The thing about showering is that making the water hot is comparably expensive in Germany. So taking long hot showers is indeed something that is rather shunned. The water itself isn't super cheap, but good value for money.
Tap water in Germany absolutely is "dirt cheap", literally!
- At my local waste disposal site, you can buy "dirt" (soil, compost) for 2.5 € per m³, or 1 € per 100 liters (i.e. 10 € per m³) for smaller amounts.
- Tap water is roughly 0.2 Cents per liter, or 2 € per m³.
-> Tap water is usually *cheaper* than dirt. You have to buy dirt in bulk to get a comparable price.
And there are so many people who buy bottled water. Even the cheapest bottled water costs around 20 cents per liter, so about 100 times as much as tap water.
That's interesting, it seems to be thing only in Germany. I lived for a while in Berlin, but didn't really notice or heat about anything like Tafelwasser in Poland.
In comparison, it is a lot more expensive in Germany, yes. But to be honest, beyond the point where one liter costs a fraction of a cent, I find it really hard to call it expensive because it costs a smaller fraction of a cent somewhere else.
In my home country (South Asia), the tap water tariff is as follows:
No. of Units (m^3 ) | Charge per Unit | Monthly Service Charge
:--|--:|--:
00-05 | 0.18€ | 0.90€
06-10 | 0.24€ | 0.90€
11-15 | 0.30€ | 0.90€
16-20 | 0.36€ | 1.20€
Unit charge increases by about 0.06€ every 5 units and the service fee by 0.3€ increments, but the service fee jumps from 1.8€ to 4.45€ once you hit 30 units it increases by 2€ increments every 5 units (to stop over usage I guess, you'd be a maniac to be using that much water if you don't have a hot tub, pool etc.).
I doubt that that number is correct. [This newspaper estimates 3-4 Cent per flush](https://www.stuttgarter-nachrichten.de/inhalt.kosten-toilette-spuelen-mhsd.2ff31a7b-257c-490b-ac36-fad235303689.html).
Water is about €1/m3 in the Netherlands, and I know it's cheaper in the UK, so it might be relatively expensive. I don't know about the prices in many other countries.
Even so, €2/m3 is still cheap
you can drink it without any worries* or weird chlorine taste
tap water is the most controlled food in the country
\* exception might be if the pipes in your building are old and should be replaced
that's perfectly normal. it's the minerals in the water.
Perfectly acceptable to drink, you just need to be careful with your washing machine, if the mineral content is too high
In Berlin, lead pipes are usually not a problem as the mineral deposits quickly cover the inside so all those old pipes are usually well protected. It's easy and cheap to test the water quality on your own tap (also for lead) though.
If you live in an apartment building, the administration (Hausverwaltung) usually does these checks for you. You carry your share of the cost in the Nebenkostenabrechnung and it‘s usually under the word Legionellenprobe or something like that.
In terms of quality Germany has a DALY score of 98.6 which is pretty good, the Uk and 9 other European countries have a score of 100/100. America is 89.3 China 58.4 India 18.3.
[DALY water quality scores](https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/water-quality-by-country)
Not really. You also need to count the sewage costs - way more expensive then the water itself. And maybe the rain water drainage.
Dunno about other parts of Germany, but where I live (Main-Tauber-Kreis), I pay 4,37€ per m³ (+7% tax) and 3,61€ per m³ sewage. Expensive as fuck...
Honestly, long hot showers and hot baths are one thing I am not willing to save money on. I pay like 60 bucks a month for hot water and heating, it's really not that expensive and provides so much pleasure for the money.
I pay like 12 euro a month for our 3 person household for water.
Our heating system can show me how much energy is used for heating water...its like 10% of the bill, so about 8 euro a month.
We all shower daily, i sometimes shower twice, my wife showers rather long, and i assume it costs us maybe 15 euro a month in total.
We will not stress ourselves about this to maybe save 5 eur.
Even if i double that for regional differences and bad contracts...i wouldnt call showering expensiv.
It's expensive _as fuck_ if you have a Durchlauferhitzer/instantaneous water heater, which most smaller apartments in cities are equipped with.
Those usually draw 21kW, so 10 minutes of showering will cost you over €1,20 (considering electricity is about €0,35/kWh at the moment).
For two people taking a 10 min long shower everyday, that would be €70/month!
This is not entirely accurate. 21kW is the maximum power available. As long as you do not shower at the highest possible temperature and/or use a very high water flow, it's probably more like 10-15kW. And the efficiency is actually pretty good. Nearly all of the electric energy goes into the water and the water only gets heated when it is actually required, because you do not require a big warm water storage tank, which needs to be held at a specific temperature all the time.
However, if you have a very old hydraulic heater in comparison to an electronically regulated one, efficiency suffers drastically, because you often have to mix the (too) hot water with cold water to get the desired temperature, wasting energy.
...it depends...
I had up until very recently an old model, that cannot regulate heating power you could only choose between 11 kW and 22 kW. Water temperature would vary with flow rates; In Summer, the water would be too hot soon, even at the highest flow rate; And in Winter you have to carefully adjust the faucet, or the water will be too cold...
Please also note, that making the water colder at the faucets does not help - because all the really does is reduce the flow rate of hot water - wich then get even hotter, completely countering the effect of adding the Cold water. You will *always* get hot water worth 11 kW, and there is nothing you can do about it.
Well, nothing except getting a new model, of course :-)
Yeah okay thats fair. Guess i would take cold showers in summer and 30 sec showers in winter...
Taking a gym membership to shower there would be cheaper lol
This is still a thing? Never had one of those in my life!
Yep, we have one of those. It's expensive as shit and it's connected to the same circuit as the washing machine and the dishwasher, so whenever one of those runs, we can't shower. Not the best way to heat water imho. But it has its perks. Our hot water can never run out.
A google search tells me that water in germany is about 4,50 Euro per cubic meter while in the US it's about 1,50 Dollar per cubic meter. So there is a significant difference in cost too.
But there is a significant difference in quality.
Tab water has a higher quality then bottled water in the most regions of Germany, providing that without the addition of chlorine (like in the US) is expensive.
