How much water does a shower actually need?
At home a shower head puts out around twelve litres a minute. On the road the same wash takes one or two. That's not going without — it's a question of technique.
01 August 2026
An ordinary shower at home uses roughly twelve litres a minute. Eight minutes is about a hundred litres — more than most van water tanks hold. For a weekend on a pitch, that simply isn’t an option.
Why so much less is enough on the road
The difference isn’t sacrifice, it’s distribution. At home the water runs while you soap up, think, or warm through. Most of it goes down the drain unused.
On the road you do three things differently:
- Wet, then stop. Your body is wet in a few seconds. After that you need no water until it’s time to rinse.
- A fine jet instead of high volume. A directed jet wets more skin with less water. That is exactly what the nozzles in our systems are built for.
- Catch it and use it twice. What runs into a basin can still wash the dishes.
What it looks like in practice
Two litres is enough for a full shower: about half a litre to get wet, soaping up with the water off, the rest to rinse. Hair takes a little more.
This isn’t a stopgap, it’s a different sequence — after a few days it feels normal. What you notice on your next shower at home is mostly how much of it just runs away.
What it means for your tank
A 20-litre canister then covers eight to ten showers instead of one. That’s the real point: not less clean, just longer on the road.