Time to be wise in the shower

15/08/2007

Essex residents are being challenged to get wise about their water use - by spending less time in the shower.

Essex & Suffolk Water has launched a ‘shower challenge’ to encourage people to think about how much water is used when they take a shower.

Although opting to take a shower over a bath saves around 30 litres of water each time, the company is encouraging people who choose to shower to save even more water.

To help individuals succeed the company has created a five minute timer and has 2,000 to give out free to residents.

The average person spends about 6 minutes in the shower and in that time they use about 50 litres of water - a power shower can use up to 100 litres of water which is 20 litres more than the average bath.

The shower challenge timers are set at five minutes – all the user has to do is finish before the sand falls through.

Showering for five minutes instead of six will save around 8 litres – the equivalent of 40 glasses of water - each time.

Tom Andrewartha from Demand Planning at Essex & Suffolk Water said: “It is important for people to keep themselves clean and enjoy their shower but we want them to think about how much water they need for this.

“By making small changes, such as taking a slightly shorter shower, people can really make a difference and help save this precious resource.”

To request your free timer call 01245 212 360 or visit the website www.eswater.co.uk

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For further information, please call Claire Bishop on 01245 212 010.