Showerheads

Showering accounts for approximately 17 percent of residential indoor water use in the United States—adding up to more than 1.2 trillion gallons of water each year nationwide. To raise consumer awareness and help improve the water efficiency of showerheads, WaterSense is developing a specification for showerheads (PDF) (11 pp, 164K, About PDF).

To earn the WaterSense label, showerheads must not only save water, but also perform as well or better than conventional models on the market. Unlike toilets and bathroom faucets, however, there are no universally agreed upon testing protocols for showerhead performance or difinition for user satisfaction. To create them, WaterSense collaborated with industry and water efficiency experts through the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Joint Harmonization Task Force.

In the future, showerheads bearing the WaterSense label will use no more than 2.0 gallons per minute (gpm), tested at a flowing pressure of 80 pounds per square inch (psi). In addition to the water-efficiency criteria, the draft specification proposes requirements for three key performance attributes identified through consumer testing:

1. Flow rate across a range of pressures
2. Spray force
3. Spray coverage

These new requirements are designed to ensure a high level of performance and user satisfaction with WaterSense labeled showerheads.

Look for the WaterSense label on showerheads in early 2010. Replacing an older, inefficient showerhead with a WaterSense labeled one will help reduce water use in the home and save on both energy and water utility bills. Read the showerheads fact sheet for more information on EPA’s draft specification.

For more information on EPA’s collaboration with the ASME task force, please see WaterSense: A Consensus-Based, Common Sense Approach for High-Efficiency Showerheads in the February 2009 issue of Plumbing Engineer magazine.

As with all WaterSense specifications, the draft showerhead specification includes performance criteria to ensure that consumers will not have to sacrifice water coverage or spray intensity in order to achieve water savings. EPA worked with a variety of stakeholders to develop these criteria so that showerheads can be independently tested and certified for efficiency and performance.

Technical Information

Are you a manufacturer or retailer or distributor interested in learning more? Please visit the Showerheads Specification page for more information.