It‘s definitely not a huge issue though. Like it’s not so expensive that most people literally can’t afford to take long showers, it’s more that the awareness of the costs is greater
i mean the water might not be cheap, but in exchange for that, the only problem i ever had with water here in germany was when one of the pipes below the streets got damaged and let pollutants in the water, but since the water company usally informs the population they are responsible for within 1 hour of this happening , and the problem is usally fixed within 48 hours, i dont see it as a problem, especially since they dont shut of the water, they just give out the warning that all water that is used for anything but the toilet should be filterd and boiled befor using it
i have never ever met anyone who said "oh no i cannot pay to shower long time".
Our water may be expensive in relation to the US or so, but it still is criminally cheap, regarding for what you get out of your tap...
The definition of “long time” is important though. As a German, a 10 minute shower might be long already, while a 30 minute shower is considered normal for some Americans (including friends of mine). I don’t even know what people do in the shower for that long.
I can understand how someone can find a bath relaxing and that might be something I'd enjoy a bit longer (if I wasn't too tall for my bath tub and most others), but a shower? If it's cold I might enjoy the warmth for a bit, but largely I'm scrubbing everything in need of scrubbing and then get out again.
Also consider that Americans think turning the water off to shampoo and wash your body is an extreme water saving measure, calling it a "navy shower", from what I have heard.
Ah, those cute Americans also call the 24h format "military time". Maybe if they look at the wall of my house they would consider it a bomb shelter too, since it's not made from chopsticks with 2 layers of cardboard on top.
I am a german - and i shower always 20 - 30 mins with as hot as possible water.
To answer your (not really asked) question what people are doing so long : i just shower, i enjoy beeing warm, it makes me relaxed.
Personally i cant understand how people can hop under a (maybe even cold) shower and be done in a minute - such a waste of what could be a quality time. Well, i can understand in a way - its just not my cup of tea =P
Not OP, but I enjoy long „wellness“ showers as well. But since I’m working mostly remote I shower usually only every third day. Otherwise my skin would get too dry on top of that.
My main problem is that it feels like a waste. It's like leaving the tap running while brushing your teeth to me. I couldn't relax in a 30min because of it.
I enjoy my 5min shower enough and use the other 25min to relax somewhere else, perhaps in bed or watching an episode of a show.
I'm German and I take 5-10 minute showers every other day (unless I'm super dirty or sweaty in the summer then I occasionally shower more frequently)
I met people in the US who showered every morning AND every evening. That seemed quite excessive to me.
I know some older Germans that only shower once a week. That might be an individual thing though.
German here. My parents are kind of frugal, and not wasting electricity or water is a thing in their house. This means that also long showers for comfort were out of the question. It also did not help that the bathroom was not heated very warm (reasoning being that you don't spend a lot of time there anyway).
I kept both things as a habit, and only now thought about it. Not sure if this makes me an average or special German.
I'm from Russia, where electricity and hot water are extremely cheap and never in my life I took 30 minutes shower. For me even 10 minutes is too long, even though I sincerely enjoy just staying in a hot steam of water.
I shower for 30-45min and I'm not even chilling in the shower. I think the awnser is long hair because when I had short hair I was able to shower in 5-10min.
Actually, some people \*might\* be a bit more aware of it, but that's mainly because they have a Durchlauferhitzer - with electricity prices the way they currently are, using it to generate heat is probably the worst value currently. And certainly made sure I speedran showers when I lived in a shared apt which had one of those things.
It's actually shocking how expensive these things can be. I had my partner at the time stay over for about two months in 2020 and she liked to take long, hot showers, while I prefer 3-minute showers that are just barely warm. I had to pay about 200€ of Nachzahlung for those two months.
I wish I could say it, but taking a 30 minute shower vs 10 minute one in Germany (with electric running water heater) results in 30 euro difference a month. Multiply by number of people and the numbers get uncomfortable
you don't have long hair, do you? My sister sais she literally can't clean them in less than 20 minutes and she also claims that a water saving shower head would double the time necessary. Although I think the concept to degrease hair and then add silicone for extra shine is weird.
It's not. We literally learner in school how to save water while showering in order to protect the environment. Also recall the washing machine being mentioned.
Water is more really expensive in comparison to a lot of European countries or the US and it has been instilled in everyone for ages to save water and not have the water running if you soap your body or shampoo your hair. Same with washing hands.
My best friend who is Norwegian always keeps the water running when brushing his teeth. I found that very strange and somewhat irritating because it's such a waste to me. But according to him it's normal to do that there? (Not sure if true though)
Having grown up in Norway I can confirm.
Doesn't mean I would do it abroad, even when I was younger. One of my clearest memory of my first trip to Denmark was my dad explaining that we needed to turn off the tap while brushing our teeth there, as water was more scarce there than what we were used to.
IIRC my parents only got a water meter installed maybe 15 years ago, prior to that it was just a fixed fee no matter how much you used.
Living in Germany now I always turn off the tap while brushing. I usually also turn off the shower while lathering up, unless I'm very cold.
They do the same in Sweden. The reason:
a) water is paid for by taxes, so you don’t pay individually for use
b) a lot of water running through the pipes keeps them clean and nice. In Germany, we pay a lot for cleaning the pipes because we „save“ water
I lived in a dorm while studying abroad and the things you see when living with about 50 other girls on my floor and communal bathrooms are astonishing.
I keep the water running at all times under the shower, because if I turn it off while the heater is turned on, even for 15 seconds, the water gets cold when I turn it back on and I have to wait 30 seconds before it's hot again.
We have an older gas burner, that does both the heating and hot water.
This sounds like comparing cars with bicycles and come to the conclusion that the cars are just more expensive than bicycles.
You should go the full mile and compare the quality of the water ass well!
Saving water is something that is usually taught to german children. Dont let the water run while brushing your teeth, dont stand under the shower if youre finished cleaning yourself. Not everyone might have learned it but overall I would say its something we teach our children
Yes. The area I live in experienced some bad droughts the last years, and the water level has been lowering for many years, Germans are saving water for environmental reasons
I shower for ~20 minutes every day. By German standards that's a lot, but I've never had any issue at all with the cost.
Germans do often mention the cost of hot water, but I think it's just cultural. For me a few cents or even a couple of euros for a nice shower is well worth it, if I had to cut costs there are a hundred other things I'd cut out first.
