Gen Z is widely seen as the generation most concerned about climate change, yet new research suggests many young adults are less mindful of their water use in the shower.

More than half of people aged 18 to 29 spend at least 10 minutes showering each day, according to the research.

Depending on the shower, a wash of that length can use as much as 150 litres of water—enough to fill approximately 750 standard drinking glasses.

The results highlight an uncomfortable contradiction for a generation raised amid warnings about drought, water shortages and the climate crisis.

Although a 10-minute shower may seem like an insignificant daily indulgence, scientists say it is considerably longer than needed to wash.

Dr Pablo Pereira-Doel, an environmental scientist at the University of Surrey, recently told the Daily Mail that three minutes is a reasonable target for a shower focused solely on washing the body.

People who wash their hair can add another two minutes, taking the total shower time to about five minutes.

That estimate includes time spent enjoying the warm spray, leaving little scientific justification for remaining under the water for 10 minutes or longer.

The poll, conducted by scientists at Let’s Save Water, found that younger adults were among those most likely to take long showers, despite also expressing strong concern about environmental issues.

While 52 per cent of 18 to 29-year-olds said their showers lasted at least 10 minutes, the figure fell to 39 per cent among Millennials aged 30 to 45.

Only 28 per cent of Gen X respondents, aged 46 to 61, reported showering for the same length of time.

The organisation surveyed 2,000 people across Britain and found that women were more likely than men to take extended showers. Some 27 per cent of women said they showered for more than 10 minutes each day, compared with 19 per cent of men.

A spokesman for Let’s Save Water said: ‘With drought conditions this summer renewing attention on the issue, Let’s Save Water is reinforcing a simple message—water is precious.

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‘Protecting it means that we all need to use less.

‘On average, adults believe they use about 30 litres of water a day, when the true figure is closer to 140 litres.

‘Our research shows a difference between the generations, with Gen Z’ers the most likely to take showers lasting more than 10 minutes.’

Showers in UK households last about 7.5 minutes on average, according to Dr Pereira-Doel.

However, studies indicate that showers often run for much longer, with some people spending nearly 40 minutes under the flow of water.

‘As for why people linger… the answer is that for a large share of showers, getting clean isn’t the point,’ he explained.

‘Over four in 10 showers in our sample were taken for reasons unrelated to hygiene: relaxation, self–care, warming up on a cold morning. When a shower is doing that job, its length isn’t a decision anyone is consciously making.’

People in soft water areas tend to shower around a fifth longer than those in hard water areas, he said.

‘The likely explanation is that shampoo lathers more richly and rinses more easily in soft water, so the shower feels better and people linger,’ he added.

Morning showers also tend to be shorter, because most people have somewhere they need to be. Meanwhile, with evening or weekend showers, there is less of a time constraint.

Low water pressure can also extend showers, ‘because people may compensate for a weak spray by staying in longer to feel properly rinsed’.

For Clove Lakes Park, the city appears to have created a tale of two parks.

Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella says city officials focus on parks visited by tourists while allowing a cherished neighborhood destination in the borough to be contaminated by raw sewage.

Fossella this week condemned what he called a toxic double standard as Clove Lakes Park deteriorates. He is demanding an emergency meeting involving city and state agencies after The Post reported that a collapsed sewer line connected to a lakeside restaurant has been releasing human waste into the lake for decades.

“If this were Central Park, people would be flipping out,” Fossella told The Post during a tour of the park’s wooded paths overlooking the heavily polluted lake.

The city Parks Department waited a week after The Post’s report before suspending boating and fishing at the park. Fossella said agencies have yet to provide him with a complete account of the contamination and its potential impact.

“What the public deserves is a safe, fun, healthy, public recreation area, and they don’t have it right now,” said the Republican borough president and former congressman.

Fossella, who played baseball at the picturesque park as a child, called for a comprehensive investigation into the pollution.

“What’s very unsettling and troubling is that it appears that this has been sort of going on for quite some time. We need to know who knew what and when,” the borough president said.

Officials may still be unaware of the full scope of the damage.

On Wednesday, Parks Department workers conducted a dye test to check whether additional sewer lines were failing throughout the grounds. One employee said crews were testing every building in the park.

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Asked whether the testing had uncovered more collapsed sewer lines, another Parks worker sighed and replied, “I plead the Fifth.”

The park’s public restrooms were closed while the tests were being carried out.

The Parks Department told The Post it was unaware of any other sewer lines leaking into Clove Lake and said it was coordinating with the Department of Environmental Protection on what happens next.

A longtime park visitor said plumbing problems at the location occupied by The Stone House restaurant have reportedly existed for as long as five decades.

“The basement always had sewage. I had a friend who worked there, he’d have to take his shoes off when he got home,” said Tad, a 71-year-old trucker who frequently visits the park.

Fossella accused city regulators of failing to intervene sooner and criticized them for not having or releasing key information about fecal coliform levels in the lake.

The revelations angered park visitors.

