The latest water conservation measure in the battle against the drought is now in effect. New stricter regulations on low-flow standards for showerheads went in to effect July 1st. The move is designed to save billions of gallons of water each year. The new shower head standards imposed by the California Energy Commission are expected to reduce water consumption by up to 20 percent. Even tighter standards will be imposed in July 2018 that should save an additional 10 percent.

Experts claim an estimated 2.5 billion gallons will be saved in the first year. The state currently uses an estimated 185 billion gallons in the shower per year. Last year Gov. Jerry Brown issued an executive order demanding efficiencies in water usage across the state. The commission adopted new standards in response. Agencies across the state have been scrambling to comply with the executive order.  

According to energy Commissioner Andrew McAllister, “Faucets and showers make up nearly 40 percent of residential indoor water use.” The former standard for shower heads was 2.5 gallons per minute. That was just reduced to 2 gallons last week, and will be cut further to 1.8 gallons in a year. We will then have the nation's most stringent showerhead flow standards. It is estimated that once all remaining inefficient California shower heads are replaced with the new water-efficient models, it will save 40 billion gallons annually. Design technology changes in some newer model high pressure shower heads flow at just 1.5 gallons per minute — another huge improvement over the national standard of 2.5 gallons-per-minute.

A few studies have found that the amount of time spent in the shower can increase when low-flow shower heads are used, however, others didn't find any change in the average duration of the shower. Some residents may complain about a lousy shower experience. But new well-designed high pressure shower heads, even the low-flow type feel wonderful. For those who don’t like your low-flow shower head because of the feel, get one of the new ones. It's a small expense.

Here are two sites where you can find reviews of low-flow high pressure showerheads, and other water efficiency information:

Alliance for Water Efficiency

https://www3.epa.gov/watersense/products/showerheads.html