Who doesn’t like to shower? We’re all clean and social beings, and cleaning yourself every day is a necessity. Therefore, showering is the most common type of bathing that people do these days. However, are you aware of the water that is used for every shower regularly?
This article will talk about water consumption every day and also understand the environmental impact of these usages. Since water is not renewable energy, it is our responsibility to understand just how we can save water and keep ourselves clean simultaneously.
Read below to know how much water do you use every day for a 5-minute shower? Here we go!
How much hot water does a 20-minute shower use?
Since we flush toilets and wash clothes every day, the majority of water gets used up during both these events. Moreover, shower comes on the third number since we use up at least 2.1 gallons of water in a minute. Imagine the water that we spend every day on just bathing.
Now, let’s calculate the time taken by an average person daily for a shower. Assume that you take at least 10 minutes to take a shower every day. Therefore, 17.2 gallons of water is used up every day in those 10 minutes.
In addition, if we calculate for a week, then an average person uses 120 gallons of water per week. Similarly, a 20-minute shower will use 42 gallons of water every day by a single person.
Therefore, a person uses up 6.26 gallons of water per year, whereas a family of Four would take up 25,043 gallons of water.
How many gallons of hot water does a shower use?
When we talk about water consumption, we have to take into account the number of people using the water and the time they take while using the shower.
Therefore, a 20-min shower will use up water according to the type of showerhead used in the bathroom. A low-flow type of showerhead will through less water with low pressure.
At the same time, if one has a rain-type showerhead, it will throw more water as compared to its competition. Not just that, the pressure of this showerhead will be more than expected. Therefore, 5 litres of water will be used by the shower per minute on average.
Now, let’s calculate the amount of water used in a shower in terms of Gallons,
| Shower Time (min) | Gallons | People |
| 10 min | 21 gallons | 1 person |
| 20 min | 42 gallons | 1 person |
| 10 min shower each | 21 gallons | 2 people |
| 10 min each | 84 gallons | A family of 4 |
On average, it is said that a person uses 2.1 gallons per minute. Therefore if we count the number of gallons that are used up every day, this is 21 gallons for a 10 min shower.
Similarly, if we count the gallons used per 4 people in a family, then 84 gallons are used by a family in one single day.
What is the average size of a water heater for a house?
First of all, let’s make an assumption about the size of the water heater that will be needed for:
1 to 2 people: 30-40 gallons of water
2 to 3 people: 40 – 50 gallons of water
3 to 4 people: 50 – 60 gallons of water
And for more than 4 people, at least 80 gallons of water will be used per day. After this, decide the “peak hour” when the hot water will be used, which is usually in the morning. Therefore, the peak hour of a day for a family would be morning.
- Now that you know the peak hour, you can decide how much gallon of hot water you require during that peak hour according to the no. of persons using the water.
- Now look for a water heater whose “First-hour rating” lies in between 1 to 2 gallons of water of the required amount of water at peak hour. If the first-hour rating and peak hour demand match, then the water heater will fulfill your hot water needs.
- Therefore, when the water heater is too small, it will not fulfill your water needs right at the peak time. And if you buy a bigger water heater, then it could lead to a higher energy bill.
- As a result, buy the right size water heater so that you get enough hot water without compromising the amount of hot water.
What size water tank do I need for a family of 4?
Estimating the water requirement is crucial to understanding how much a family of 4 people would need. Therefore, the formula for calculating the water required is:
Water requirement (Volume) = No. of people X per capita demand.
Therefore, this formula will help you to understand the amount of water required per day by a family of 4 people and the respective water tank needed.
As a thumb rule, it is estimated that a standard normal house requires 200 litres of water per person. Therefore, assumable, a group of 4 people would require 800 litres of water.
The size of a water tank at a minimum is 1.8m X 0.67m X 0.67m in terms of the depth, length and width of the water tank, respectively.
Tips and Tricks for Saving Shower Water
Water is an inexhaustible natural resource, so we have to be careful about the usage of the water. In addition to that, wasting water should not be an option at all, and saving should become a habit.
We do not have this resource for free, and it should be used judicially. Therefore, let’s discuss ways by which everyone can save water:
- Take short showers and save water as well as the heating costs. You can save gallons of water by shortening the time of your shower usage.
- Use a low-flow showerhead to limit the gallons of water usage. Install a low–flow showerhead that uses 2.5 gallons per minute.
- Navy showers are highly trending nowadays. In this method, one must turn off the water whenever you have used a bar of soap or shampoo. After application, open the showers to clean and close them while following any other procedure.
- Save water by following a short shower pattern every day and saving a single day for all major bathing activities like intense cleaning and shampooing.
Conclusion
A right-sized water tank is very crucial for a person’s daily routine and a simultaneous water management system. If you use too much water, you are causing a negative effect on the environment as your water should be used judicially.
Not just that, imagine having to wait every day for enough hot water right at the peak hour, i.e., the time when all the people in your house go for a shower.
Therefore, buying the right-sized water heater tank and using the right enough amount of water needs to be managed.
Also, one has to pre-plan all of this to ensure that the water tank is installed only once and not corrected every time the peak hour changes or the amount of hot water needed changes.
