 |
|
Triple master contractor Ed Del Grande
|
By Ed Del Grande
Q: Hi, Ed. My husband and I both read your column every week, and we need you to settle a dispute that has been brewing for a while. A few years ago he installed a "Y" fitting in our shower water pipe, and now we have two shower heads running at once! I say this is a big waste of water, but he insists that it's the same amount of water going through the shower valve and that he is just spreading the water around a little more. Please settle this once and for all: Who is right? My husband and his foolish ideas or me and my water-saving concerns? Beth (California)
A: First let me say that it's always a good idea to be concerned about cutting back your water use. If we all can save a little water here and there, in the end we'll be helping out ourselves and our community. Remember, they're not making any more new water in this world!
Without seeing your new shower set up or your shower mixing valve, I cannot tell you who is correct. What I can tell you is that the current regulations per shower head in most areas of the country is 2.5 gallons of water per minute. However, in most areas, you can install multiple shower heads, as your husband has done, as long as they both flow at or below the 2.5-gallon-per-head limit.
This is causing a little confusion since one family may only have one shower head, while their neighbors may be using multiple shower heads, and they may both be meeting the same water use recommendations for the area. But that is another issue, let's stick to your question.
Since you seem to be concerned about saving water and your husband feels that his two shower heads are using the same amount of water as one shower head, your target goal should be 2.5 gallons of water flow, total for your shower. This is a very simple problem to solve. Get a five gallon bucket and hold it under your running shower heads for one minute. After that minute, if the bucket is half full of water or less, your husband is right. He is not wasting additional water.
But if the five-gallon bucket fills up more than halfway or spills over, you are correct and he is using more water than a single 2.5-gallon shower head would use. At that point you can have him remove the second shower head or, better yet, buy a new high-performance shower head that will deliver a very powerful spray with only 2.5 gallons of water per minute.
This would be a good compromise, and it may prevent your shower argument from spilling over into a bigger conflict. Once again I feel more like a marriage counselor than a plumber!
Ed Del Grande was born and raised in a family-owned plumbing business. With more than 25 years of experience in every aspect of construction, he holds current Master licenses in pipefitting, fire protection and plumbing. If you have a question for Ed, send him an e-mail at eddelgrande@hgtvpro.com.
| 
)
