A low flow shower head can use as little as 4 litres per minute and some can use 22.5 LpM or more.
A typical showerhead uses about 15 litres per minute (LPM). The average shower also lasts for around 7 minutes, meaning that the amount of water is 105 litres. A standard bathtub holds 30-50 gallons which equal 675 to 1250 L of water. If you have fitted a low flow showerhead, the water usage will be 7.5 litres per minute. The average shower now lasts for 6 minutes, meaning that the amount of water is 72 litres. A standard bathtub holds 15 gallons which equals 225 litres of water. If you have a low flow tap and shower head, the water usage will be 7.5 litres per minute from the shower and 3.2 LPM from the tap.
If a family of four takes one 10-minute shower each, this equals to flow rates of 40 LPM x 10 minutes or 400 L. The average family of four takes four showers per day, meaning that 400 L x 4 showers = 1600 L a day. This is equivalent to 75 bathtubs full of water or 13500 L over 30 days. This is a lot less water than you would typically use in your garden.
The amount of water that each showerhead uses is different. A low flow shower can use as little as 4 litres per minute and a high rater can use 22.5 LPM or more.
For instance, if the shower has a low flow rate of 3 LPM at 15 degrees C it will take 8 minutes to deliver just over 20 litres of water, but if the same showerhead was switched to 40 degrees, the time taken would be just under 2 minutes to deliver 7 times that, which works out to be 48 litres. To keep your shower looking best throughout its lifetime, give it a quick regrout.An average shower length is 10-minute shower that uses about 40 litres of water. The average Australian household's daily usage is around 200 litres or two showers. More water will be used outside the house - watering lawns etc. Most people take 5 minute shower to reduce waste.
The amount of water use depends on how big the tub is. A typical bath takes 150 L to fill up. If a family of four took one bath each per day, this equals 150 L x 4 baths = 600 L.
The amount of water that you use from your kitchen taps depends on the design. A standard kitchen tap uses 4 litres of water per minute if it is turned on for one minute only. If the taps are left running for 10 minutes while washing dishes this equals 40 LPM x 10 minutes or 400 L. This means that during the 30 days there will be about 12000L of water used in the kitchen.
The amount of water used in the laundry depends on how many loads you do and which washing machine is being used. The standard washing machine uses about 5.8 LPM per load. If we consider that each family has ten loads of laundry during 30 days, this means 58 x 10 LPM = 580 L per day or 17200L over 30 days.
The amount of water that each toilet uses depends on the type of flushing mechanism. If you have a 1 litre per flush model, this will use around 2.5 LPM for one flush. This means that there are 5 flushes during the day or 25 x 5 = 125 LPM for 30 days. Toilets are the second largest indoor use (water use) after bathroom (showers).
Here are three basic shower water saving tips to save water.
Turn off the tap while you lather and shave in the shower.
Choose a lower flow showerhead to save water.
Install a 'rain head' or 'body sprays' fitted with aerators or restrictors that cut down the amount of water released in each jet spray for an invigorating drenching without wasting a drop.
Try these other handy water saving ideas.
Use a shower timer.
Take shorter showers and conserve water by keeping the shower to an average flow rate.
Apply shampoo and soap with taps off.
Installing energy-efficient electric hot water heaters.