Anyone who knows me knows that one of the first things I do when checking into a hotel room is this: I check the shower for force. In this day and age of “save the planet,” most hotels have taken the “initiative” and plugged their shower heads with restriction washers. Believe me, it isn’t to save the planet. They do it to save themselves money.
So, I take the plug out. I carry a specialized pair of pliers that makes quick work of the nut which holds the shower head to the spigot. And in so doing, I improve the room for the next guy.
Why?
Simple. Low-flow anything (including stupid low-flow toilets) actually encourage more waste, rather than less, and often (in the case of the toilet) results in more problems, rather than less.
At home, I have done the same thing. And I have done this in every home I have ever owned – at least since the dawn of low-flow-everything. Simply put: I like a strong shower, a toilet that truly flushes, and no restrictions on my choice to either take the longest shower I want, or the shortest. It is up to me.
After all, I am paying for it.
Now, the other money-saving trick employed by hotels and motels and home-builders around the country (indeed, the world) is to also turn down the thermostat on the hot water heater. This is stupid and candidly, dangerous.
Why?
The problem is the near ubiquitous presence of Legionella bacteria in water supplies. At temperatures of 68–122° F, the bacteria thrives and multiplies rapidly. Then, the next time you take a shower and, in so doing, aerosol the contaminants, you’re at risk of breathing in the bacteria. This canlead to a particularly nasty form of atypical pneumonia.
The bacteria’s name (Legionella), the medical name of the symptoms (legionellosis), and the common name of the infection (“Legionnaires’ disease”), are all derived from the first publicly identified outbreak in July of 1976 among attendees of an American Legion convention at a hotel in Philadelphia.
Of the 221 reported cases, 34 people died.
Sadly, and because lower water temperatures encourage rapid growth of the bacteria, homeowners have been told that they can save money by lowering their hot water heater’s temperature. The problem is that a low setting, say, of just above 122° F, it can take hours for all of the Legionella bacteria in a tank to die off. Stupid and dangerous advice.
But above 140° F it dies off within minutes, and above 158° F the bacteria dies almost instantly.
My hot water heaters are set at near-boiling temperatures of around 200° F.
Hot and strong – that’s my mantra.
