Key points

Individual water usage

  • In 2024/25, almost half of respondents (48%) indicated that they shower 7 times a week with around 9 in 10 (89%) showering three or more times a week.

  • When asked how long on average is each shower, more than two-fifths of respondents (45%) indicated an average shower duration of between 2 and 5 minutes with 13% indicating that they shower for more than 10 minutes.

  • Nearly two-thirds (65%) of respondents never use, or don’t own a bath and only 8% use a bath more than once a week.

Household water usage

  • The majority of households (83%) indicated that they have a hosepipe or bucket at home for outside use.

  • When asked how often they used a washing machine, 85% of households indicated that they used a washing machine more than once a week, with 27% indicating that they used it every day.

  • The most common response to being asked about dishwasher usage was not owning a dishwasher at 42%. Almost one-fifth (18%) indicated that they use a dishwasher daily.

  • The majority of households (70%) indicated that they had a dual flush toilet in their home.

Infographic displaying key findings from the report

Introduction

This publication presents findings from the 2024/25 Continuous Household Survey (CHS) on household water usage in Northern Ireland. Questions on household water usage within Northern Ireland were commissioned by DfI on behalf on N.I. Water.

Part 1: Individual Water Usage

Respondents to the Continuous Household Survey were asked three questions about their showering and bathing habits.

1.1 Showers per week

Respondents were asked “How many times a week on average do you shower?”. The results were then sorted into groups.

Figure 1: How many times on average do you take a shower? (Year comparison) (%)

Nearly half(48%) of respondents said they shower 7 times a week, and a quarter of respondents shower approximately every other day. Only 11% showering less than 3 times a week.

1.2 Shower duration

Respondents were asked “How long on average is each shower?” given 4 options of ranges of duration.

Figure 2: How long on average is each shower? (Year Comparison) (%)

The 2024/25 results showed nearly half(45%) of respondents shower for between 2 and 5 minutes and 37% of respondents shower for between 5 and 10 minutes.

Figure 3: How long on average is each shower? (by Sex) (%)

Males were more likely to indicate that they took shorter showers than females. 54% of males said they shower for between 2 and 5 minutes compared to 37% of females. Inversely 43% of females responded that they showered for 5 to 10 minutes compared with only 32% of men. Likewise only 9% of males responded to showering for 10 minutes or more compared to nearly double for females at 17%.

Figure 4: How long on average is each shower? (by Settlement Type) (%)

Respondents who live in rural areas reported showering for shorter durations than those in urban areas. Half of respondents living in rural areas (50%), indicated shower durations of between 2 and 5 minutes compared with 42% of urban respondents. Whereas a third (33%) of rural respondents indicated showering for 5 to 10 minutes contrasted by 40% of urban respondents.

Figure 5: How long on average is each shower? (by Deprivation Quintiles) (%)

The least deprived respondents were more likely to shower for between 2 and 5 minutes at 50% compared with 39% of the most deprived respondents.

1.3 Bath frequency

A new question was added to the Continuous Household Survey for 2024/25 asking respondents “How often do you have a bath?”.

Figure 6: How often do you have a bath? (%)

Almost two-thirds of respondents (65%) never use a bath. Contributing to this, a quarter of respondents indicated that they do not own a bath. For those respondents indicating that they do use a bath, the most frequently selected category was less than once a month (11%).

Figure 7: How often do you have a bath? (by Deprivation Quintiles) (%)

For those respondents living in the most deprived areas, 28% own a bath but never use it compared with 49% for those living in the least deprived areas.

Part 2: Household Water Usage

The questions in part 2 relate to water usage as a household rather than individual usage.

1.4 Hosepipe and bucket ownership

Figure 8: Do you have a hosepipe or bucket at home for outside use? (Year Comparison) (%)

In 2024/25 83% of people had a hosepipe or bucket at home for outside use. This was similar with 2023/24.

Figure 9: Do you have a hosepipe or bucket at home for outside use? (by Respondents) (%)

When asked if they had a hosepipe or bucket for outside use 90% of households in Rural areas reported “yes” compared with 79% of households in Urban areas. Fewer households in the most deprived areas (72%) reported having a hosepipe or bucket for outside use compared with households in the least deprived areas (89%).