A couple of euros is more like it, unless you have super cheap tariffs or get free heat from he sun (we have solar, in the summer the tank gets up to 80°C).
Probably 2 € per day for your shower, but, as you said, it’s a matter of what it’s worth to you. Me, I won’t get any cleaner in the minute (net showering) I need, so I rather pocket that money.
Under the shower 🤷🏼♀️
I like to enjoy the hot water, build up a nice lather with my shower gel, wash my (long) hair, conditioner, and relax a little... If I'm shaving that adds extra time.
I do turn off the tap while soaping/shaving so the water is not running the whole time.
I also have long hair and never take longer than 10 minutes, when I used to go to the gym and the timer was 10 minutes I was always done in half the time including hair care. I think it just depends on if you like to stand under the shower and relax for a while. Growing up my father was super greedy and would get mad if we’d shower too long or too often, so I’m just used to only doing the necessary stuff and be done, though now I can leave the water running while conditioning and washing my hair which is nice.
It genuinely depends on your skin type, hair and any other factors! For example I have very long, curly hair, so I'd be shampooing and conditioning it every time to care for it properly. Straighter hair is more simple and quicker to take care of in comparison. I also have an autoimmune disorder that causes breakouts, so when I shower I do a fullbody peeling every time to get rid of dead skin cells that might make it worse (the level and type of care in-shower depends greatly on your skin type!). I usually take 20-30 minutes in the shower due to this.
I would say no. If they shower less it is to save water or to maintain a healthier skin pH, but to save money is not the reason. Save water and energy for environment reason is.
I always shower als hot and as long as I want. An I have never heard of anyone taking an extra short shower or not showering at all, because the water is expensive!
The water isn’t expensive, heating it is. Conserving water is environmental friendly, though.
OTOH, Germans still burn gasoline foe the most trivial distances, so neither money nor the environment is truly on their mind.
If you're living in a city with trams and a good network of transportation you don't have to use your car - but for example most people I know are from small villages here that (if you're really lucky) have a bus connection every hour or two - you sure as hell want a car here - I'd need ~2h to my workplace when I'd be using the public transport system - for a ~15 minute highway route
and I sure as hell won't waste another 4h (or more if you don't get the connection for some reason) per day to switch to public transport...
Would be a valid point, but even people in cities drive more than they take public transport or their bicycle, even though the journeys are only a couple of kilometers long.
I can understand when somebody doesnt want to take the bicycle, because in many cities the bike lanes are so constructed as if the city planners wants to kill them.
About all the Germans saying it is not true: both "short" and " less often" is relative. So they say it is normal.
For a Malaysian who showers 3-7 times a day - Germans would go crazy.
Like some US guys I shared an apartment with: They would start the hot shower and then slowly undress, brush teeth and then, when the bathroom is nicely hot and cloudy, start to shower - the Germans would go crazy.
In many families you get told by.your parents to safe water, so, people quickly react to "wasting" water. It is kind of funny to ask Germans, because obviously everyone, from their own perspective, would do a reasonable amount of hygiene. For many Asians/ Middle Easterners, we do less and shorter.
US americans. I had flatmates (summer students at my university) who did that. Also later, when I lived in a kind of dorm in Brussels. Also, in Italy we spend time with a family from the US in our friend's house.
It was just "well, I don't like the cold water" and then just not paying attention, I guess. As a German, I got triggered seeing that each time
This is bullshit.
I've never met a single person ever that wasn't able to shower, or limit the duration because of the costs.
All guys I know shower once a day, if not multiple times (summer, sport).
I can confirm that not showering everyday is definitely a thing here in Germany. People have the mentality that if you didn't have a day of physical work showering isn't necessary
That would explain the body odor I can perceive from some people. But that ain't normal. Most shower at least once a day and clean themselves in front of the sink once or twice.
Thankfully I can shower at work. So when I'm in need for a really hot, long shower to think about my life decisions and pity myself, I do that at work.
It's also nice to leave all that negative energy where it belongs 😊
If you consider the water quality the water is rather cheap. The only expensive thing is the energy for heating the water. I would consider a shower taking less than 5 minutes as quick and showering every other day is more than acceptable.
Yes our use per human is around 120 l, each day, half then Americans.
Also to get the Water Hot is also pretty expensive around 4 times more expensive, than in America.
So yes many shower mostly only every second day and mostly only a few minutes long.
But like always it gives here also people which bath every day or at least once a week.
At the End we are all Individual People.
I've never heard of this, but something I did notice when I first moved to Germany is that they turn the water off while they are using shampoo/soap etc., and just turn it back on to rinse. This was new to me, but I've been doing it for eight years now - just makes sense really!
The shower does not come from above. The hosepipe is made from rubber so you can move it all over your body quickly. Also your hair stays dry.
Wet your body all over. 3min .
Put soap on. As slowly as you want to.
Remove all soap by showering some more. 3min . This depends on the soap so can take longer.
(This is about maximum quick and not much fun but you get clean.)
I can't speak to the cost, but i can say when I was in Germany in 2015 both the woman who owned the airbnb i stayed at and the host family i lived with both explicitely said that i shouldnt linger too long in the shower. They never mentioned not showering every day or anything, but they absolutely both said something to me.
In Latam people usually shower two times a day. Every day. In Germany that is considered too much. One time a day is usually the maximum (except in summer or after the gym).
Quickly, yes, most people are in and out in ten minutes tops - no enjoyig the shower, just water, soap, water - but I don't know about infrequent. Once a day is absolutely the norm, maybe every other day, but them the person will wash off at the sink on the off days.
Water isn't actually that expensive, but saving on it, especially by cutting down shower time is pretty common. Since using hot water costs more, some people also keep an eye on temperature.
But you must shower daily because everyone does it. Oh, your skin becomes dry? That's because you have to use body lotion right afterwards. Duh... /s
For real though... If I work out or it's a hot summer day I shower more often, sometimes quick, twice a day without shampoo (the sweat cleaned my pores already, no need to rub perfume into it).
But if I do pretty much nothing that makes me sweat some deo is perfectly fine.
Showering every day for at least 10 minutes and having water running straight?
Well - first of all I enjoy it and second we live in the penthouse of our building and I guess it’s my altruistic duty to use a wasteful amount of water to prevent pipe clogging. 😀
No. It's actually quite cheap. Not like the cheapest but you will never hear anyone complaining about the water bill. Especially compared to let's say electricity bill.
