A Newspoll survey of 1200 Australians, commissioned by Rheem Australia , has shown that 48% of Australians spend six or more minutes in the shower every day – and approximately half of that 48% waste the water before entering the shower.

Conducted by Newspoll and released on 2011 World Water Day, the Rheem Water Star Shower Poll highlighted significant shower water wastage statistics including:

  • 26% of Australians have two or more showers a day. Taking 2 or more showers a day is more common in NSW (29%), QLD (37%) and WA (36%), compared to VIC (13%) and SA (18%) 
  • 68% of Australians wait for the water to heat up before standing under the shower 
  • 54% of Australians waste the shower water before getting in 
  • 13% of Australians take action to alleviate this water wastage, for example; having buckets in the shower to collect the water and grey water systems
John Wilkins, Rheem’s group product manager high efficiency gas explained, “Many of us don’t realise that on average we use a staggering nine litres of water per minute in the shower. If the more than eight million Australians who admit to spending 6+ minutes in the shower per day halved their showers they would save approximately 221 million litres of water a day – that’s the equivalent of 88 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

“Together we can make huge savings in water – and with water rates and the cost of living continuing to rise, it also means the hip pocket won’t be hit as hard.”

Rheem has developed the Rheem Water Star to help incentivise householders to reduce their water consumption. This innovative solution qualifies for water saving rebates offered by some state governments.

“Rheem Water Star is all about an intelligent and more efficient approach to water heating and more efficient water usage around the home,” Wilkins explains. “It’s designed for continuous flow gas water heaters and reduces the water wastage inherent in these heaters. In addition, it delivers hot water twice as fast – a real attraction to anyone standing under the shower and waiting for hot water to arrive.” 

This study was conducted by telephone in February 2011 among a representative sample of n=1,200 adults aged 18+ nationally.