Study title

England is projected to face a water supply shortfall of 4 billion litres daily by 2050 due to population growth, water pollution, and increasing climate-driven droughts and flooding. The Environment Act 2021 mandates significant water usage reductions, targeting a decrease to 110 litres per person/day for households and a 15% cut for businesses. Enhancing water efficiency in showers is crucial, given their high water consumption, energy use and associated carbon emissions. Water consumption in 290 showers was covertly monitored for 39 weeks, capturing 86,421 showering events. Increased water pressure was strongly associated with reduced water use - an effect that might be amplified even further by installing timers to inform users of their shower duration.Freshwater availability is under severe pressure(20), worsening with climate change(21,22). England is on the way to suffer from serious water shortages by 2050(23). Also, reducing water demand is needed to achieve net-zero emissions by 2030, committed by the UK water sector(24). Showering is the most (energy and) water-intensive activity in households(25), so nudging users to reduce shower time is an effective intervention leading to energy, water and emissions savings. For instance, a 22% reduction in shower time in households is equivalent to a 5% reduction of the total household energy(26). My PhD proved empirically that using Aguardio, a smart water-saving device that provides real-time feedback, led to a 14% shower reduction in tourism accommodations. Moreover, when persuasive messages were added, shower reduction increased to up to 27%, unveiling the potential to maximise energy and water use efficiency (watch video summary in https://youtu.be/3puOMKnvYeA). My thorough tests have been essential for Aguardio ApS, the Danish start-up behind the technology, to secure £400k private and public investment to redesign and manufacture the new Aguardio market-ready product, available since February...