Off the Grid: Camp Shower

The shower system was relatively cheap and easy, providing large benefits to camp. Really a person can’t say enough about the luxury of a warm shower after playing hard all day. In fact I find myself looking forward to an afternoon or early evening shower in order to freshen up before bed or before a nice evening around the campfire. Next year we’ll be putting in a sauna but for the time this works extremely well.

There are essentially 3 pieces to the shower system. 1) Rain barrel, 2) RV pump (box), and 3) water heater/shower.

I was able to find a 55 gallon barrel from Craig’s list. They are relatively inexpensive; I think I paid around $10. They come in a variety of colors; I would have preferred black (collect sunlight and warm water) but, opted for blue as it had previously held food products as opposed an unsure chemical. I suppose this is the tricky part, making sure your barrel didn’t have a chemical that might do some damage to you. In order to construct the barrel I simply cut a hole in the top, using a sawzall, just large enough to get my arm in. I then drilled a hole about 6” from the bottom and screwed in a hose nozzle in. I sealed it w/ some multi-purpose marine grade sealant and a threaded screw on cap from the inside. The hole I cut in the top was closed up using fine screen which allows water in but keeps leaves, bug, etc out. So far I haven’t had any issues keeping the water fresh and free of debris.

The pump and box was a little more complicated (see picture). I essentially started by constructing a box out of 1/2” plywood. I did us a piece of cedar for the bottom but I’m not sure it’s necessary. I drilled a few holes in the bottom to allow for drainage if necessary. I put an “in” and “out” hose bib on each end of the box with a RV pump, inline screen filter and battery inside. The battery is just a lawn tractor battery. The pump is the Shurflow 4008; self priming, 3 GPM at 55 PSI performance (about $80). The pump maintains constant water pressure in the line and then shots off until more pressure is needed. The pump can also run dry w/out damage. There are a couple of additional things I did; put in a switch as part of the circuit which allows one to easily control the water and battery use. I also put an inline fuse in to protect the pump when I charge the battery. The battery is connected to the circuit via battery clips so that one can add or replace battery power if necessary. The clips could hook onto a car battery if portability is needed. Also between the pump and the rain barrel are a number of inline water filters/screens which prevent debris from going in and/or through the pump. I have a screened hose seal inserted at the hose bib that comes right out of the rain barrel. There is another finer one where the hose comes into the pump box and then a final one inside the box. This is the smallest diameter of all screens and is a self contained filter that can be purchased where ever you purchase your RV pump. Without the water heater/shower one can simply us the system as a hose, which has plenty of pressure. I would compare it to what my home hose can produce in terms of water quantify, distance and pressure. Also in the summer the water warms enough via the sun that the water heater is not necessary.

The water heater/shower is an Eccotemp L5 portable tankless outdoor water heater and shower which was purchased from Camper’s World but can also be bought online at several places. It runs around $120 but provides instant hot water with easy adjustment of flow and temperature. It hangs w/ one nail and has a connection for propane and water. So far I have been very happy w/ the purchase w/ the exception of the shower hose connections. The connections are made of plastic and don’t seal well. If you put any pressure/torque on them they strip out. I’ve gotten around this problem by simply replacing the shower hose w/ one that is a bit higher quality and metal threading. The nice thing about shower that came w/ the system is that it has an on/off switch which allows you to turn off the shower and save water when suddsing up. Everything else works beautifully. The shower came with all the necessary adaptors, couplers and seals. We have also purchased a shower tent. We are still working on fine tuning the entire system and where we want it at camp but for the time a shower sure has made life nice.