Figure 10: Do you have a hosepipe or bucket at home for outside use? (by Local Government District) (%)

The LGD’s with the lowest “yes” responses to having a hosepipe or bucket for outside use were, “Belfast” and “Derry City and Strabane” at (72% and 73% respectively). “Lisburn and Castlereagh” had the highest “yes” response rate at 91%.

1.5 Hosepipe and bucket usage

Figure 11: What do you use the hosepipe/bucket for? (Year Comparison) (%)

Respondents were allowed to choose multiple options for this question. The most common reason given to use a hosepipe and bucket for 2024/25 was for Watering plants at 61%. In 2024/25 roughly half of respondents reported using it for power washing(47%) and to wash their car(51%). Some other responses included cleaning windows, farm work, hot tub, and washing bins/bicycles and pets.

Figure 12: What do you use the hosepipe/bucket for? (by Settlement) (%)

Those households in Rural areas were more likely to report using a hosepipe or bucket for washing their car (56%) than households in Urban areas (48%). Conversely, those in Urban areas were more likely than those in Rural areas to report using a hosepipe or bucket for either power washing (50% and 44% respectively) or watering the lawn (28% and 22% respectively).

Figure 13: What do you use the hosepipe/bucket for? (by Deprivation Quintiles) (%)

Those households in most deprived areas were less likely to indicate that they used hosepipes or buckets for “Watering the lawn” 22% compared with those in least deprived areas (36%). Similarly, households in least deprived areas were less likely to indicate hosepipe/ bucket use for both “Watering plants” (56% and 69% respectively) and, “Washing my car” (36% and 57% respectively).

1.6 Washing machine usage

The survey asked the question “How often on average would you use a washing machine in your home?” giving categories of frequency as options.

Figure 14: How often on average would you use a washing machine in your home? (Year comparison) (%)

For 2024/25, almost all respondents had a washing machine with only 1% without one. The majority (85%) of households indicated that they used a washing machine more than once a week, with 27% indicating that they used it every day.

1.7 Dishwasher usage

Figure 15: How often on average would you use a dishwasher in your home? (Year comparison) (%)

In 2024/25, almost one-fifth (18%) indicated using a dishwasher everyday in their household. More than two-fifths of households in 2024/25 (42%) indicated that they did not own a dishwasher, which is unchanged from 2023/24.

Figure 16: How often on average would you use a dishwasher in your home? (by Settlement Type) (%)

Dishwasher usage differed between urban and rural by settlement types. Almost one-third (32%) of households in rural areas owned a dishwasher contrasted with almost half (48%) dishwasher ownership by households in urban areas.

Figure 17: How often on average would you use a dishwasher in your home? (by Deprivation Quintiles) (%)

Dishwasher ownership also varied greatly by Deprivation Quintiles. For households in the most deprived areas 62% did not own a dishwasher compared with 26% in the least deprived areas.

1.8 Dual flush toilets

More than two-thirds (70%) of households indicated that they have a dual flush toilet in their home.

Figure 18: Do you have a dual flush toilet in your home? (by Respondents) (%)

Similar proportions for those households within urban and rural areas indicated that they had dual flush (71% and 68% respectively) but those households in least deprived areas reported 80% dual flush toilet ownership compared with two-thirds (67%) of households within most deprived areas.

Figure 19: Do you have a dual flush toilet in your home? (by Local Government District) (%)

Responses to dual flush ownership ranged from 60% in “Mid Ulster” to 78% in Lisburn and Castlereagh.

Contact information

Appendices

Appendix A: Technical notes

The Northern Ireland Continuous Household Survey

Data Collection

The information presented in this publication derives from the Northern Ireland Continuous Household Survey (CHS), a Northern Ireland wide household survey administered by Central Survey Unit (CSU), Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA).

It is based on a sample of the general population resident in private households and has been running since 1983. The survey is designed to provide a regular source of information on a wide range of social and economic issues relevant to Northern Ireland. The water usage in Northern Ireland questions are included in Appendix C of this report.

