Table of Contents
It’s something most of us do every day without fail.
But have you ever stopped to think about how your daily shower compares to the rest of Britain?
In a new study, researchers from the University of Surrey have revealed the average duration of rainfall in the UK.
Their findings show that the average shower lasts just 6.7 minutes, although some Brits indulge in much longer sessions.
Professor Ian Walker, co-author of the study, joked on X (formerly Twitter): “We excluded any rain for an hour, but believe me, they happened.”
It’s something most of us do every day without fail. But have you ever stopped to think about how your daily shower compares to the rest of Britain? (archive image)
Their findings show that the average shower lasts just 6.7 minutes, although some Brits indulge in much longer sessions.
In their study, the team set out to evaluate the amount of water used in showers, as well as possible measures to improve efficiency.
Writing in his studio, which is available as a preprint. hereThe team explained: “Improving water efficiency in showers is crucial, given their high water consumption, energy use and associated carbon emissions.”
Water consumption in 290 student showers at the University of Surrey was covertly monitored for 39 weeks using Aguardio sensors.
In total, these sensors captured 86,421 individual showers.
An analysis of the results revealed that the average shower lasted 6.7 minutes, while 50 percent fell between 3.3 and 8.8 minutes.
However, the researchers note that this duration is likely to be longer among the general public.
“I’m going to suggest that these Surrey students generally have shorter showers than many people,” Professor Walker tweeted.
“The last time we measured rainfall in the UK public we found an average of 10.8 minutes.”
Because the researchers knew exactly how long the water ran during each shower, as well as the flow rate of each shower, they were also able to estimate how much water was consumed each time a participant showered.
To their surprise, the researchers discovered that there was a negative relationship between water pressure and consumption.
This is where they saw “the great mutual benefit”, as Professor Walker says.
To their surprise, the researchers discovered that there was a negative relationship between water pressure and consumption.
“More powerful showers use less water overall,” Professor Walker explained.
He added, jokingly: ‘A NICE SHOWER AND FORK COULD BE *BETTER* FOR THE ENVIRONMENT THAN A WEAK DRIP. I know right?’
These findings may “tell us something behaviorally important,” according to Professor Walker.
“It suggests that people turn off the shower when they have achieved a desired sensation, not just when they have completed a certain set of actions,” he said.
“This is a potentially important new idea.”
The Aguardio sensors used to monitor showers also have timers, and researchers found they were effective in reducing water consumption.
“It seems that a big advantage of timers is that they prevent the rains from gradually prolonging as the weeks go by,” Professor Walker explained.
“We wonder if people ‘anchor’ themselves to the length of their first shower and stick to this when there is a timer.”
Overall, the researchers found that the average water consumption of a low-pressure shower without a timer was 61 liters.
This amount was reduced to only 17 liters when the water was at higher pressure and a timer was used.
“This is growing very quickly,” Professor Walker concluded.
«In this experiment alone, those 290 showers burned 4.4 million liters of hot water and around 15 tons of CO2e, in the 39 weeks.
“The energy involved is mind-blowing when you start to think about what it’s like on a national scale.”