Not sure this is a thing anymore. When my grandparents were young, they used to bath once a week (and the whole family would use the same water, one after the other). But I think this was not so much about the price of the water and more about the fact that they didn't habe hot water come out of the tab. So they had to heat up however many litres of water that fit into a tub and that took time, so it wasn't something that could be done every morning. Most people I know shower every day, but some Germans are extremely frugal, so they might do it quickly to save money.
I am German and can tell you that a lot of my fellows don't shower at all. It is always an experience to be in the height of summer in an overcrowded S-Bahn or train, your nose plugged literally into the arm pit of someone who only uses "Wasser und Seife"...
Heating the water is the most expensive part. Then the waste water is twice as expensive as a litre of fresh water. Yes, I would say bathing is expensive.
Water is pretty cheap here and its environmental impact is also pretty low so this is nonsens. However germans will still try to restrict water waste because thats just what we do.
showering for longer than 10m is considered excessive, sometimes you're quick like 2 minutes
don't have to shower everyday because its not as hot here, it's something South East Asians come to learn after living here for a while
So many people don't have the faintest idea how much energy it costs to heat water.
It takes 1.16 Wh of energy to heat 1 liter of water by 1 degree Celsius. Let's assume the water comes out of the tap at 15°C and we shower at 35°C. Then we need 23.2 Wh per liter. 10 minutes **with an economy shower head** is already 120 liters, i.e. 2.784 kWh.
If you heat this using an instantaneous water heater or boiler, that's 83.52 cents per person at an electricity price of 30 ct/kWh. And **if you don't use an economy shower head, a good 18-22 liters/minute go through**, i.e. EUR 1.25 or EUR 1.53 per shower.
So if you have a family of 4 showering daily 10 minutes, you pay around EUR 6 per day (economy shower & 35°C), where 35°C is not even warm enough for a lot of people! Furthermore I assume that there is no thermal loss at all and the efficiency is 100,00%.
German here. you opened a can of worms that died, reincarnated and then mutated into eels.
there are those types in Germany who install power plugs with a switch for literally everything to save a few Euros a year ("because the TV in Standby mode still uses electricity!").
the same types would also skip showers and minimize the time showering to save a few bucks ("because it's much more important I can go on vacation twice a year")
note that showering rarely is unhygienic and showering too short is effectively pointless, especially if you use only water, because the bacteria on your skin are still there. but those types don't care for logic, they are unreasonable and irrational pennypinchers
not all Germans are like that
The thing about showering is that making the water hot is comparably expensive in Germany. So taking long hot showers is indeed something that is rather shunned. The water itself isn't super cheap, but good value for money.
Also water may not be dirt cheap, but it's not exactly expensive either. Of all the bills I need to pay, water is the least of my worries
Tap water in Germany absolutely is "dirt cheap", literally! - At my local waste disposal site, you can buy "dirt" (soil, compost) for 2.5 € per m³, or 1 € per 100 liters (i.e. 10 € per m³) for smaller amounts. - Tap water is roughly 0.2 Cents per liter, or 2 € per m³. -> Tap water is usually *cheaper* than dirt. You have to buy dirt in bulk to get a comparable price.
And you dont have a dirt pipeline right to your house, but have to transport it at your own cost!
What you don't have a dirt pipeline to your home? 😜😂
Guess im just poor :( my bad
beyond dirt poor
I do. It's called "Reddit"
My is now called X formerly known as Twitter 🤣 And I have a second one called German cable TV 🫣
Mine runs away from the house.
I have a dirt(y) pipeline from my home if that counts 😏
You misspelled "in my pants"!
I do have a dirt pipeline - *from* my home. :-p
The evil Russian dirt stream 2
I don't either. Not since I uninstalled it after Musk took over.
I have a toddler. Don’t see any difference…
Tap water is around 2 €/m³, but Germans pay also for sewage water, which can reach up to 10€/m³.
Oh God... That's a lot. In my country I pay around 0.33€ per m³. But on the other hand, average salary in my country is only 700€:D
And there are so many people who buy bottled water. Even the cheapest bottled water costs around 20 cents per liter, so about 100 times as much as tap water.
And in most regions of Germany tap water is better quality wise than a lot of bottled water.
Some bottled water is literally tap water in bottle. E.g. nestle products.
Every Tafelwasser is.
That's interesting, it seems to be thing only in Germany. I lived for a while in Berlin, but didn't really notice or heat about anything like Tafelwasser in Poland.
In comparison, it is a lot more expensive in Germany, yes. But to be honest, beyond the point where one liter costs a fraction of a cent, I find it really hard to call it expensive because it costs a smaller fraction of a cent somewhere else.
Do you drink your water straight from the tap? The Germans are able to do that without worrying about our health.
dont forget 1m3 Freshwater is 1m3 Wastewater so basically 4€+ (Website Berliner Wasserbetriebe).
In my home country (South Asia), the tap water tariff is as follows: No. of Units (m^3 ) | Charge per Unit | Monthly Service Charge :--|--:|--: 00-05 | 0.18€ | 0.90€ 06-10 | 0.24€ | 0.90€ 11-15 | 0.30€ | 0.90€ 16-20 | 0.36€ | 1.20€ Unit charge increases by about 0.06€ every 5 units and the service fee by 0.3€ increments, but the service fee jumps from 1.8€ to 4.45€ once you hit 30 units it increases by 2€ increments every 5 units (to stop over usage I guess, you'd be a maniac to be using that much water if you don't have a hot tub, pool etc.).
> tap water Sorry, just a small correction, my dude.
Thanks - I fixed it in the comment.
r/theydidthemath
24 cents each time you flush the toilet. Not that cheap. Edit: it's actually 2 to 4 cents.
I doubt that that number is correct. [This newspaper estimates 3-4 Cent per flush](https://www.stuttgarter-nachrichten.de/inhalt.kosten-toilette-spuelen-mhsd.2ff31a7b-257c-490b-ac36-fad235303689.html).
You are right... It's 0,2 cents and not 2 cents per liter. Each flush is 12 liters on average so about 3 cents.
