After previously ordering the head of the Environmental Protection Agency to drop water regulations on showers in the US, president Trump has now publicly signed an executive order, which he claims will “end the Obama-Biden war on water pressure and make America’s showers great again”.
Shortly before returning to the White House for his second term, Trump’s team described the plans to drop current regulations as one of its early-term priorities.
On Wednesday, Trump signed in the order at the Oval Office, which promises to return shower regulations to their state before regulations changed in the early 1990s, setting what it calls a “simple 2.5-gallons-per-minute standard for showers”.
These standards were set as part of a 1992 energy law. However, President Obama amended this during his time in office, changing the law so that for showers with multiple nozzles, this restriction applied for the whole shower itself, not just each nozzle.
This regulation was reversed during Trump’s first term in 2017, but then changed back during Biden’s time in office. In the latest stage of the regulatory tug-of-war, Trump claims he is “restoring sanity” to the regulations, by reverting them to the 2.5 gallons-per-minute standard once again.
A press release issued by The White House yesterday – titled “UNDOING THE LEFT’S WAR ON WATER PRESSURE” – says that Trump’s order will simplify the definition of the word “showerhead” which, it says: “frees Americans from excessive regulations that turned a basic household item into a bureaucratic nightmare. No longer will showerheads be weak and worthless.”
The statement also alleges that Obama and Biden-era regulations “served a radical green agenda that made life worse for everyday Americans”, and insists that Trump is “restoring shower freedom” for everyday for US citizens.
The executive order also deals with other KBB products, specifically: gas stoves, water heaters, washing machines, and dishwashers. However, it is unclear from the statement what regulations, if any, have been redefined, beyond stating that: “President Trump is slashing red tape and ending Biden’s dumb war on things that work.”
Signing the executive order, Trump told reporters: “You buy a new house, you pay a lot of money, and the developers say ‘you’re not allowed to do anything more’. They used to have restrictors where you could take them out, but now they weld them in.
“You take a shower, or wash your hands, whatever you do – there are dishwashers where no water comes out – In my case I like to take a nice shower, take care of my beautiful hair, but you have to stand in the shower for 15 minutes before it gets wet. Drip, drip, drip – it’s ridiculous.”
Now signed in, the order means that the regulation change will come into effect 30 days after the energy secretary publishes a notice rescinding the current definition.
Trump’s dislike of water regulations has been long-documented throughout his political career. He publicly complained about US water pressure from as early as 2019. In August 2023, for example, he used a keynote speech at a South Carolina GOP dinner to have an extended rant about shower product regulations.
According to reports, Trump told the assembled diners: “You know I have this gorgeous head of hair – when I take a shower, I want water to pour down on me. When you go into these new homes with showers, the water drips down slowly, slowly.”
He continued: “It takes you 10 minutes to wash your hair. You know what you do? You just stay in the shower about 10 times longer than you would have, it’s the same, you probably use more water.”
