The guilty conscience now takes a shower
The other day I was interested in how much water you actually use in the shower. After all, it was suggested last winter that one should be economical with warm water and, in view of the water shortage that may be imminent in the near future, also with cold water. I googled something but was unsatisfactory. Roughly summarized, the results were between 20 and 120 liters. The flow rate per minute also revealed unhelpful bandwidths. So I thought, then you just have to measure it. So next I looked for a flow meter for showers. Mostly I found shower water thermometers, but at some point I also found the desired device. It can even do both: display flow rate and temperature.
I found what I was looking for on the website of a hardware store and also found out that the product can be bought in a Berlin branch. That the advertised price was 7 euros higher than online and I actually get the product at the online price is another story.
Shower water flow meter
I install the flow meter. First of all, everything is terribly leaking. After I distributed the sealing rings more sensibly and also removed a flow limiter, it works the way I want it to.
The next time I take a shower, I’m amazed at how much water rushes through the pipe. In any case, from my point of view it is a challenge to use less than 20 liters. If you turn the water up higher, the thing also makes a not-so-nice whirring noise that keeps you from letting the water pelt down on you unchecked.
Counting shower water flow meter
I’m curious how long this thing works. What is also pending: Let a bucket of water fill up and see whether the part displays reasonably correctly. At least the temperature seems to be right. It is also interesting that the part (allegedly, who knows…) works without a battery, because the power required for the sensors and display is generated by the part itself. So there must be a small turbine or something built in. In any case, the display gets brighter as you turn the water on harder and immediately starts at zero again once you turn the water off even briefly.