Shower time: the best moment of the day.
Thankfully, the EPA is taking a closer look at us in the shower.
It turns out that the Environmental Protection Agency has made the important decision to fund the University of Tulsa, which will study the showering practices of America’s hotel guests from sea to shining sea.
“There’s an alarm clock in the sink. Hit it when you’re out.”
Their goal is to develop an app which will monitor our shower usage when we are nipping out to the local hotel for a relaxing sojourn in the tub.
According to U of T, hotel guests are using in excess of 17 gallons of water for a shower. Their proposal: we should limit the wash to 15.5 gallons.
Basically, cut a minute off the most important moment of the day.
“Already? And you want a tip?”
They report this is easily accomplished by turning off the shower while we are lathering.
Tulsa engineers suggest we can further reduce wasted water by taking “navy showers”, i.e.. freezing buck naked in the stall waiting for warm water.
“You know, this could run into money!”
Apparently, the U of T engineers are working on an app that will monitor shower water usage by room, and transmit the data, real time, to the hotel’s accounting department. The proposed objective here is to modify guests’ shower behavior.
May we also suggest more group showers? It used to be that Mrs. Jones’ boarding house filled the tub once, and from there, we all lined up for a dunk like kids.
“Not a chance. I just got here.”
Wisely, the U of T engineers have not proposed twosomes to save water, as the likelihood of less shower time is imaginatively remote.
There is a logical extension in the offing, and that is to enlist the services of outside peer-scoring agencies like the renowned OPower company which has quite successfully modified electrical and natural gas usage.
OPower: “We suggest you skip the conditioner.”
Using meter readings from over 60 million households nationwide OPower has delivered energy savings pushing 5% and more, while simultaneously improving utility company satisfaction ratings.
OPower’s reports provide comparative peer group scores, and also offer energy saving tips to the consumer.
“Time’s up Jarrod. Ranch boys are lined up waiting’ on ya.”
We can see this as a no-brainer in the hospitality industry, where consumers can receive regular reports on their shower usage at the local hotel, or the inn down the road in the next town.
After a few report rotations it would be no surprise if shower usage shrank considerably.
No doubt, the hotel’s satisfaction ratings will skyrocket too.
Phil Brown 