Take a little time to check which low-flow showerhead will work best in your home, fix leaks around the house, and set a timer so you don’t spend too long in the shower.

Are you sure this showerhead is government-approved?

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—If you’re in the habit of taking a shower with 20 showerheads that turn your bathroom into a veritable human car wash, the fun may soon be over. In an effort to cut down on energy use and water shortages, the Department of Energy (DOE) is fine-tuning the existing showerhead rules such that so-called shower “systems” may soon be a thing of the past. But even if you’re not into mega-showers, small adjustments can make a big difference in terms of water and energy savings for your home.

THE DETAILS: Since 1994, the DOE has required all showerheads to be manufactured with a flow rate of 2.5 gallons per minute (gpm). This saves water and cuts down on the energy used to heat all that water. But the shower industry folk, as industry folk tend to do, found a loophole that allowed them to install shower systems made up of a half dozen or more showerheads, each of which meet the 2.5-gpm standard. But together, they pump out 15 gallons of water per minute. That's 150 gallons during a 10-minute shower!

Last month, the DOE decided to clamp down by essentially saying these systems—not just each showerhead—had to comply with the 2.5-gpm limit. So much for those units that shoot water from walls, roofs, floors, and everywhere else bathroom designers were able to place a showerhead.

WHAT IT MEANS: It may seem intrusive for the government to control a daily ritual as personal as your shower, but its intentions are honorable. Showers account for 17 percent of household water usage and use an average of 30 gallons per household a day. And despite the fact that water always seems to come out of your faucets when you turn them on, 40 U.S. states will experience water shortages within the next four years, according to the nonprofit Alliance for Water Efficiency. Being smarter about your water use, particularly your hot water use, can also save you a bundle in energy costs, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). For example, switching to low-flow hot-water fixtures would save about 300 kilowatt-hours annually, enough to power your television for a year.