State acts to restrict shower, faucet flows

Shower heads and bathroom faucets sold at stores will soon pack a little less punch under restrictions passed by California regulators Wednesday.

The move responds to Gov. Jerry Brown’s order to step up water efficiency amid a fourth year of drought. It follows state rules already adopted to limit the size of lawns at new homes and temper the flush of new toilets.

The latest regulation approved by the California Energy Commission requires shower heads to spray no more than 2 gallons per minute, starting in July, and no more than 1.8 gallons per minute two years later. It’s the strictest cap in the nation, up from the current standard of 2.5 gallons per minute.

“This is a big, big deal,” said Commissioner Andrew McAllister, who led the conservation effort. “The savings are big and the urgency is real.”

The new standards for shower heads are expected to save more than 2.4 billion gallons of water in their first year and 38 billion gallons over 10 years, as the inventory turns over.

Asked whether the reduced flow would compromise the shower experience or result in dirtier Californians, McAllister said probably not.

“I’m not an expert on consumer preference, but I have one of these (efficient shower heads) and it works great,” he said.

Bathroom faucets, meanwhile, will be required to top out at 1.5 gallons per minute by Sept. 1 and 1.2 gallons per minute by next July.

The energy commission had previously passed regulations lowering the current limit of 2.2 gallons per minute for faucets to 1.2 gallons per minute by January. But the agency changed the policy after manufacturers said they couldn’t produce new faucets within that time frame.