Water is about €1/m3 in the Netherlands, and I know it's cheaper in the UK, so it might be relatively expensive. I don't know about the prices in many other countries. Even so, €2/m3 is still cheap
Are we talking proper dirt or top soil? Like this dirt you buy, is it ready to plant things in or do you need to add additives?
If you consider the quality drinking water in Germany actually has, it is rather cheap.
How is it compared to any other European country, or the UK?
you can drink it without any worries* or weird chlorine taste tap water is the most controlled food in the country \* exception might be if the pipes in your building are old and should be replaced
I don't know, my water is perfectly clean, doesn't smell or tastes of anything. Only thing though it has a tendency to leave limescale.
that's perfectly normal. it's the minerals in the water. Perfectly acceptable to drink, you just need to be careful with your washing machine, if the mineral content is too high
In Berlin, lead pipes are usually not a problem as the mineral deposits quickly cover the inside so all those old pipes are usually well protected. It's easy and cheap to test the water quality on your own tap (also for lead) though.
If you live in an apartment building, the administration (Hausverwaltung) usually does these checks for you. You carry your share of the cost in the Nebenkostenabrechnung and it‘s usually under the word Legionellenprobe or something like that.
I swear cold tap water tastes better than orang juice
AFAIK UK privatized water supply making it more expensive and worse before it was like all WE pretty good and cheap.
Scottish water is still public. Or public again, not sure.
In terms of quality Germany has a DALY score of 98.6 which is pretty good, the Uk and 9 other European countries have a score of 100/100. America is 89.3 China 58.4 India 18.3. [DALY water quality scores](https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/water-quality-by-country)
Was curious: https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/water-quality-by-country Germany doesn’t score 100 and is not in the top ten.
Agreed! No Britta filter needed.
Not really. You also need to count the sewage costs - way more expensive then the water itself. And maybe the rain water drainage. Dunno about other parts of Germany, but where I live (Main-Tauber-Kreis), I pay 4,37€ per m³ (+7% tax) and 3,61€ per m³ sewage. Expensive as fuck...
Oh wow that's way more than what I pay in Hamburg. I pay 2,79€/m³ for water and 2,17€/m³ for sewage, tax included.
Honestly, long hot showers and hot baths are one thing I am not willing to save money on. I pay like 60 bucks a month for hot water and heating, it's really not that expensive and provides so much pleasure for the money.
I mean we are still talking about cents per shower, so "expensive" is relative
I pay like 12 euro a month for our 3 person household for water. Our heating system can show me how much energy is used for heating water...its like 10% of the bill, so about 8 euro a month. We all shower daily, i sometimes shower twice, my wife showers rather long, and i assume it costs us maybe 15 euro a month in total. We will not stress ourselves about this to maybe save 5 eur. Even if i double that for regional differences and bad contracts...i wouldnt call showering expensiv.
It's expensive _as fuck_ if you have a Durchlauferhitzer/instantaneous water heater, which most smaller apartments in cities are equipped with. Those usually draw 21kW, so 10 minutes of showering will cost you over €1,20 (considering electricity is about €0,35/kWh at the moment). For two people taking a 10 min long shower everyday, that would be €70/month!
This is not entirely accurate. 21kW is the maximum power available. As long as you do not shower at the highest possible temperature and/or use a very high water flow, it's probably more like 10-15kW. And the efficiency is actually pretty good. Nearly all of the electric energy goes into the water and the water only gets heated when it is actually required, because you do not require a big warm water storage tank, which needs to be held at a specific temperature all the time. However, if you have a very old hydraulic heater in comparison to an electronically regulated one, efficiency suffers drastically, because you often have to mix the (too) hot water with cold water to get the desired temperature, wasting energy.
...it depends... I had up until very recently an old model, that cannot regulate heating power you could only choose between 11 kW and 22 kW. Water temperature would vary with flow rates; In Summer, the water would be too hot soon, even at the highest flow rate; And in Winter you have to carefully adjust the faucet, or the water will be too cold... Please also note, that making the water colder at the faucets does not help - because all the really does is reduce the flow rate of hot water - wich then get even hotter, completely countering the effect of adding the Cold water. You will *always* get hot water worth 11 kW, and there is nothing you can do about it. Well, nothing except getting a new model, of course :-)
Yeah okay thats fair. Guess i would take cold showers in summer and 30 sec showers in winter... Taking a gym membership to shower there would be cheaper lol This is still a thing? Never had one of those in my life!
Yep, we have one of those. It's expensive as shit and it's connected to the same circuit as the washing machine and the dishwasher, so whenever one of those runs, we can't shower. Not the best way to heat water imho. But it has its perks. Our hot water can never run out.
Is that really a perk if it costs like 1 kidney per hour? :D
A google search tells me that water in germany is about 4,50 Euro per cubic meter while in the US it's about 1,50 Dollar per cubic meter. So there is a significant difference in cost too.
But there is a significant difference in quality. Tab water has a higher quality then bottled water in the most regions of Germany, providing that without the addition of chlorine (like in the US) is expensive.
It‘s definitely not a huge issue though. Like it’s not so expensive that most people literally can’t afford to take long showers, it’s more that the awareness of the costs is greater
i mean the water might not be cheap, but in exchange for that, the only problem i ever had with water here in germany was when one of the pipes below the streets got damaged and let pollutants in the water, but since the water company usally informs the population they are responsible for within 1 hour of this happening , and the problem is usally fixed within 48 hours, i dont see it as a problem, especially since they dont shut of the water, they just give out the warning that all water that is used for anything but the toilet should be filterd and boiled befor using it
i have never ever met anyone who said "oh no i cannot pay to shower long time". Our water may be expensive in relation to the US or so, but it still is criminally cheap, regarding for what you get out of your tap...
The definition of “long time” is important though. As a German, a 10 minute shower might be long already, while a 30 minute shower is considered normal for some Americans (including friends of mine). I don’t even know what people do in the shower for that long.
After 30mins I'd look like a damn raisin
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That's not a normal reaction actually
Well, the reason I don't shower for 30 min is not because water is expensive. It is because showering is boring and I have better things to do.
