Psycho anniversary film highlights UK bad shower habits

The 50th anniversary this year of the shooting of Hitchcock's film Psycho will be employed to demonstrate how a one-minute shower will help conserve water and the environment.

The Royal Society of Chemistry is seeking a lookalike of Janet Leigh, who played the part of Norman Bates' shower victim in the celebrated horror movie.

The RSC is to make a tasteful video, called Shower Murder, to go on its website to illustrate how a shower can be taken effectively in just 60 seconds, so avoiding the huge wastage of water and the contamination that many in Britain cause currently.
 
RSC chief executive Dr Richard Pike said today: "Our video will also compare the amount of water that is being used by some people taking notoriously long showers, and will spell out and quantify, through laboratory analysis, the kind of substances that are washed down the plughole by prolonged soaping and repeated application of gels and shampoos.

"It is these that are placing an increasing demand upon the purification processes within the water networks."

A survey of shower habits amongst Europeans conducted recently for the RSC revealed that the British are guilty as charged when it comes to wasting water through showering.

Women in Britain are particularly culpable, says the report for the Royal Society of Chemistry.

In contrast, the French and Spanish emerge most commendably from the survey, demonstrating greater restraint in water conservation and concern about washing contaminants into the water system. 

Dr Pike added: "We want to promote the fact that this is not just about water - a valuable commodity in itself - but also the link to saving energy, preserving the environment and ensuring that this same water can be used in food manufacture, or drunk safely a short time later."