It’s the hot button issue of our time: to pee or not to pee?

In the shower, we mean. Everyone has to wee.

But whether or not it’s okay to take a piss while getting clean is a fiercely debated question that’s broken friendships, torn apart relationships, and made people seriously question their housemate’s personal hygiene.

We see both sides. We get it. There may never be a resolution to this eternal question.


But we now have mathematical evidence to back up the pro-weeing-in-the-shower camp.

MIC reports that peeing in the shower could end up saving the world – and it’s all down to conserving water.



They note that flushing the toilet accounts for around 27% of Americans’ water usage, with each standard toilet using around seven litres per flush (older toilets can use up to 31 litres. Whoa).

The average adult wees around seven times in the space of 24 hours, and if we flush each time we go to the toilet, that adds up to 49 litres of water per day. Which then adds up to more than 17,000 litres of water used just for flushing, per year, per person. Which is quite a bit.

If you pee in the shower, however, you don’t need to flush – massively reducing the amount of water you use for one out of seven of your daily wees.

Do this every day, and you’ll save 2,555 litres of water per year.

And if everyone gets on board the weeing in the shower train, we could genuinely save the world, simply by reducing the amount of water each of us uses on a daily basis. Exciting times.

Oh, and for anyone wailing about how gross it is to urinate into the plughole, let us reassure you: pee – while not sterile – is definitely not toxic. It won’t do anything damaging to your skin as long as you’re in the shower and getting clean anyway.

Just make sure you don’t drift off into a mid-stream daydream. You’ll just cancel out all that water conservation you did by peeing in the shower if you take an hour washing yourself.

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