A survey, using innovative technology, has offered an insight into people's showering habits.

The average shower lasted eight minutes - much longer than previous studies suggested, using almost as much water and energy as the average bath.

The information was compiled from "data loggers" that recorded 2,600 showers by 100 families over a 10-day period.

The survey was carried out by producer Unilever, which wanted to find out how people were using their products.

According to the data, an eight-minute shower used 62 litres of hot water, compared with an average bath's 80 litres.

And, it suggested, that if people were using a power shower - an appliance that adds extra pressure to the water flow - then an eight-minute shower would require twice as much water and energy as a bath.

Haven't ever used the bath in this house or my last one.

I would conclude that the argument that showers use more water than baths is, *drum roll*, bollox.

There's also the option: shower 10 seconds to make yourself wet, then lather, then another few seconds to rinse off.

I believe that's the navy method - at least according to a mate who was a Sonar Techie on Submarines.