Biden administration seeks to reverse Trump rule on showerheads

President Joe Biden speaks during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the East Room of the White House on Thursday. His administration sought to reinstate a policy limiting the water that comes through showerheads on Friday.

July 16 (UPI) -- In the latest salvo in the "showerhead war," the Biden administration Friday said it will take steps to reinstate an Obama-era definition that restricts the flow of the device, something that former President Donald Trump loosened last year.

Trump's rule sought to bypass a 2013 requirement that allowed no more than 2.5 gallons of water to flow through a showerhead per minute to save water and energy. Trump's Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said dropping the requirement removed unneeded regulation and allowed the public to pick showerheads that best suited them.

The Energy Department said Friday it will hold a public meeting online and take additional steps to end the effort to circumvent the 2013 rule.

The department said it has tentatively reinstated the showerhead definition that "all showerheads within a product containing multiple showerheads will be considered part of a single showerhead for determining compliance with the 2.5 gallons per minute standard."

The showerhead rules had been ridiculed by Trump and became part of his campaign against regulations during his presidency.

"So, showerheads -- you take a shower, the water doesn't come out," Trump said last year, according to CNN. "You wash your hands, the water doesn't come out. So what do you do? You just stand there longer, or you take a shower longer? Because my hair -- I don't know about you, but it has to be perfect. Perfect."