Save hundreds on your bills by slashing water use this summer

• On average, a shower uses 10 litres of water a minute.  

• The average Brit showers for 7.5 minutes – that's 75 litres.  

• Switch to a 4-minute shower this summer and save up to £127 on your combined energy and water bill*. 

• Using a hosepipe uses 170 litres of water every ten minutes, equivalent to two bathtubs of water. 

• By switching to a watering can during the summer months, customers can save up to £120 and 45,000 litres of water - that’s the same as 571 baths. 

From shorter showers to greener gardening, we can all save money this summer. The UK’s largest water company is calling on its customers to take on its 4-minute shower challenge, with the simple swap racking up to a combined energy and water bill saving of more than £100* over the course of a year.  

The average Brit spends 7.5-minutes in the shower with a typical energy and water bill totalling more than £270 a year or 27,375 litres of water used annually, based on shower usage alone.  

Andrew Tucker, Thames Water’s water demand manager said: “Reducing your daily water use is a great way to save on household bills – and simple swaps can make a big difference when it comes to your bathroom habits.  

“When looking at daily use, shaving your 7.5-minute shower down to 4-minutes, could save you as a much as £127 a year across both your water and energy bills. You could also reduce your annual water use by around 12,775 litres.”  

Those who prefer to soak in the tub, could also benefit from a big saving by swapping from bath to shower. The average bath uses a whopping 80 litres of water, by opting for a 4-minute shower, customers could half their water use to 40 litres and more than halve their combined bills.  

A daily bath costs over double that of a daily shorter shower* tallying up to more than £300 a year, meaning customers who make the swap, could save more than half on their yearly water and energy bills.  

As the weather heats up across the UK and South East this week, the company is also encouraging customers to use water wisely outside the home. Thames Water customers with outdoor space use up to 50% more water on hot days (temperatures above 25c).  

Andrew Tucker went on to add: “Water belongs to everyone, and we want people to enjoy it, we really do. As temperatures rise, we know many of our customers will be keen to get outside, whether that’s to catch-up on gardening or to entertain the kids.  

“There are small changes that can make a big difference, whether that’s using a watering can in the garden or washing cars with a bucket and sponge. It’s the excessive use that we all need to watch out for. Running a hose, whether into the garden or paddling pool, uses up to 500 litres per 30 minutes of use.”  

Whilst customers save water at home, Thames Water is also working around the clock to find and fix leaks. We carry out more than 1,300 repairs each week – that's one every 7.5 minutes. 

Customers can also see how much water and energy they use with our easy-to-use water saving calculator. 

Thames Water customers with a smart meter, could also get rewarded for saving water at home. From vouchers to charity donations, head to our partner Greenredeem to find out more.