# Water Absorption in the Shower **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 16, 2003, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-absorption-in-the-shower/182305 "2003-06-16T21:27:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![maatthias](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b38774/32.png) [@maatthias](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maatthias)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-absorption-in-the-shower/182305/1 "2003-06-16T21:27:09Z")
What’s the skinny on water absorption in the shower? I’ve read about all kinds of nasty chemicals that infiltrate your epidermis from our public water. But I’m interested in the quantity of water aborbed in the average person’s average shower. Any leads? ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-absorption-in-the-shower/182305/2 "2003-06-16T21:53:04Z")
The quantity of water absorbed would be almost nothing. A tiny amount would be absorbed into some areas of the epidermis, and a tiny fraction of that would find its way into the bloodstream. The thing is that your skin is waterproof. Other chemicals that could get absorbed I’m not sure of. There isn’t whole lot of concern in most water supplies. And by and large anything that isn’t oil soluble isn’t going to get through the skin. ---
**Author:** ![maatthias](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b38774/32.png) [@maatthias](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maatthias)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-absorption-in-the-shower/182305/3 "2003-06-17T16:15:55Z")
Do you have any sources for that? The fact that we sweat would indicate to me that the skin is porous and not waterproof- at least from inside out. But I’m certainly lacking in an adept knowledge of human biology. I’ve found that that hockers of water filtration systems for the shower head hype the quantity and toxicity of chemicals in our water. One online merchant said “5 pints of water” are absorbed in the average shower. I suspect that that volume was exaggerated but I was unable to find anything of scientific merit, only untrustworthy advertising hype. ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-absorption-in-the-shower/182305/4 "2003-06-17T16:27:16Z")
Sweating isn’t the result of liquid diffusing across the skin. It’s the secretions of sweat glands that empty on to the skin - there’s a big difference. If liquids could diffuse across, you’d swell up like a balloon when you went swimming or took a bath, since the concentration of salts and other dissolved stuff is much higher inside your body than in most liquids you immerse yourself in. Burn victims actually tend to die of dehydration, since their skin has been so damaged that it’s no longer waterproof, and all of their internal fluids evaporate out. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-absorption-in-the-shower/182305/5 "2003-06-17T16:51:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by maatthias \* > \*\*I’ve found that that hockers of water filtration systems for the shower head hype the quantity and toxicity of chemicals in our water. One online merchant said “5 pints of water” are absorbed in the average shower. I suspect that that volume was exaggerated but I was unable to find anything of scientific merit, only untrustworthy advertising hype. \*\* Well 1 pint is .473 liters so 5 would be ~2 liters of water or about ~5 pounds worth of water. Yeah, they might be exaggerating. 🙂 Or taking very long showers. ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-absorption-in-the-shower/182305/6 "2003-06-17T21:39:58Z")
Either that or showering with their mouth open and under the showerhead. ---
**Author:** ![stoyel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/54ee81/32.png) [@stoyel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stoyel)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-absorption-in-the-shower/182305/7 "2003-06-17T21:44:39Z")
Expats, particularly the female ones, are cautioned _never_ to sit down in the bath in Jakarta. And yes, _ahem_ infections were quite common, especially among those women who had been there for less than three years. (It takes about six before you can more or less safely eat street food there.) So there are… points where you’re vulnerable to bacteria, certainly, but if you don’t drink the stuff (or brush your teeth with it-- seriously), even rancid brown water with its own thriving ecosystem can’t do much. ---
**Author:** ![Belrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@Belrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belrix)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-absorption-in-the-shower/182305/8 "2003-06-18T00:22:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Grey \* > \*\*Well 1 pint is .473 liters so 5 would be ~2 liters of water or about ~5 pounds worth of water. Yeah, they might be exaggerating. 🙂 > > Or taking very long showers. \*\* 1 pt is 1/8th of a gallon or about 1 lb. Water is 8.3 lbs/gal. ---
**Author:** ![mmmiiikkkeee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@mmmiiikkkeee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmmiiikkkeee)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-absorption-in-the-shower/182305/9 "2003-06-18T00:38:51Z")
… times 5 pints = 5 pounds 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-absorption-in-the-shower/182305/10 "2003-06-18T01:45:27Z")
Sorry for mixing the units. Blame Canada. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-absorption-in-the-shower/182305/11 "2003-06-18T03:07:31Z")
J.B.S. Haldane wrote an article on 1928 called [On Being the Right Size](http://irl.cs.ucla.edu/papers/right-size.html) in which he says “A man coming out of a bath carries with him a film of water of about one-fiftieth of an inch in thickness. This weighs roughly a pound.” That’s one pint. (He also says a mouse would be carrying its own weight of water, and an insect would be in _big_ trouble.) Any more water than that runs off quickly, and probably wouldn’t have time to be absorbed. Some might soak into hair, but that’s dead anyway, so no matter. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-absorption-in-the-shower/182305/12 "2003-06-18T08:25:56Z")
If you really wanted maatthias, you could e-mail the company and, not only, ask them where they came up with their numbers, but also ask them if they really believe the body is absorbing two liters, five pounds of water during an average shower, seems a bit of a longshot. ---
**Author:** ![longjohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@longjohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/longjohn)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-absorption-in-the-shower/182305/13 "2003-06-18T13:10:59Z")
Wait a moment. If you absorb 5lbs of water per shower, and take one shower a day, you’d gain about 1,000 lbs in 6 months. Either that or you’d spend a quite outrageous amount of time in the cludgy peeing out what you’d absorbed. Mind you, i’m sure it could be used as the basis of the “dust bath diet” ---
**Author:** ![msgotrocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8edcca/32.png) [@msgotrocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msgotrocks)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-absorption-in-the-shower/182305/14 "2003-06-18T13:41:03Z")
Why not try a little empirical experimentation? Got a scale? Got a shower? Weigh yourself just before and just after an average shower. I’d suggest two rules for control: #1 If you have long hair, it should be either wet or dry for _both_ weighings. #2 No peeing in the shower! (ick) Yeah, it sounds like a dorky thing to do, but you gotta take a shower anyway, and weighing yourself takes up less time than spending all day on SDMB. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![maatthias](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b38774/32.png) [@maatthias](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maatthias)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-absorption-in-the-shower/182305/15 "2003-06-19T13:38:19Z")
Doh! The obvious empirical evidence points to little absorption. Also, I googled this a bit more and I think I’ve located the misunderstanding. The shower head water filter advertisers’ claim is that a person absorbs the equivalent chlorine in 5 glasses of (assumedly) tap water in a 5 minute shower. I can see how that would quickly become absorbing 5 pints of water in the average shower. Either I mis-construed this on my own or I read someone else’s illogical step forward. I think I will attempt the empirical test proposed this week though. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-absorption-in-the-shower/182305/16 "2003-06-19T14:08:19Z")
Well assuming you’re suppose to drink 8 glasses of water a day the extra Cl wont hurt. Assuming the permability of the skin to cl is as bad as they state. I’d ask for a cite. 🙂