“There should be repercussions up and down the line,” said Sydney Russel, a 25-year-old radiologist.

“I’m upset about it, really. Because it was beautiful. I took my kids here, and they were little,” said Donna DeWaters, a 71-year-old retired Staten Island nurse.

A disturbing investigation into possible serial killings could become even more sinister if authorities determine that gruesome images found inside the home of a deceased pornographer were shared with a broader underground audience, a prominent police and forensic psychologist said.

Raymond “RC” Horsch, 82, produced pornography and books centered on violent themes before his death last year. The case took a troubling turn in June, when his 44-year-old son, Eugene Horsch, was arrested on allegations involving illegal firearms and forgery. A subsequent search of the family property on West Chew Avenue in Philadelphia’s Olney neighborhood uncovered a series of disturbing items.

Investigators may also find that so-called snuff films were distributed through underground networks of people interested in that kind of material.

Among the evidence reportedly recovered were videos described as possible “snuff” footage, including images believed to show several missing women, as well as a barrel of chemicals connected to the home’s water system.

“The father’s involvement in pornography raises the possibility that, beyond the sadistic motives often associated with serial murders, there could also have been a financial motive tied to distributing alleged snuff films,” said Dr. Kris Mohandie, a board-certified forensic psychologist.

Police have connected the Olney property to investigations involving seven missing women. Authorities believe at least five of them may be dead, though no homicide charges had been filed as of Friday.

RC Horsch, who had a conviction for producing methamphetamine, also wrote sexually explicit books featuring violence. His 2014 title, “Empathy,” includes a chapter describing how a murdered woman’s body could be dissolved using boiling chemicals.

Amazon and Goodreads removed the book from their listings Friday.

Philadelphia police say they recovered more than 1 million digital files, including photographs and videos, from the residence. Investigators had examined fewer than one-third of them by Friday, but officials reportedly recognized four of the missing women in the material.

Two of the women have been publicly named as Gabrielle Amarando and Maribel Fresses.

Mohandie said the nature of the video evidence was especially troubling.

“In addition to the horrific crimes allegedly connected to this case — including abduction, rape and torture, acts often associated with sadistic offenders — investigators may also be examining whether alleged snuff films were supplied to underground networks,” Mohandie said. “That is frightening, and I hope investigators can answer those questions.”

Authorities have also alleged that, when Eugene Horsch was arrested in the spring, a woman who was with him possessed identification belonging to one of the missing women.

Search crews have been examining the area around and beneath the property, including nearby sewer lines, as the investigation continues.

The younger Horsch has not been charged in connection with the missing women.

The investigation remains ongoing.

The mother of a Michigan toddler killed by a car says she is devastated after prosecutors decided the driver will not face criminal charges.

Jessica Fernandez said she has been left with painful unanswered questions following the decision not to pursue charges against the driver who struck and killed her two-year-old son, Darwin Olson.

Darwin was hit at about 5am on March 19 outside his grandmother’s home in Ironwood, Michigan. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Fernandez told KBTX that Darwin had spent the previous evening at her mother’s house. She said she woke to a 7am phone call asking whether she had already arrived to collect him.

When Fernandez replied that she had not, she said her mother screamed over the phone and told her Darwin was missing.

Fernandez rushed to the house but was stopped by emergency barricades and police officers at the scene. She said she immediately feared the child was her son.

“I got out of the vehicle and I said, ‘Is he OK?’ And (an officer) told me, ‘No, he’s not.’ And I said, ‘Is he alive?’ And he told me, ‘No,’” Fernandez recalled.

The Gogebic County Prosecutor’s Office said its review found that the child had been left “unattended.” Images from the scene also showed heavy snowfall in the area where the collision occurred.

Prosecutors announced this week that they would not file charges against the driver, a decision Fernandez said she could not understand.

“That’s the biggest thing is just I have all these questions, and it feels that no one wants to answer them for me,” the mother said.

Fernandez said the Gogebic County Sheriff’s Office did not disclose the driver’s identity. She said officials told her only that the driver was a man and described the type of car involved.

The sheriff’s office disputed this to KBTX, and said a full police report with the driver’s identity was given to Fernandez’s attorney. 

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Gogebic County Sheriff Jorge Cruz said investigators conducted a comprehensive inquiry, including an examination of “the circumstances in which the toddler was unattended.”

The Daily Mail has contacted the sheriff’s office for comment.

Prosecutors ultimately declined to bring charges, but Fernandez said officials’ explanation did not satisfy her.

“Their words were that he didn’t think he could win the case,” she said.

‘When I called, he had told me that they didn’t present anything criminal with my son’s case.’

The decision sparked outrage in the area, and a protest and candlelight vigil was held outside the Gogebic County courthouse. 

Protesters were seen at the vigil with signs reading, ‘Justice for Darwin.’ 

Fernandez said she has been left heartbroken. ‘I just miss him all around,’ she said of her son. 

‘I’ll never get to see those milestones or anything that you would hope to see when your child grows up.’