I’ve been doing this for about four years, but only recently measured it properly.

The concept is simple: instead of leaving the shower running, I put the shower head in a 10-litre bucket, fill it to a comfortable temperature (including the warm-up water), then turn the shower off. I use a 1-litre jug to pour the water over myself in stages.

My routine:

1 – I use a little water to dampen my hair.
2 – I shampoo, then use about 1 litre to rinse.
3 – Conditioner goes in.
4 – While that sits, I soap the rest of me.
5 – I use the remaining water for a thorough rinse from the top down.

That’s it: a 10-litre bucket bath, with most of the water saved for the final rinse.

What did I save?

I recently tested the flow rate of my eco shower head at around 9.7 L per minute.

My previous typical shower was about five minutes, or around 48.5 litres. The bucket bath uses 10 litres.

That saves about 38.5 litres each time — roughly 79%.

It quickly scales. I shower daily, so that’s around 14,050 litres of water saved a year, reducing the amount of hot water I’m paying to heat and my water bill is finally stable.

Will it work for you?

Check your own flow rate per minute and total shower length first — you might be surprised by what you’re using. If it’s less than 10 litres, please share!

Quick caveat: 10 litres isn’t a limit, it’s just what works for me. You might need 15 or 20 litres. But if your current shower uses 40, 60, 80 or 100+ litres, there could still be a huge saving in both water and cost.

My motivation is this: drought pressure, increasingly dry summers, and water bills creeping up. This method means I can use far less water without feeling like I’m really giving anything up.

I know bucket baths are not a new idea — I’m not claiming to have invented it. I just wanted to share how well it’s worked for me once I found a method and measured the difference.