less. This is only slightly below the number of men who do so (75% and 30% respectively).

The figures are unveiled today by Shower Power, a campaign spearheaded by Kriss Akabusi, multi-medal-winning former British Olympic and world champion runner.

The campaign aims to encourage people to check the time they spend in the shower – personal washing accounts for around 33% of the water used in the home and the shower is a big contributor to a home’s CO2 emissions

“The amount of water we each use daily at home – about 150 litres – is unsustainable and hot water is the second largest consumer of energy in the home after space heating,” said Jacob Tompkins, Managing Director of Waterwise, the leading water efficiency authority in the UK.

“Spending less time in the shower will use less water and less energy, therefore saving money on energy bills and reducing water usage. A shorter shower will also reduce a person’s carbon footprint, which helps prevent global warming,” Jacob adds.

Some people like to spend more time taking a shower, because they want to warm themselves up. This being the case, you can install shower doors, to keep your shower a warmer place. If you are interested, learn more from Superior Shower Door & More.

With a typical electric shower using around 6 litres of water a minute, people who shower for a long time are using as much water as a bath (typically 80 litres a fill) – or in some cases more.

The research also reveals:

  • Time spent in the shower decreases with age. On average, people aged 55 or over (mean shower time: 8 mins, 41 secs) are 5 minutes faster than people aged 18 to 24 (mean shower time: 13 mins 26 secs).
  • Well over a third (39%) of people aged 55 or over even manage to shower in five minutes or less.
  • Nevertheless, the younger age groups are doing their bit too, with more than half (53%) of 18-24 year olds taking 10 minutes or less in the shower.

For more information about Shower power, to calculate the amount of water you use in the shower and to enter a competition to win one of thousands of water efficient products visit www.waterwise.org.uk/showerpower.

Scottish public relations agency Holyrood PR has provided strategic PR support to the Scottish Water press office since 2002. The Scottish Water press office team can be contacted on 01383 848229