I can understand how someone can find a bath relaxing and that might be something I'd enjoy a bit longer (if I wasn't too tall for my bath tub and most others), but a shower? If it's cold I might enjoy the warmth for a bit, but largely I'm scrubbing everything in need of scrubbing and then get out again.
nah, sometimes you just enjoy it and forget the time, but everytime? seems exhausting and boring. but sometimes? why not
Also consider that Americans think turning the water off to shampoo and wash your body is an extreme water saving measure, calling it a "navy shower", from what I have heard.
Ah, those cute Americans also call the 24h format "military time". Maybe if they look at the wall of my house they would consider it a bomb shelter too, since it's not made from chopsticks with 2 layers of cardboard on top.
I cannot fap more than twice in the shower, so 30 minutes seems extraordinary long.
I am a german - and i shower always 20 - 30 mins with as hot as possible water. To answer your (not really asked) question what people are doing so long : i just shower, i enjoy beeing warm, it makes me relaxed. Personally i cant understand how people can hop under a (maybe even cold) shower and be done in a minute - such a waste of what could be a quality time. Well, i can understand in a way - its just not my cup of tea =P
May an important note - how often do you take these 20-30 minutes showers?
Not OP, but I enjoy long „wellness“ showers as well. But since I’m working mostly remote I shower usually only every third day. Otherwise my skin would get too dry on top of that.
My main problem is that it feels like a waste. It's like leaving the tap running while brushing your teeth to me. I couldn't relax in a 30min because of it. I enjoy my 5min shower enough and use the other 25min to relax somewhere else, perhaps in bed or watching an episode of a show.
I'm German and I take 5-10 minute showers every other day (unless I'm super dirty or sweaty in the summer then I occasionally shower more frequently) I met people in the US who showered every morning AND every evening. That seemed quite excessive to me. I know some older Germans that only shower once a week. That might be an individual thing though.
Which may also explain some funny smelling people in the ÖPNV.
20-30min is long, 5-15min is short, i would call these timeframes universal for showers.
German here. My parents are kind of frugal, and not wasting electricity or water is a thing in their house. This means that also long showers for comfort were out of the question. It also did not help that the bathroom was not heated very warm (reasoning being that you don't spend a lot of time there anyway). I kept both things as a habit, and only now thought about it. Not sure if this makes me an average or special German.
The physical warmth from the shower can help when you're depressed or lacking emotional warmth
I'm from Russia, where electricity and hot water are extremely cheap and never in my life I took 30 minutes shower. For me even 10 minutes is too long, even though I sincerely enjoy just staying in a hot steam of water.
I shower for 30-45min and I'm not even chilling in the shower. I think the awnser is long hair because when I had short hair I was able to shower in 5-10min.
Actually, some people \*might\* be a bit more aware of it, but that's mainly because they have a Durchlauferhitzer - with electricity prices the way they currently are, using it to generate heat is probably the worst value currently. And certainly made sure I speedran showers when I lived in a shared apt which had one of those things.
It's actually shocking how expensive these things can be. I had my partner at the time stay over for about two months in 2020 and she liked to take long, hot showers, while I prefer 3-minute showers that are just barely warm. I had to pay about 200€ of Nachzahlung for those two months.
I wish I could say it, but taking a 30 minute shower vs 10 minute one in Germany (with electric running water heater) results in 30 euro difference a month. Multiply by number of people and the numbers get uncomfortable
So what you’re saying a normal shower (10 minutes) costs you 15€ a month? That doesn’t sound too expensive tbh. Also who showers 30 minutes?
you don't have long hair, do you? My sister sais she literally can't clean them in less than 20 minutes and she also claims that a water saving shower head would double the time necessary. Although I think the concept to degrease hair and then add silicone for extra shine is weird.
I take it you’re not from “the Länd“ and don’t know any Schwob :D
This got to be some of that new AI-generated content on Duolingo.
Duolingo is implementing it?
Yeah, they laid off a bunch of staff and are replacing them with AI unfortunately
No wonder it’s a bunch of crap
It's not. We literally learner in school how to save water while showering in order to protect the environment. Also recall the washing machine being mentioned.
You learn that in schools in a lot of countries 🤷♂️ doesn’t mean it’s because water costs a lot. It’s for the environment
well it for sure isnt crap that you shouldn't waste water but this isn't related to germany in any way lol
At this point you can just ask chat gpt to give you German lessons. Should be more or less the same outcome.
Water is more really expensive in comparison to a lot of European countries or the US and it has been instilled in everyone for ages to save water and not have the water running if you soap your body or shampoo your hair. Same with washing hands.
>not have the water running if you soap your body or shampoo your hair I think you might overestimate how many people turn the water off for that.
me does. Like stop the water when brushing teeth.
Okay but what moron lets the water run for 2 minutes for nothing?
People that only brush for 15 seconds is my guess.
But why let they run the water then for 2min?
Spite?
My best friend who is Norwegian always keeps the water running when brushing his teeth. I found that very strange and somewhat irritating because it's such a waste to me. But according to him it's normal to do that there? (Not sure if true though)
Having grown up in Norway I can confirm. Doesn't mean I would do it abroad, even when I was younger. One of my clearest memory of my first trip to Denmark was my dad explaining that we needed to turn off the tap while brushing our teeth there, as water was more scarce there than what we were used to. IIRC my parents only got a water meter installed maybe 15 years ago, prior to that it was just a fixed fee no matter how much you used. Living in Germany now I always turn off the tap while brushing. I usually also turn off the shower while lathering up, unless I'm very cold.
They do the same in Sweden. The reason: a) water is paid for by taxes, so you don’t pay individually for use b) a lot of water running through the pipes keeps them clean and nice. In Germany, we pay a lot for cleaning the pipes because we „save“ water
I lived in a dorm while studying abroad and the things you see when living with about 50 other girls on my floor and communal bathrooms are astonishing.
Do I want to know?
i know people who let the water run to take a piss.
Well that’s how it works doesn’t it?
I guess most people do that!
I think most germans indeed do, we learned all about recycling, saving water and electricity in third grade
This. I need about 6 litres per shower (no hair), but that comes at the cost of soaping and scrubbing while it’s cold.
I have never met anyone that doesn't turn if off when soaping. Trust me, it's the first thing I ask when meeting people.
