How to Install a Water Efficient Shower Head

Reduce your water consumption and save money and nature’s most important resource by installing a water efficient shower head or a shower flow regulator in your home. The average non efficient shower head uses around 15 to 25 litres of water a minute which means if you shower for five minutes a day, you use about 36,500 litres of water a year for just one person!

Meanwhile, A shower head, say four star rated, uses just 6 or 7 litres a minutes which is 40 percent less water. So in the average family, installing one of these gadgets saves about 14,500 litres of water per household each year. Plus, you can save as much as 47 percent on hot water costs too.

Water is restricted by limiting the amount of water used either by reducing the “hole” that the water flows through or by putting air bubbles within the water droplets. To get you started, strap on a tool belt and follow these easy steps! (No plumbing experience needed!)

You will need a shower flow regulator, two orange inserts, Teflon tape (50 cm length), a spanner and cleaning cloth to start.

Next, use the spanner and turning counter-clockwise, unscrew the shower arm from the wall stub. To avoid scratching your fittings, place a cloth between the spanner and the shower arm.

Remove any existing washers and/or thread (Teflon tape) from the shower arm and wall stub. Then, insert a rubber washer into the connection at the end of the arm, and push it gently into the base.

Insert the brass device with orange insert facing the flat side into the shower arm. (Do not install the device the other way around.) When correctly positioned you should be able to see the mesh inside the regulator devices.

Place the second rubber washer into the shower arm over the flow regulator.

Wrap two or three layers of Teflon tape, in a clockwise direction, on the wall stub.

Screw the shower arm, in a clockwise direction, back on the wall stub, until it is hand tight. Then tighten further with the spanner but don’t over-tighten.