- The Trump administration is proposing changes to shower regulations to pump more water out of them.
- The proposal comes after Trump repeatedly complained about running out of water from his shower. He said he needs a lot for his hair to be “perfect”.
- Current rules limit a shower to a maximum flow of 2.5 gallons per minute. The new rules would allow pumps to be pumped many times by adding extra nozzles.
- Andrew deLaski, head of one group for the energy-saving group Appliance Standards Awareness Project, said the changes were “stupid.”
- “We have a pandemic, serious long-term drought in much of the West. We have global climate change. Shower heads are not one of our problems.” he said.
- Check out the Business Insider website for more stories.
The Trump administration is moving to change regulations for shower heads so they can spray more water, responding to a prolonged annoyance from President Donald Trump, who says he needs more water to wash his hair.
The Department of Energy on Wednesday proposed versions for regulation that dictate how much water a shower can release per minute.
They would release a rule, introduced to conserve water, that limits showers to a maximum of 2.5 gallons of water per minute.
The proposal comes after Trump’s public outcry over shower water flow.
He said on the White House lawn in July that he was not getting enough water to wash his hair properly.
“So shower heads – you take a shower, the water does not come out. You want to wash your hands, the water does not come out,” he said, per Associated Press.
“So what do you do? You just stand longer than if you take a shower longer? Because my hair – I do not know about you, but it must be perfect. Perfect.”
Existing shower regulations began in 1992, when a rule was introduced that a shower head should release no more than 2.5 gallons (9.5 liters) of water per minute, the AP reported.
The Obama administration has tightened its definition, applying the 2.5 limit to the entire shower instead. The move was probably a reaction to showers with more heads becoming more frequent.
Under Trump’s new plan, the 2.5-gallon limit would apply again for each shower head. A shower with two heads could release 5 gallons per minute, and one with four could release 10.
Andrew deLaski, executive director of Appliance Standards Awareness Project, an energy-saving group, told the AP “you could have 10, 15 gallons per minute out of the shower head, literally probably washing you out of the bathroom.”
He called the proposed changes “stupid.”
“The country has serious problems. We have a pandemic, serious long-term drought in much of the West. We have global climate change. Shower heads are not one of our problems.”
He said water and conservation limits, such as those on shower heads, save consumers about $ 500 a year on energy bills.
Shaylyn Hynes, a spokeswoman for the Department of Energy, told the AP that the change would mean “allowing Americans – not Washington bureaucrats – to choose what kind of shower heads they have in their homes.”
Reuters notes that it is not clear if the proposal will be finalized, and that it could be against opposition in court.
Showers aren’t the only household appliance Trump has had problems with.
President Donald Trump at a rally in Milwaukee in January 2020.
Joshua Lott / Getty Images
He took time during a rally in Milwaukee in January to turn on energy-saving light bulbs, which he said “make you orange”, and “new” dishwashers, which he said mean you have to wash your dishes “10 times” to to clean them.
And he also criticized what he said was weak showers: “I have this beautiful layer of hair. I need a lot of water.”
He said: “We’ll get rid of the restrictors. You’ll have full shower power.”