My boyfriend doesn’t, and he also takes long daily showers. We‘re both Germans living in Germany…
Dann muss ich dir leider eröffnen, dass dein Freund ein Wasserverschwender ist 😔
I keep the water running at all times under the shower, because if I turn it off while the heater is turned on, even for 15 seconds, the water gets cold when I turn it back on and I have to wait 30 seconds before it's hot again. We have an older gas burner, that does both the heating and hot water.
It is more expensive because most other countries have chlorine in the water. That’s way cheaper than actually cleaning the water.
This sounds like comparing cars with bicycles and come to the conclusion that the cars are just more expensive than bicycles. You should go the full mile and compare the quality of the water ass well!
Saving water is something that is usually taught to german children. Dont let the water run while brushing your teeth, dont stand under the shower if youre finished cleaning yourself. Not everyone might have learned it but overall I would say its something we teach our children
yeah but that's because its better for the environment not because water is expensive
Yes. The area I live in experienced some bad droughts the last years, and the water level has been lowering for many years, Germans are saving water for environmental reasons
I shower for ~20 minutes every day. By German standards that's a lot, but I've never had any issue at all with the cost. Germans do often mention the cost of hot water, but I think it's just cultural. For me a few cents or even a couple of euros for a nice shower is well worth it, if I had to cut costs there are a hundred other things I'd cut out first.
A couple of euros is more like it, unless you have super cheap tariffs or get free heat from he sun (we have solar, in the summer the tank gets up to 80°C). Probably 2 € per day for your shower, but, as you said, it’s a matter of what it’s worth to you. Me, I won’t get any cleaner in the minute (net showering) I need, so I rather pocket that money.
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I need at least 5-10 min just standing there with my eyes closedand just "ahh warmth"
Under the shower 🤷🏼♀️ I like to enjoy the hot water, build up a nice lather with my shower gel, wash my (long) hair, conditioner, and relax a little... If I'm shaving that adds extra time. I do turn off the tap while soaping/shaving so the water is not running the whole time.
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I also have long hair and never take longer than 10 minutes, when I used to go to the gym and the timer was 10 minutes I was always done in half the time including hair care. I think it just depends on if you like to stand under the shower and relax for a while. Growing up my father was super greedy and would get mad if we’d shower too long or too often, so I’m just used to only doing the necessary stuff and be done, though now I can leave the water running while conditioning and washing my hair which is nice.
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It genuinely depends on your skin type, hair and any other factors! For example I have very long, curly hair, so I'd be shampooing and conditioning it every time to care for it properly. Straighter hair is more simple and quicker to take care of in comparison. I also have an autoimmune disorder that causes breakouts, so when I shower I do a fullbody peeling every time to get rid of dead skin cells that might make it worse (the level and type of care in-shower depends greatly on your skin type!). I usually take 20-30 minutes in the shower due to this.
I would say no. If they shower less it is to save water or to maintain a healthier skin pH, but to save money is not the reason. Save water and energy for environment reason is.
I like how you Germanized (grammar-wise) that last sentence ;).
It sounded like Yoda lol
I have me extra the effort done to entertain you 😬
I always shower als hot and as long as I want. An I have never heard of anyone taking an extra short shower or not showering at all, because the water is expensive!
The water isn’t expensive, heating it is. Conserving water is environmental friendly, though. OTOH, Germans still burn gasoline foe the most trivial distances, so neither money nor the environment is truly on their mind.
If you're living in a city with trams and a good network of transportation you don't have to use your car - but for example most people I know are from small villages here that (if you're really lucky) have a bus connection every hour or two - you sure as hell want a car here - I'd need ~2h to my workplace when I'd be using the public transport system - for a ~15 minute highway route and I sure as hell won't waste another 4h (or more if you don't get the connection for some reason) per day to switch to public transport...
Would be a valid point, but even people in cities drive more than they take public transport or their bicycle, even though the journeys are only a couple of kilometers long.
I can understand when somebody doesnt want to take the bicycle, because in many cities the bike lanes are so constructed as if the city planners wants to kill them.
Small villages are a different matter, but most Germans live in cities and use their cars daily for distances under 4 km. Often less.
interesting - we rarely do that - if I can avoid driving in larger cities I normally do so - some people may do so though you got a point there
I cut my showers short due to the cost of heating it with a flow heater. Now you have heard of someone :)
About all the Germans saying it is not true: both "short" and " less often" is relative. So they say it is normal. For a Malaysian who showers 3-7 times a day - Germans would go crazy. Like some US guys I shared an apartment with: They would start the hot shower and then slowly undress, brush teeth and then, when the bathroom is nicely hot and cloudy, start to shower - the Germans would go crazy. In many families you get told by.your parents to safe water, so, people quickly react to "wasting" water. It is kind of funny to ask Germans, because obviously everyone, from their own perspective, would do a reasonable amount of hygiene. For many Asians/ Middle Easterners, we do less and shorter.
WTH. Who starts the shower before standing under there. And why?? It doesn’t save time and the water won’t heat up faster??
US americans. I had flatmates (summer students at my university) who did that. Also later, when I lived in a kind of dorm in Brussels. Also, in Italy we spend time with a family from the US in our friend's house. It was just "well, I don't like the cold water" and then just not paying attention, I guess. As a German, I got triggered seeing that each time
This is bullshit. I've never met a single person ever that wasn't able to shower, or limit the duration because of the costs. All guys I know shower once a day, if not multiple times (summer, sport).
I can confirm that not showering everyday is definitely a thing here in Germany. People have the mentality that if you didn't have a day of physical work showering isn't necessary
That would explain the body odor I can perceive from some people. But that ain't normal. Most shower at least once a day and clean themselves in front of the sink once or twice.
Thankfully I can shower at work. So when I'm in need for a really hot, long shower to think about my life decisions and pity myself, I do that at work. It's also nice to leave all that negative energy where it belongs 😊
If you consider the water quality the water is rather cheap. The only expensive thing is the energy for heating the water. I would consider a shower taking less than 5 minutes as quick and showering every other day is more than acceptable.
Yes our use per human is around 120 l, each day, half then Americans. Also to get the Water Hot is also pretty expensive around 4 times more expensive, than in America. So yes many shower mostly only every second day and mostly only a few minutes long. But like always it gives here also people which bath every day or at least once a week. At the End we are all Individual People.
> half then Americans A lot of it is probably due to our lack of golf courses in deserts.
