Quarter of Households Regularly Share Bath Water
Our skilled team of researchers have once again been busy learning about the UK’s bathroom habits and our latest poll has found that 24% of households admit to sharing bath water on a regular basis.
Our poll surveyed 1,920 UK residents over the age of 18 and asked a range of questions. The poll initially asked, ‘Do you regularly take baths?’ 37% of participants said yes, whereas 28% said they take a bath ‘now and again’ and 35% admitted to only taking showers.
Those who took baths were then asked, ‘Do you ever leave the bath water in for somebody else in your household to use afterwards?’ to which 24% said they did so ‘on a regular basis’, while 29% said that they had done so in the past. 47% claimed to have never shared bath water.
The main reasons for sharing bath water were time saving (44%), saving water (33%) and saving on utility bills (19%). 59% of respondents said that they would only share the bath water if it looked relatively clean, whereas 41% said that they would use it regardless.
Participants who claimed that they had never re-used bath water were asked why they hadn’t done so. 53% said that the idea of sharing bath water was ‘dirty’, while 40% said that they believed they wouldn’t feel clean after using the water.
Our study also found that men were the ones most likely to use the bath water second with 67% of the vote.
Our director Peter Gregg said the following:
“Sharing bath water might seem a bit unpleasant, but it does make sense if you want to save on bills. Baths are a far bigger burden on your bill than a shower due to the volume of water that requires heating. Plus there’s the wait…baths take a while to run and if you’re in a rush to get ready it makes sense to jump in a bath that’s already run, even if the water might seem a bit murky!”
He added, “It’s interesting to note that males are often the person most likely to get in the bath second. Mind you, communal baths following football or rugby spring to mind, so they’re probably not too fussed when it comes to following behind a partner!”