Data Quality

Data were collected by CSU and various validation checks were carried out as part of the processing. CSU is the leading social survey research organisation in Northern Ireland and is one of the main business areas of NISRA, an Agency within the Department of Finance. CSU has a long track record and a wealth of experience in the design, management and analysis of behavioural and attitude surveys in the context of a wide range of social policy issues. CSU procedures are consistent with the Code of Practice for Statistics.

The CHS sample was assessed and considered to be a representative sample of the Northern Ireland population at household level.

Whilst data quality is considered to be very good, note that all survey estimates are subject to a degree of error and this must be taken account of when considering results. This error will be reasonably small for the majority of Northern Ireland level results but care should be taken when looking at results based on smaller breakdowns.

Respondents

Fieldwork for 2024/25 CHS started on 1 April 2024 and ended on the 31 March 2025. A total of 3,790 households took part in the survey; within those 3,790 households, a total of 4,584 individuals took part in the survey. To reduce survey length, the questionnaire consisted of a split sample. This means that depending on the serial number of the questionnaire (even or odd) the respondents would be exposed to a different set of questions for part of the questionnaire. Household water questions were included in even versions of the questionnaire only.

Weighting

To address non-response bias, data presented based on individual responses have been weighted by sex and age; unweighted total respondent counts have also been provided where appropriate. Data presented based on household response remain unweighted.

Confidence Intervals

No sample is likely to reflect precisely the characteristics of the population it is drawn from because of both sampling and non-sampling errors. An estimate of the amount of error due to the sampling process can be calculated. For a simple random sample design, in which every member of the sampled population has an equal and independent chance of inclusion in the sample, the sampling error of any percentage, p, can be calculated by the formula: s.e. (p) = √(p*(100 – p)/n where n is the number of respondents on which the percentage is based. The sample for the Continuous Household Survey is drawn as a random sample, and thus this formula can be used to calculate the sampling error of any percentage estimate from the survey. Confidence intervals are included in Appendix B of this report.

Multiple Response Questions Multiple response questions are those for which respondents can give more than one response if they wish. In such questions, when individual percentages are summed they may add to more than 100%.

Rounding Conventions Percentages have been rounded to whole numbers and as a consequence some percentages may not sum to 100.

0% may reflect rounding down of values under 0.5.

Significant Difference Any statements in this report regarding differences between groups such as males and females, different age groups, dependant status, etc., are statistically significant at the 95% confidence level. This means that we can be 95% confident that the differences between groups are actual differences and have not just arisen by chance. Both the base numbers and the sizes of the percentages have an effect on statistical significance.

Therefore on occasion, a difference between two groups may be statistically significant while the same difference in percentage points between two other groups may not be statistically significant. The reason for this is because the larger the base numbers or the closer the percentages are to 0 or 100, the smaller the standard errors. This leads to increased precision of the estimates which increases the likelihood that the difference between the proportions is actually significant and did not just arise by chance.

Respondent Groups The following respondent groups were considered:

Age group The age of the respondent is grouped into the following age bands: 16-24, 25-34, 35-49, 50,-64, 65 and over.

Sex Sex of respondent is defined as whether the respondent is male or female.

Urban and rural areas Urban and rural areas have been classified using the statistical classification of settlements defined by the Inter-Departmental Urban-Rural Definition Group.

Bands A to E are classified as Urban. This includes Belfast Metropolitan Urban Area (Band A), Derry Urban Area (Band B) and large, medium and small towns (Bands C-E) with populations greater than or equal to 5,000 people. Bands F to H are classified as rural. This includes intermediate settlements (Band F), villages (Band G) and small villages, hamlets and open countryside (Band H) with populations of less than 5,000 people and including open countryside.

Local Government District Local Government Districts include the 11 district council areas:

Antrim and Newtownabbey Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Belfast Causeway Coast and Glens Derry and Strabane Fermanagh and Omagh Lisburn and Castlereagh Mid and East Antrim Mid Ulster Newry, Mourne and Down North Down and Ards

Multiple Deprivation Measure

The measures, known as NIMDM 2017, were informed through public consultation and Steering Group agreement, and provide a mechanism for ranking the 890 Super Output areas (SOAs) in Northern Ireland from the most deprived (rank 1) to the least deprived (rank 890).

