diff --git a/dumux/io/container.hh b/dumux/io/container.hh
index fd4a17e3af80568162323d4ea711d9809008b6e4..9d8d68a810ed175e2602066b2cb3536d34c21dc6 100644
--- a/dumux/io/container.hh
+++ b/dumux/io/container.hh
@@ -52,14 +52,16 @@ void writeContainerToFile(const Container& v,
 /*!
  * \brief Read a simple text file into a container
  * \param filename The filename to write to
+ * \param sizeEstimate an estimate on how many items are there to read into the container
  * \tparam Container  The container type, requires begin(), end(), push_back() method
  *
  * usage: auto v = readFileToContainer<std::vector<double>>("myvector.txt");
  */
 template<typename Container>
-Container readFileToContainer(const std::string& filename)
+Container readFileToContainer(const std::string& filename, std::size_t sizeEstimate = 0)
 {
     Container v;
+    if (sizeEstimate > 0) v.reserve(sizeEstimate); // reserving memory can significantly speed up the reading
     std::ifstream infile(filename, std::ios::in);
     std::istream_iterator<typename Container::value_type> it(infile);
     std::copy(it, std::istream_iterator<typename Container::value_type>(), std::back_inserter(v));