April Showers

We seldom have April showers in Southern California.  With the drought, we are noticing that our indoor showers can make a big difference in conserving water.

More California Native Beer.  Can be used to promote water efficiency.  See below.

My rain gauge has been dry.  Low hanging fruit in our quest to save water is optimizing shower water usage.  So I thought I'd measure shower outputs and track water usage. Data! (I am a scientist after all.)

Sophisticated measuring equipment.  Large bucket, bathroom scale, and waterproof timer (below.)

This was a harder sell than I thought.  I guess some people don't want to know if they are wasting water.  My intent is to inform, not judge.  I want to enjoy the water I use, not waste it.  Which does require a little mindfulness, but very little effort.  I measured my own usage, anyway.  The first way I save shower water is:

• Don't daydream while my shower is warming up.   I am a notorious daydreamer.  But I had already retrained myself to pay attention to the empty running shower.   There is some ineviable warmup water, 1.5 gallons to be exact.  This is more than most, because our pipes take the longest route imaginable from the water heater to the shower. 

This bucket isn't wide enough to catch every drop, but it stores and carries easier than the big one. The plastic handle was lost one morning when a couple of gallons of water were deposited on the bedroom carpet.

Aiding me in mindfulness is a bucket that we put in the shower to catch the "warm-up" water.  This clean water goes into my backyard fountain or a "cistern" (garbage can with lid.)  Collecting and distributing greywater (water that has a little soap or dirt in it) is not something I'm attempting.  Issues with collection, storage, distribution, and legality make it beyond my skill or interest.  Yes, a bucket in the shower is a bother.  It also lets me have my bubbling fountain, where the hummingbirds drink, guilt-free.  The next easiest water saver is:

• Take just the length shower I need to wash, and not to meditate, shave, etc.  

Waterproof timer hanging in the shower.  Yes it's overkill, but I was curious.

Australians are way ahead of us on this.  Back in 2007, in response to a severe drought, they became "the land of the four minute shower."  To this end, my timer.  It's waterproof so I can stop the beeping without exiting the shower if I exceed my limit. I find that a five to six minute shower is relaxing; the mere presence of the timer reminds me to do my meditation elsewhere.

I'd rather meditate in my backyard to the sound of the fountain I fill up with shower warm-up water.

Apparently the average American shower is eight minutes.  Did the researchers measure, or just ask?  I wonder... I certainly had no idea till I measured.  Teenagers are known to take 30-minute showers.  I think my adult son is down to twenty, but he doesn't live here.  The Wall Street Journal actually suggested installing an electronic device that turns off your shower after a pre-set time and won't restart it for a while.  It costs around $250, not including the electrical connection!!  This seems crazy to me for home use.  If someone's mental health requires a longer shower, let them have it.  The next water-saving shower tip is:

• Use just the flow I need for a comfortable shower.

Back in 1993, federal law required all new shower heads to have a flow of 2.5 gallons per minute (GPM) or less.  This is an imaginary number, because it depends on a standard water pressure that nobody has.  Here's the trick.  The quality of a 3 GPM flow with full bore pipe pressure from a junky shower head (the $3 model installed by the builder) is far inferior to a 1 GPM flow from a well designed "water saver" model (we have $20 and $40 "EcoFlow" shower heads from Water Pic) and variable-flow handles.  That's a factor of 3 in water savings for a BETTER shower! If I want a waterfall... I guess I should move to Hawaii. (If your shower head is clogged and producing an uneven flow, it's not the manufacturer's fault. It's your hard water.  Treat yourself to a new shower head, or if you're on a super tight budget try soaking your shower head in vinegar overnight.)

This is our deluxe "Eco" shower head, listed at 1.6 GPM; we run it at 3/4 to 1 GPM.  Very nice spray.

Changing out a junk shower head for an "Eco" model is worth the bother even if you live in an apartment: easy, cheap, and so satisfying.  Under no circumstances call a plumber for this task ($$).  If you are not handy, you can ask a handy friend to do the job, buy them a beer, and they will totally come out ahead on the deal.  This is the way beer promotes water efficiency.  Your friend can easily help you install this gadget too:

Shower shut-off valve (can be used to reduce or interrupt flow).  

I haven't gone so far as to turn off the shower while I'm soaping up, but I tried.  Turning my shower on and off is annoying; the hot-cold flow always changes, and fiddling with water temperature while scalding and freezing is the anti-meditation.  The little valve above, installed between the shower head and the pipe, should do the trick, except it doesn't fit with our current shower head.  Our shower currently puts out about 1.3 GPM at full pressure, but I only run it at 3/4 to 1 GPM.  If I had fixed-flow knobs, I would try harder to install this valve, and use it half-closed.

Chart from allianceforwaterefficiency.org

The average American shower, in 1999 was 17 gallons (2.1 GPM for 8.2 minutes.)  My current shower runs 4-5 gallons.  Lucky for me, I don't like baths.  I could cut my usage further if needed but this is the comfortable efficient shower for me.  Perhaps you'd like to do a few upgrades to enjoy your April showers more for less water?

Because some parts of the garden do want supplemental water.

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