Making an effort not to waste water has been in the environmentalist's handbook of Stating the Bleedin' Obvious for decades now. Really, what's to argue?

But there are ways and means to nudge this eminently sensible message into the collective consciousness – none of which seem to have dawned on Thames Water, the UK's largest water company. Instead, it has chosen to target women who shave their legs as their principal target for concern. Or, so it would seem, judging by the headlines it has managed to generate in some of today's papers.

The print version of the Daily Mail goes with the headline: "Oceans of water wasted by women shaving their legs". Meanwhile, online it has changed it to: "How women waste 50 BILLION litres of water a year shaving their legs in the shower". (No, not each woman, in case you were wondering.) The Daily Telegraph goes with much the same headline, but also throws into the first paragraph that women will "now face criticism from environmentalists".

Er, no, this is all coming from the PR geniuses at Thames Water. Most people I've spoken to – which seems to be supported by the reaction to the story on Twitter and beyond – think honing in on women shaving in the shower is a laughably dumb way to spread the message about water conservation. (Don't some men also shave in the shower, too?!)

As Thames Water's own research shows, most people get the idea now that we should all be taking sensible measures to reduce our water use – if, for no other reason, than it saves us money. As it states in the press release to its story:

Our research proves the majority of people have a 'water conscience', with more than 90% of people saying they would feel guilty about wasting water. We now need to help our customers use even less of it, which is why we have created something a bit different, rather than trotting out the same old water-saving tips.

The "something a bit different" it refers to is an online water usage calculator called WaterWisely. But that has been totally drowned out and largely ignored by the inevitable focus on all those evil women in showers shaving their legs (which, needless to say, gifts news outlets the chance to run the obligatory accompanying picture of a woman tending to her legs in a shower).

I can understand Thames Water's desire not to "trot out" the same old water-saving tips – turn off the tap when brushing teeth, place a water hippo in your cistern, etc – as we've all heard them a million times. One of the problems of environmental messaging is that there's only so many ways you can urge people to be mindful about their resource use without boring them half to death, or sounding preachy, both of which have been repeatedly shown to be a turn-off, or even counter-productive. Which is why it's so baffling that Thames Water has chosen to target women shaving in showers. Why didn't it just go the full hog and suggest women abandon the cultural norm and just grow their leg hair instead?

My own preference would be to see Thames Water (and all the other water companies, for that matter) sort their leaks out first before rushing in to suggest showering tips for women. (I thought it rather telling that the only people quoted on Thames Water's press release about how "a third of UK women leave the shower running while shaving their legs" were two men - Richard Aylard, director of sustainability for Thames Water, and Richard Benyon, the minister for the natural environment and fisheries.)

Why no mention in the press release that Thames Water lost 669.9 million litres of water a DAY – equal to 32% of the total it delivered - through leaks in 2009/10, according to Ofwat (pdf), the water industry regulator?

Sure, the company says it is making big strides in tackling its leaks since receiving a series of fines in the early 2000s, but that is still a colossal quantity of water being wasted which completely dwarfs the consequences of women depilating in the shower.