The White House is eyeing easing showerhead standards after president Donald Trump complained about his hair. Per a law introduced under George H. W. Bush in 1992 in order to conserve water, showerheads and faucets have a limit producing 2.5 gallons (9.4 litres) per minute. With the advent of showers containing multiple heads the Obama administration decided to toughen the existing regulation and applied the 2.5 gallon limit to the entire shower.
Now the Department of Energy (DOE) has proposed to roll back the limit so that showerheads produce more water. "President Trump promised the American people that he would reduce onerous federal regulations on the American consumer, and this proposed rulemaking on showerheads does just that", said DOE spokesman Shaylyn Hynes.
The initiative was announced days after Donald Trump complained about difficulties in washing his hair.
"You go into a new home, you turn on the faucet; no water comes out", Trump complained. "You turn on the shower - if you're like me, you can't wash your beautiful hair properly. You want to wash your hands, the water doesn't come out. So what do you do? You just stand there longer or you take a shower longer? Because my hair - I don't know about you, but it has to be perfect. Perfect", the president said.
The initiative proposed by the Department of Energy and Trump's comments have already faced criticism from consumer and conservation groups, who said that the existing regulation allows Americans to reduce water bills.
"If the president needs help finding a good shower, we can point him to some great consumer websites that help you identify a good showerhead that provides a dense soak and a good shower. The new multi-nozzle showerheads would not only needlessly waste water, exacerbating shortages caused by drought, but also boost the carbon pollution that has made long-term droughts worse”, said Andrew deLaski, executive director of the energy conservation group Appliance Standards Awareness Project, adding that the DOE’s proposal was "silly".