What’s wrong with a 40-minute shower?
The UK needs to dramatically cut its water consumption. However, consumer behaviour suggests the message isn’t getting through. Consumer Council for Water CEO Mike Keil explains what needs to be done.
By Dorjee Wangmo, junior reporter
I have been on this planet for 25 years, but it took me just one trip to Birmingham to realise I was part of a national problem.
Before I sat down with CCW’s chief executive Mike Keil, I hadn’t given too much thought to how my 40-minute daily shower was impacting the planet. However, while speaking to Ofwat’s former head of climate change policy, it quickly becomes clear that I am contributing to the UK’s water consumption crisis.
When he learns about my 40-minute shower, Keil gasps. “That is a problem. Let’s get it fixed,” he says, before whisking me out of our interview room to get colleagues to tell me about the group’s "Refresh Your Routine" campaign, which promotes four-minute showers.
And while I now realise that my 40-minute daily shower is a problem, I am far from the only offender.
A recent poll by Water UK found that people in England and Wales believe their household uses just 62 litres of water per day, roughly the amount used in a five-minute shower. In reality, Water UK estimates the average household uses 323 litres per day – or 137 litres per person– which is more than five times the amount they think they use.
Keil also explains how social media is fuelling the UK’s consumption crisis.
In particular, the Refresh Your Routine campaign aims to directly counter a concerning TikTok trend that sees influencers shower themselves for up to two hours at a time.
Dubbed "everything showers", this trend is described as “water-intensive” by Keil. For those not au fait with it, an "everything shower" is essentially an elaborate self-care routine, including hair treatments, setting the mood for the shower with scented candles, rinsing your hair, exfoliating, shaving, cleansing your body, and finishing with body serums – all carried out while keeping the shower running.
This water-intensive self-care routine stands in stark contrast to the increasingly urgent environmental reality. This year, England has faced the driest spring in 132 years, water companies have been asked to move resources around to ensure supplies are available in affected areas, and droughts have been officially declared in some parts of the country.
The UK has also set a target to reduce water consumption per person by 20% by 2038, using 2019/20 as a baseline. This would see per capita consumption reduced to an average of 122 litres per person per day by 2038, with a further target to get that down to 110 litres per person per day by 2050.
Water companies' target for reducing per capita water consumption by 2038 compared to 2020
Daily water consumption of the average household, as estimated by CCW
Meanwhile, Keil and his team at CCW are working to get water consumers, particularly the ‘everything shower’ community, to waste less water. Under Keil’s leadership, CCW has been camping outside Birmingham University, getting Gen Z to adopt small, meaningful behaviour changes to help save water and cut the ‘everything shower’ trend from their daily lives.
Refresh Your Routine is a campaign launched in direct response to the hours-long showering trend. Its key message: “Turn off the tap. Save water. Save money, with a four-minute shower”, targets Gen Z as they are the largest group promoting the trend.
“Gen Z holds the power to change habits early and build a culture of sustainability,” Keil explains. “They are environmentally conscious and digitally native. They are open to learn how their daily routines impact the water environment.
“While they care about climate change, most of them currently cannot connect their behaviours with water security. Our campaign helps bridge that gap.”
Unlike other campaigns in the sector, Keil and his team have predominantly run it on Gen Z social media platforms like TikTok, Snapchat, Spotify, YouTube and digital billboards. Spreading awareness on the finite resource, nearly 5 million people have engaged with the campaign online.
As the pilot campaign was “immensely successful”, Keil says that CCW is launching phase two in November this year. He adds that the success of the campaign is one of his highlights since taking up the helm at CCW in September 2023.
Giving consumers a voice
Keil identifies the formation of the CCW’s consumer panel as another key achievement since taking over as the CEO.
Due to be launched in November, Keil is confident that the 15-strong panel will have more of an impact than similar schemes launched at individual water companies.
He says: “I know some water companies have set up their panels, but what makes our panel different is that we have set it up. It means that this panel is independent and will have genuine raw views of the companies and how they perform on the ground.
“I don’t want an educated view or some water specialists to be on the panel. I want a raw view, like a barometer of how the public feel about their water companies.”
These panels will meet once a month, where Keil and his team will ask them, among other things, whether they understand their water bills or if it is not clear enough. He will then talk to the water companies about the feedback received from the panel.
The panel will also have an opportunity to ask questions directly to the senior executives of their water companies.
“Gen Z holds the power to change habits early and build a culture of sustainability.”
Mike Keil, chief executive, CCW
Redetermination rethink
During our interview, Keil regularly refers to a list of talking points that he has prepared. As he flips through the pages, he occasionally dives into a topic, only to catch himself and smile, saying: “Sorry. Got a bit excited there.”
One such topic is the price review redetermination process, where Keil believes – much like the consumer groups – there needs to be greater public input. Keil thinks that the current redetermination process for water companies’ five-year business plans is not set in a just way.
He says the current appeals process shows an “imbalance of power and resources” between water companies, Ofwat and customers. To redress the imbalance, Keil is calling for the CCW to be given the right to lodge its own appeals to Ofwat’s final determinations of water company business plans.
He believes this would put consumers on an equal footing to water companies, giving them a greater say in how their money is spent. Keil adds that he would like to see the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) open up the redetermination process in time for the next price review period (PR29).
“One thing that the CMA appeals process shows is this imbalance of power that exists in the water sector,” Keil says. “Right now, it seems to be skewed towards investors and companies, not consumers. That’s also an imbalance of resources.
“Ofwat sets prices, and water companies say, ‘I don’t like these prices, so I will appeal’. However, when the water consumers don’t like the prices, they have no say in it. They don’t have the right to appeal.”
If given the right to appeal, Keil says CCW will appeal on a specific element of Ofwat’s decision on price reviews – rather than lodging a blanket appeal, as water companies currently do. For instance, he says one of the key issues in CMA appeals is the cost of capital: “There has been so much lobbying of Ofwat that it should be higher and higher. From many finance investors, there are also threats that they won’t invest unless the cost is higher.”
However, he points out that CCW research found that the cost of capital in the water sector could in fact be lowered: “It would even save each household £41 a year. But we are the only ones saying it could go lower while all the companies and the investors are arguing otherwise.”
Although this is one area cited within CCW’s representation to the CMA in relation to the current appeals process, Keil says it will carry little weight given the “power imbalance”. He adds that if granted the right to appeal, it would give some “teeth” and strength to CCW beyond its “soft influence”.
At this point in the interview, Keil finally puts his notes on the table and rests back in his chair, which I take as a sign to wrap up my questions, as nearly two hours has passed.
I thank him, and as I step out of the office, all I can think about is my shower length. It is at that moment, I make a promise – not to god, not to Keil, but to myself: no showers longer than 15 minutes. It’s far from ideal, but I’m getting there.
