Those Amsterdammers have gone and done it again. This time they’re robbing us of all the hot water, with the average Amsterdam resident showering with 60.1 litres per day. The rest of us? We get by on 46.2 litres per person each day.
Not only that, but Amsterdammers also bathe more frequently, at 0.99 times per person per day, whereas the national average is 0.82 times a day, according to reports from CBS.
Are residents of the pricey Dutch capital just used to living in excess? Are they trying to scrub off the cigarette-tinged air and pollution of the city? Or do they want to cleanse their souls after everything they’ve seen?
Just how much water are we talking?
With 141 litres of water coming out of the average Amsterdam tap per day — that’s 11 more litres than the rest of the country — what they’re doing with that additional shower water is beyond us.
Perhaps they’re embarking on 30-minute, at-home sauna treatments, with breaks in between.
Okay, that’s an exaggeration. The exact duration of an Amsterdammer’s shower is closer to 7.7 minutes, whereas the rest of the population have an average of 7.4 minutes, reports CBS.
Single showers are lonely… and longer
RTL Nieuws reports that the main reason behind the imbalance in water consumption is because there are more people living alone in Amsterdam, than compared to the rest of the NL.
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Yep, that’s right: water consumption is higher in single households. Maybe they just miss the warm embrace of another human being… so they stay in their comforting, hot showers for longer. Understandable.
Late 2000’s emo music was a plot by the water service providers to make people take long, dramatic, sad showers and drive the water bill up.
— plantagenet murphy (@SarahShandie) November 18, 2022
But this leads to bigger concerns
The problem is that it’s at the cost of the environment and water reserves. The Netherlands, a country known for its flooding and the fact that it’s below sea level, could head into a water crisis.
The already high amounts of Nitrogen in our water will increase, and the water quality will plummet. We’re all doomed!
…Unless, of course, we act now. Experts recommend purchasing a “water-saving shower head” invention, which apparently only 30% of Amsterdammers own, compared to the 39% of people who own one nationally.
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It’s no secret that Amsterdam is expensive. The high price range has basically become part of the city’s mystical and unattainable appeal.
So, if you happen to be living in this place that just snagged the title of Europe’s most expensive city from Zurich, and it’s somehow without roommates, it’s probably safe to say you can afford to invest in a new, environment-friendly shower gadget.
What other solutions can you think of that would reduce Amsterdammers’ shower time? Share your thoughts in the comments below!