In and out. Wet down, shampoo, rinse, turn off water and condition hair, soap up and then rinse again. In my husband's shower he catches extra water with a bucket and then waters the potted plants. No big deal.

I may go over five minutes if washing my hair, but otherwise it's very quick.

We sell mainly shower heads from Hansgrohe, which have a function where they mix the water with air, so its feels like a normal shower but your using a lot less water.

I voted for 6 to 10 minutes, but I've never timed myself. It could be under 5.

I've cut down my showers from ~20 mins. years ago, to ~10 mins. now.

Manufacturers are constantly being pressured (no pun intended) to make water delivery devices emit less and less water, ostensibly to save this admittedly precious resource.

The three main targets are toilets, faucets and shower heads.

Reducing the flow of toilets and shower heads as much as possible makes real sense. If the toilet still flushes adequately with three drops of water, hurray! My shower heads are supposedly 'low flow', but they could easily have their output cut even further down and still deliver a pleasing shower experience.

But cutting the flow of bath and kitchen faucets is just stupid and counterproductive. If I want a pot of water, I now need to wait up to four times as long for it to fill just because a misguided gov't. or manufacturer thinks this will save water. It won't. Faucets are unique in that however much water one needs, one needs. But it appears that because a million fools leave the tap running the whole time they brush their teeth, or (insert other task with needless constant running of tap), everyone has to put up with faucets whose maximum flow is, on the latest models, a virtual trickle.

Yet these same gov'ts. forcing the 'low-flow' on all devices fail to mandate that all shower heads have a 'trickle' setting to use while shaving or soaping up. If this one feature was on every shower head and if even 50% of us used it, I bet it would save WAY more water than cursing us with the ever slower piddling faucets :(

Yes, I love that! NOT!!!! We have the the newer toilets in our house, but sometimes one flush just doesn't get the job done, you know what I'm sayin'? I've had to use the plunger way too often and mutter under my breath the whole time.

My brother-in-law has the power-flush feature on all but one of his toilets(unfortunately it's the one that gets the most use).

The question becomes how much are we willing to let someone in government or otherwise either regulate or shame us into doing what whatever said entity wants? Are you willing to be pushed into one shower a day, one every couple days, once a week? Yes, we all live on this planet and water is a shared resource, but when the Earth is covered 71% with water and water doesn't get consumed(used up) I fail to see the crisis. Yes, there are arid places around the world, but some of it is because the places are natural deserts and some of it is because of government meddling.

I'd add showers to that list, bjwpg. Soaping up takes just seconds, and it's rinsing that uses the most water, as much as it takes to get rid of the suds. With a high pressure shower, rinsing is fast, especially for shampoo. With low pressure the water runs for a much longer time. No savings, just discomfort and annoyance. I had a flow control head on one shower and would end up removing it and rinsing straight from the wall pipe.

I live in a desert area where water use is restricted by limited supply and punitive rates for overconsumption. There are many ways to control usage: flushing toilet every other time if it's just #1, not filling bathtubs, buying energy saving appliances, having trees and plants that don't require heavy watering, not washing cars with water running, etc.

And listen Kiddies... DO NOT let the water run if/when you brush your teeth (if you have them)...
(This message was sponsored by Big Brother)
George Orwell is rolling over...

@makaloco...
Far be it from me to lean into a "political" theme here on Houzz... but perhaps... just MAYBE... if some of the mouth-breathing, navel-gazing bureaucrats in the government & it's astute "agencies" would pay more attention to their own gross incompetence & waste... that money could be re-directed toward more useful purposes... such as water storage for when situations such as droughts occur?

Oh heavens NO! Without waste & abuse of the public trust... too many of them would have to go out & get a REAL job!
You know... like actually PRODUCING something besides a deficit.
Happy Labor Day

Select Hardwood, politics are a little different here in Mexico, but during the last municipal election our mayor ran on a "water for all" platform. With city water only on a few times a week (mostly at night), roof storage tanks or underground cisterns are necessary, and poor people can't afford them. The city has provided roof tanks to many families since the mayor has been in office.

Love my long showers! That being said, my Grohe rainmaker is a water saving shower but you'd never tell when you're under it.

I always thought I shower quite long, but it's only 4 minutes, hair washing included. Don't care about the water consumption, because there's enough fresh water here in Germany, but electricity is very expensive and we have tankless water heaters.

magnifique

Using good sense on where we build communities would also help(helllllooo Phoenix and Lost Wages(Las Vegas).

@makaloco- I would be interested to know who ultimately paid for said roof tanks.

Interesting question, River Valley. I don't know, but I'm guessing they were paid for out of municipal funds. The previous mayor bought several new garbage trucks, so apparently a certain amount of money is "there", at least at the start of an administration. The roof tanks cost about $85-300 USD equivalent (Home Depot prices), and I'm sure the city could get them much cheaper in bulk.

Hhmmm....interesting.

I got rid of my awful large flat "rain" showerheads (why do people want those?) and replaced them with powerful adjustable jets. I have good water pressure, so now I can easily shower in less than 5 minutes and feel really clean.

@janythw- Set it to "pressure washer" and you're good to go, huh? ;-0

@River Valley.... it surely beats "steam cleaning".... ;-)

About 7 feet : > )

We pay a flat amount for our water usage annually. We would pay an additional fee per gallon over the initial amount we pay for, but we have never even come close to using all that water. SO, I do not feel guilty at all for taking a long shower when I need it. We've paid for it, believe me.