They include ranks of the areas for each of 7 distinct types (or domains) of deprivation, which have been combined to produce an overall multiple deprivation measure (MDM) rank of the areas.

Deprivation quintiles

1 - Most deprived 2 3 4 5 - Least deprived

Disability

‘Disability’ is measured using ‘limiting long-standing illness’. Respondents are defined as having a limiting long standing illness if they have any physical or mental health conditions or illnesses lasting or expected to last for 12 months or more, and the condition(s) or illness(es) reduce their ability to carry out day to day activities.

Appendix B: Confidence intervals

A confidence interval represents the range of values in which the true population value is likely to lie. It is based on the sample estimate and the confidence level. As the percentages are calculated from a representative sample of the Northern Ireland population (aged 16 and over), a confidence interval can be calculated to estimate the level of uncertainty in the sample estimate.

95% confidence intervals were calculated for the headline figures. Table B1 summarizes the confidence intervals for Water Usage in Northern Ireland.

Table B1: Confidence intervals for Water Usage in Northern Ireland.

Measure Estimate (%) Sample (n) 95% Confidence Range ± Confidence Interval
% who shower 7 times a week. 48.1 2,315 2.0 46.1% - 50.1%
% who shower for between 2 and 5 minutes. 44.9 2,208 2.1 42.8% - 47%
% who shower for 10 minutes or more. 13.0 2,208 1.4 11.6% - 14.4%
% who own but, don’t use a bath. 39.9 2,315 2.0 37.9% - 41.9%
% who don’t own a bath. 25.5 2,315 1.8 23.7% - 27.3%
% who have a hosepipe or bucket at home for outside use. 82.7 1,898 1.7 81% - 84.4%
% who use a washing machine everyday. 26.5 1,898 2.0 24.5% - 28.5%
% who don’t own a dishwasher. 41.8 1,898 2.2 39.6% - 44.1%
% who own a dual flush toilet. 70.0 1,897 2.1 67.9% - 72.1%

Appendix C: Water Usage in Northern Ireland Questionnaire

Individual Water Questions

[WATER1] How many times a week on average do you take a shower?

If [WATER1] > 0 [WATER2] How long on average is each shower?

  1. 2 minutes or less
  2. Between 2 minutes and 5 minutes
  3. 5 – 10 minutes
  4. More than 10 minutes

[WATER8] How often do you have a bath? RUNNING PROMPT/ SHOWCARD SCALE G

  1. More than once per week
  2. Once per week
  3. Once per fortnight
  4. Once per month
  5. Less than once per month
  6. Never – I own a bath, but I never use it.
  7. Never – there is no bath in the property where I live.

NI Water

[WATER3] Do you have a hosepipe or bucket at home for outside use? 1. Yes → [WATER4]
2. No → [WATER5]
If [WATER3] = 1 [WATER4] What do you use the hosepipe/bucket for? RUNNING PROMPT/SELECT ALL THAT APPLY/ SHOWCARD 22

  1. Watering the lawn
  2. Watering plants
  3. Power washing
  4. Washing my car
  5. Filling a paddling pool
  6. Other → [WATER4OTH]
    [WATER4OTH] Please specify.

[WATER5] How often on average would you use a washing machine in your home?

  1. Every day
  2. Every other day
  3. Couple of times each week
  4. Once a week
  5. Less than once a week
  6. I don’t have a washing machine.

[WATER6] How often on average would you use a dishwasher in your home?

  1. Every day
  2. Every other day
  3. Couple of times each week
  4. Once a week
  5. Less than once a week
  6. I don’t have a dishwasher.

[WATER7] Do you have a dual flush toilet in your home? INSTRUCTION: A dual flush toilet is one where the toilet has two buttons on the cistern rather than the single-flush button; one button delivers a lesser amount of water and the other a greater amount.

  1. Yes
  2. No

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