The Trump administration is planning to flood out regulators with a new definition for showerheads that will allow the president and other citizens to return to the good old days of high-pressured showers.
The Department of Energy may loosen a decades-old regulation that limits the amount of water that can flow through showerheads, according to a Wednesday proposal. The 1992 regulation limited water flow to 2.5 gallons per minute. That regulation was strengthened under the Obama administration, which closed a loophole that allowed manufacturers to add multiple faucets to the showerhead to increase the pressure.
The Trump administration is considering revoking the Obama administration’s policy to allow each faucet to have 2.5 gallons per minute. Andrew deLaski, executive director of the energy conservation group Appliance Standards Awareness Project, told the Associated Press that the proposed change could allow for much more water to flow.
“You could have 10, 15 gallons per minute powering out of the showerhead — literally probably washing you out of the bathroom,” deLaski said.
DeLaski said the policy change is unnecessary and that it should not be a top priority for the administration. He also said it could be wasteful in parts of the country that have suffered droughts, such as California. He noted that data from the Department of Energy revealed that most consumers buy a showerhead that produces 2 gallons per minute, which is only 80% of the legal capacity.
“Frankly, it’s silly. The country faces serious problems. We’ve got a pandemic [and a] serious, long-term drought throughout much of the West. We’ve got global climate change. Showerheads aren’t one of our problems,” deLaski said. “If the president needs help finding a good shower, we can point him to some great consumer websites that help you identify a good showerhead that provides a dense soak and a good shower.”
President Trump has made his disdain for low water pressure clear in recent months. He said in July that he wanted to go back to the days of a “perfect” shower.
“So showerheads — you take a shower, the water doesn’t come out. You want to wash your hands, the water doesn’t come out. So what do you do? You just stand there longer, or you take a shower longer? Because my hair, I don’t know about you, but it has to be perfect. Perfect,” Trump said.