BUT we have a smallish water heater for this size house...so, I can't really take as long a shower as I would love to! :)

With one bathroom for 4 people, mornings rituals are kept to the bare essentials and timed like clockwork.

If I don't need to wash my hair...like in the evening after work, it's pretty quick.

When I do have to wash my hair, it can seriously take probably 7-10 min at least. Long, thick hair does not rinse easily with a low-flow anything, so I refuse to get one!!

I have my water set to about 160 degrees as well. While my appliances are pretty new (washer, dryer, fridge, freezer) they are not water savers, HE's or anything like that.

I like a HOT shower with LOTS of pressure, a HOT bath, HOT dish water (I am the dish washer) a shower that's going to rinse me clean & a toilet that's gonna do the job. I also refuse to wash my clothes in a tablespoon of water!

I'm not wasteful, but I'm also not going to live by anyone elses idea of what they think is best.

Generally 3-5 minutes....longer if the legs need shaving.

Under five minutes: in, soap up and scrub with shower gloves, rinse, out. I sneak into the 6-10 minute category when I wash my (long, curly) hair, but I do it with the handheld attachment and stop and start the water between combings and latherings.

My water pressure sucks on the second floor (where the shower is), so there's no incentive to lounge under the water. In and out in less than 10 for me (and that includes washing my hair and brushing my teeth!).

I live in a rural area and have a well, so the cost is in electricity for the water pump and gas for the tankless water heater. I take longer showers in the winter than in summer without too much guilt.

I think my showers are relatively quick (less than 10 minutes) but when I need to de-stress, I find that the water on the top and back of my head is what I look forward to so I might use ALL of my 10 minutes to just 'enjoy' the feeling. (I'm tall and my apt. tub is for short people so I haven't had a de-stressing bath for 38 yrs.)

I live in CA. and the drought is pretty bad here. My showers start with a gallon bucket strategically placed where the first few seconds of cold water is captured and so is the water running off of me. That bucket of water goes right into my garden. A quick shower is 5 minutes, more, it's a waste of water. Shaving can be done with water turned off, so can lathering hair with shampoo.

About fifteen minutes. My hot water is solar, so I can use it till it is all gone. So far, in the tropics, no drought.

I usually stay in for about 45 minutes. Depending on my schedule. It's my only relax time.

@Tess Herring------ Now that's a proper shower. LOL.

That shower looks like a sanctuary!

oops i voted wrong! meant to click less than 5. I have a little baby so sometimes they are zero minutes! if that shower had a little bench or seat i'd stay in it forever!

45 minutes! Holy cow! Tess, you must have one of those on demand water heaters. A shower seat too. I'm glad you take the relaxing time you get.

@thickskin that's what I say!

Nope Jean Stryker, regular shower. But I have found the perfect setting to get the right amount of steam and it feels like heaven.

I don't spend 15 minutes soaping and scrubbing; the majority of the time is spent just standing there with the water falling. It is just relaxing.

6-10 min if washing hair and shaving legs, under 5 otherwise. When I had long thick hair, it was more like 15 minutes, but since I got a new short hairstyle, it's fast to wash.

I don't find a long shower relaxing (even though I have a bench in the shower). If I want to relax, I take a long hot bubble bath - only occasionally.

It totally depending if I'm taking my shower with my Soulmate & Life partner :-D

Sounds like Ruth takes a lot of showers;)) and not alone...

I'm with Tess Herring - about 30 - 45 minutes depending on my schedule, it's when I get to relax and have time to myself.

I hope you 3/4 hour types keep gallons of lotion around...aren't you shriveled up like prunes?

@River Valley------- With the humidity almost 100% most days,, and no air-conditioning, No drying of skin or hair. On the contrary, Skin is always moist, and no shriveling here. Plus the locals stay out of the sun, we leave that up to the crazy foreigners.
BTW, I take at least three showers a day.

Until the last drop of hot water exits the shower head.

Coming from a house where my dad would turn off the hot water if we were in longer than 5 min, I take full advantage of my shower time now that I'm married, especially when my husband is playing with our 9mo old. Who is way too interested in the shower curtain. :-)

Due to back issues, I sit for the majority of my average 15-min shower but shut off the water while shampooing and also while soaping up, scrubbing feet/back etc. Thanks to a great handheld shower head I actually think I use significantly-less water now than I did when I could do the same routine in 10 min standing. Mostly because, sadly, it never dawned on me to shut off the water then. Live and learn...

I love to take long, hot showers right before bedtime but don't get time enough to myself to take be able to. I would be lucky if I get more than 5 minutes especially in the mornings. #BeSeenBeSafe

I'm in the 11-20 minute group...and like it pretty hot! I live in southern California so, you know, the drought... I'd by hard pressed to wash hair, wash body and shave legs, etc. in less than 20 minutes.

I wonder if most taking only 5 minutes have small kids. I know there was a time the only way I could shower for work was to sit my son (about 1yr) in the shower with me and let him play. He was just too mobile and I couldn't keep him in with baby gates anymore :D

My daughter, who is now 18, takes nearly hour long showers, not every day but several times a week. I think she gives herself the spa treatment. She has asked for a shower stool, so I think she really relaxes in there!