There are actually some really good outdoor showers in hunting and camping magazines. They seem easy enough to use. To make it the cheapest though don't they have spouts to connect hoses that attach to the rain barrels....anyway to hook up a shower head instead?

Hi
Interesting idea. Though i collect a lot of rain water have never used it that way. You could build the barrel up on a stand to use gravity for the shower feed but would have to be rather high up not to mention large , so you'd have to have a rather sturdy stand. Another way would be a submersible pump .Would have to be carefully sized to provide enough pressure. Would also need some type of ground trestment maybe just a layer of gravel?? ,to provide drainage. What do you do when it doesn't rain??lol gary

Dear Trinigemini,

Thanks for your suggestion about the camp showers, I'll investigate those. I actually have one of the solar heated camp showers, but it of course only provides hot or warm water, and I'd like to be able to regulate water temp more.

Gary, I think a gravel or paver and gravel (kinder to the feet) drain to a flower bed will be perfect. It seems if we came up with a good plan we could get a grant from someone to offer as a do it yourself kit. An acquaintance showed me pics of their outdoor bathroom in Indonesia. They used water piped from central plumbing of the house. I love the idea of bathing in rainwater. And my back up plan, Gary is showering in the house.

This may be the compromise you're looking for.

Here is a link that might be useful: Shower water filter

I haven't actually hooked up my "outdoor shower" yet but I kinda have plans to when other things are not more pressing. Anyway, I've set up an outdoor kitchen space and I got a couple food grade hoses to run from the house water supply out to a utility sink I set up so I don't have to run to the house for water for canning and such. (I'm lucky I'm on well water)

What sort of roof surface are you going to be using for the rainwater collection? And how will you make sure you can wash that roof off before you collect that water to shower with (ya know, bird poo, road dust, pollen and all that might not be so great to wash with.) Don't get me wrong, I like using rain water but I'm not sure I want to bathe with the stuff that comes off my roof since I see what collects in my rain barrel. Anyway, so you want to look into rain water collection and ways to wash the roof before you start collecting the water and perhaps a way to filter the water a little too. Then you want a way to heat some of the water, for that you might want to study up on Solar Thermosiphon water heating, for that you will probably need a way to support the hot water tank above the solar heating tubing or panels and you will probably also need some sort of pressure pump to provide water pressure for the cool water system that will also keep the hot water tank topped up as you use the hot water from it as well.

Ya still sure you don't want to hook into mains water for the outdoor shower? A camp shower hooked to the rain barrel is probably the easiest way. I think colman makes something that will even hook to a propane tank for the heating part of it and has a little pressure pump or something like that, not sure as I haven't really researched it myself lately.

Good Luck, showering outdoors is so nice in this climate.

I've pondered these messages a few days before responding. Number one, I had to think.

Kristie, thanks for the excelllent filter link. Seems like a lifeline now.

Tclynx, I've pictured myself scrubbing down the shed roof off a 10' ladder, that didn't work with my vision. Thanks for your sound suggestions. I didn't really know that horrid stuff could drip off the roof. I just pictured those old herbal essence commercials and how wonderful the guy from Indonesia made outdoor showers sound.

So, I'm still showering in the chlorinated, chemically treated water of beautiful DTS.