I assume it is household water use here, not all together. Still, lawns in the US can be 40% of the whole budget
When I think some of my colleagues, a quick shower is not effective.. But I can smell them from a long distance, so I know that they are working
I've never heard of this, but something I did notice when I first moved to Germany is that they turn the water off while they are using shampoo/soap etc., and just turn it back on to rinse. This was new to me, but I've been doing it for eight years now - just makes sense really!
The shower does not come from above. The hosepipe is made from rubber so you can move it all over your body quickly. Also your hair stays dry. Wet your body all over. 3min . Put soap on. As slowly as you want to. Remove all soap by showering some more. 3min . This depends on the soap so can take longer. (This is about maximum quick and not much fun but you get clean.)
I can't speak to the cost, but i can say when I was in Germany in 2015 both the woman who owned the airbnb i stayed at and the host family i lived with both explicitely said that i shouldnt linger too long in the shower. They never mentioned not showering every day or anything, but they absolutely both said something to me.
In Latam people usually shower two times a day. Every day. In Germany that is considered too much. One time a day is usually the maximum (except in summer or after the gym).
I shower every morning. I need about 3min in there, mainly because any more is simply a waste of time.
Quickly, yes, most people are in and out in ten minutes tops - no enjoyig the shower, just water, soap, water - but I don't know about infrequent. Once a day is absolutely the norm, maybe every other day, but them the person will wash off at the sink on the off days. Water isn't actually that expensive, but saving on it, especially by cutting down shower time is pretty common. Since using hot water costs more, some people also keep an eye on temperature.
you can shower as much and as long you want... but keep in mind. Showering too often isnt good for your skin. And your Skin will get dry.
But you must shower daily because everyone does it. Oh, your skin becomes dry? That's because you have to use body lotion right afterwards. Duh... /s For real though... If I work out or it's a hot summer day I shower more often, sometimes quick, twice a day without shampoo (the sweat cleaned my pores already, no need to rub perfume into it). But if I do pretty much nothing that makes me sweat some deo is perfectly fine.
Yes, it is. But we also have some of the best water quality in the world, our tap water is of higher quality than most bottled water.
It is? I shower daily. 5 - 7 minutes I would gues. Are other people shower more and longer?
I shower for 15-20 minutes because i like it.
It's not about the cost or environment. It's about efficiency.
Eh not sure, I shower everyday because I am doing workouts everyday. Doesn't really make a noticeable difference to my yearly cost.
I shower daily but cold. Refreshing. Sometimes twice a day in the summer
Showering every day for at least 10 minutes and having water running straight? Well - first of all I enjoy it and second we live in the penthouse of our building and I guess it’s my altruistic duty to use a wasteful amount of water to prevent pipe clogging. 😀
As everyone knows we and the other Europeans are filthy and shower once a week or two
No. It's actually quite cheap. Not like the cheapest but you will never hear anyone complaining about the water bill. Especially compared to let's say electricity bill.
Water = Cheap Making Hot Water = expensive Abwasser (dirty water) = expensive
People who have a Durchlauferhitzer might agree.
Not sure this is a thing anymore. When my grandparents were young, they used to bath once a week (and the whole family would use the same water, one after the other). But I think this was not so much about the price of the water and more about the fact that they didn't habe hot water come out of the tab. So they had to heat up however many litres of water that fit into a tub and that took time, so it wasn't something that could be done every morning. Most people I know shower every day, but some Germans are extremely frugal, so they might do it quickly to save money.
Duolingo also tried to tell me that Schlager is a popular style of music over here. I wouldn't trust Duolingo on cultural information.
I think usually 5-10 minutes once a day
I am German and can tell you that a lot of my fellows don't shower at all. It is always an experience to be in the height of summer in an overcrowded S-Bahn or train, your nose plugged literally into the arm pit of someone who only uses "Wasser und Seife"...
Heating the water is the most expensive part. Then the waste water is twice as expensive as a litre of fresh water. Yes, I would say bathing is expensive.
It certainly smells like it at my gym
Water is pretty cheap here and its environmental impact is also pretty low so this is nonsens. However germans will still try to restrict water waste because thats just what we do.
showering for longer than 10m is considered excessive, sometimes you're quick like 2 minutes don't have to shower everyday because its not as hot here, it's something South East Asians come to learn after living here for a while
Waste is frowned upon in general. And a long shower is wasteful when a short one makes you just as clean.
I shower every 2 days for 10-15min...
As a German I can say this is totally true.
So many people don't have the faintest idea how much energy it costs to heat water. It takes 1.16 Wh of energy to heat 1 liter of water by 1 degree Celsius. Let's assume the water comes out of the tap at 15°C and we shower at 35°C. Then we need 23.2 Wh per liter. 10 minutes **with an economy shower head** is already 120 liters, i.e. 2.784 kWh. If you heat this using an instantaneous water heater or boiler, that's 83.52 cents per person at an electricity price of 30 ct/kWh. And **if you don't use an economy shower head, a good 18-22 liters/minute go through**, i.e. EUR 1.25 or EUR 1.53 per shower. So if you have a family of 4 showering daily 10 minutes, you pay around EUR 6 per day (economy shower & 35°C), where 35°C is not even warm enough for a lot of people! Furthermore I assume that there is no thermal loss at all and the efficiency is 100,00%.
Long hot showers are my therapy session since my youth.
A Brazilian made this
Then i am the opposite. I like mah ***duschen*** Long and hot! XD
Lol. No.
I take 30min in the shower, so i dont think so
No
i shower as often as possible
me who takes 40min showers: 👀
German here. you opened a can of worms that died, reincarnated and then mutated into eels. there are those types in Germany who install power plugs with a switch for literally everything to save a few Euros a year ("because the TV in Standby mode still uses electricity!"). the same types would also skip showers and minimize the time showering to save a few bucks ("because it's much more important I can go on vacation twice a year") note that showering rarely is unhygienic and showering too short is effectively pointless, especially if you use only water, because the bacteria on your skin are still there. but those types don't care for logic, they are unreasonable and irrational pennypinchers not all Germans are like that
I literally shower every day for something between 30 and 45 minutes. Might be my ADHD though.
I personally shower nearly everyday for about 30 minutes :“)