How to Calculate How Many Gallons of Water You Use During a Shower

Conserving the amount of water you use can be a great way of preserving natural resources as well as saving money on utility bills. In order to know where to cut usage, however, you need to know just how much water you use in everyday normal activities. Showering can be an extensive use of water, but with a little note taking, a quick test and a bit of math, you can calculate your usage of water during your shower down to the gallon.

5-gallon bucket
Measuring cup, 1 gallon
Stopwatch
Calculator

Instructions

- 1
  Time your next five showers writing down the elapsed time of each in minutes. Add the five times together and then divide by five to get your average shower time.
- 2
  Turn on the shower and set it to the same setting you normally use.
- 3
  Take a 5-gallon bucket and place it beneath the showerhead. At the same time, press the start button on a stopwatch. Wait for 10 seconds to pass, and then remove the bucket from beneath the showerhead and out of the flow of water. Set the bucket aside and turn off the shower.
- 4
  Measure the amount of water contained in the bucket in gallons. Use a large gallon-sized measuring cup capable of measuring in gallon increments. Multiply the amount of water by six to calculate your shower water usage in gallons per minute.
- 5
  Multiply your average shower time by the gallons per minute flow rate of your shower to calculate the number of gallons of water you use during an average shower.

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