Anyone ever done a Showerloop for your trailer/camping?

cg_ops

cg_ops

1-Armed Bandit
Been eyeballing a setup like this for the cargo trailer I just picked up
https://www.instructables.com/id/Showerloop/

I would rather not deal with the hassle of installing fresh/grey water tanks in the trailer. If I could do a self-contained shower like this, it would make camping (away from the track, especially) much easier.

A lot of you have 100x the handyman experience I do. Have any of you done something similar? How'd it turn out?
 
Charles R

Charles R

Well-known member
Still looks pretty big and involved. I could see investing in something like that if i were going to spend months at a time in resource scarce areas. But my usual mode is to just get a motel room every few days.
 
MapleRoad

MapleRoad

Well-known member
If I were attempting this project, I'd get rid of all the fancy acrylic stuff that requires CNC. I'd use ugly PVC with simple connectors. Separate the media with screens (which require low-tech scissors). An especially clever person would use a threaded cap on top, which would allow inspection/replacement of the filtration media. I would just seal the whole thing with glue and build a new one in ten years.

What are you thinking about for the process? I imagine it's something like: Heat up water (stove or water heater), pour it into the shower, hit the go button and "Shower on, Wayne!" And after the shower you open a drain valve outside.

I would also think about the wet filtration media sitting for a few months while damp. Sounds like a mold nightmare. Not a problem on a shower used daily, but it could be a problem for your setup. I don't have a good solution for that, other than doing a bleach flush before any storage.

It sounds like a fun project! Good luck.
 
cg_ops

cg_ops

1-Armed Bandit
^^ Not much more involved than installing a regular shower in a trailer, really. Just more compact and some different design methodologies. Plus the added benefit of not needing the frequently dump grey water (or deal with Thunderhill''s swamp water :laughing )

^ Yea, the not-used-everyday issue of algae buildup could be problematic. Possibly solved by a flush with mild chlorine/bleach before storage.
 
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Climber

Climber

Well-known member
Seems like an interesting idea for water scarce california homes, especially if you have a daughter (or son) who love to take a long shower. Fit in a filter and instantaneous heater element to keep the water at the right temp and you've got a device that would reduce water usage.
 
M

Matty D

Well-known member
Pretty cool and has a lot of potential in concept. But (and not to be negative) also complicated and has the potential to need a lot of maintenance, and take up a lot of room. I also have to wonder about flow levels, water pressure, temperature, bacteria, etc.

I have a Sprinter with a 25-gallon fresh water tank, no grey water tank, and on-demand hot water through an ESPAR hydronic unit. The shower is a hand held unit off the back. Works great and doesn't take up much room.

That said, I'm a fan of the KISS rule. Throw a couple solar showers in that trailer and call it good?
 
cg_ops

cg_ops

1-Armed Bandit
Ideally the setup would be to have something that everyone could shower with (2-6 people) for 2-7 days and not need to fill/dump the water. The kits I've seen have been as small as fitting in a 3x3' square, including the shower. I read that bacteria could be managed via measured doses of chlorine while not in use.

Aside from changing the filters periodically, how would it be any more complicated or failure prone than a standard RV/Trailer shower setup?
 
MapleRoad

MapleRoad

Well-known member
I was thinking solo when I made my suggestion. What do you have available to heat the water? (Electrical/propane/diesel?).

If you have shore power available, I'd use an instant hot water heater at the shower head. If you have an onboard power inverter, you might be able to run a point-of-use tank water heater.

The roadshower gives me an idea, that you could put a black ABS pipe on the roof to heat the water up during the day, if you're parked in sunlight. You would pump the water up there after the showers are done so it heats up again the next day. The last person through is probably going to have a lukewarm shower, though.
 
S

Schnellbandit

I see 4 lights!
Water is very heavy. For most RVs and trailers that don't have much slope to the roof, the lack of incline can cause lots of problems when enough weight for a hot shower is put up there.

Why not just get one of those propane fired portable hot water heaters? A couple hundred bucks and you'll have plenty of hot water anywhere you have a water and propane supply. You can put those things in your SUV or car although the propane isn't ideally transported in closed vehicles. Those water heaters are small and easily setup (minutes) and are pretty efficient.

You'll end up spending cost to that trying to fabricate something that barely works and later becomes a maintenance problem.
 
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M

Matty D

Well-known member
cg_ops said:
Ideally the setup would be to have something that everyone could shower with (2-6 people) for 2-7 days and not need to fill/dump the water. The kits I've seen have been as small as fitting in a 3x3' square, including the shower. I read that bacteria could be managed via measured doses of chlorine while not in use.

Aside from changing the filters periodically, how would it be any more complicated or failure prone than a standard RV/Trailer shower setup?
Click to expand...

It's a super cool idea with a lot of potential, and it sounds like you've been doing some good research. For that volume it sounds like you'd be asking a lot from those filters, so hopefully that part is figured out. Conceptually, and I'm not sure I'd want to shower in the run-off from 5 of my buddies for a week, chlorine or otherwise. (Actually I don't even really want to shower in my own run-off like that.)

But hey, stranger things have turned out to be awesome and revolutionary. And certainly you might not need it every day, especially if there are lakes, rivers, and an ocean around. Give it a go and let us know how it goes!
 
bpw

bpw

Well-known member
Keep it simple, buy a garden sprayer and leave it sitting in the sun for a few hours. Gives a decent shower with only a gallon of water or so.

Most places a gallon or two of grey water on the ground won't bother anyone.
 
moto-rama

moto-rama

Well-known member
Charles R said:
Still looks pretty big and involved. I could see investing in something like that if i were going to spend months at a time in resource scarce areas. But my usual mode is to just get a motel room every few days.
Click to expand...

If you need to save money or like camping out service station bathroom/WashCloth/Toothbrush... etc. You can even wash your hair with a gob of soap and a tin cup in a river if your in the deep backcountry.

I do the camp 2 nights, then motel cheapo on the 3rd night, at least until I am sick of sleeping in the dirt, on a roll of foam. Then it's Best Western all the way.

That shower gizmo is nice but not as practical and compact as one of those camp shower bags you hang up in a tree. If that's the kind of thing you're looking for.

I've seen surfers using this kind of thing, too. Looks OK. https://goo.gl/PDURf3

This one has some intriguing features, but some features shown may not be included due to CA regulations, which are tremendously restrictive.
 
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cg_ops

cg_ops

1-Armed Bandit
A big part of it is that a lot of places don't want you showering on the ground, biodegradable soap be damned. That's part of the reasoning too - what to do with graywater
 
MapleRoad

MapleRoad

Well-known member
In a recycling setup like this, I'm imagining about 5 gallons of water or less being used at a time. Put the graywater into a 5 gallon bucket with a screw-on lid, tie it down well and dump it someplace appropriate.

this seems like a very doable project, and since others are also working on it, you can borrow their plans, and adapt them to work better for you.
 
O

ocoas

Well-known member
You need to be careful when using recycled water.
It can and will harbor and grow bacteria.
Their system is maintenance intense.
The link you provided implies cautions but under plays how careful you will need to be. I think you are going to find that system to be a lot of maintenance.

You should still have a holding tank. Chlorine is still the simplest and surest sanitizer. You can add chlorine to the used water, But it needs to be in contact with the water for several hours and wait till it dissipates.
You can over chlorinate to the point of the chlorine being dangerous.

I would be very cautious of a homemade system by a person who is not really into the engineering and background of water safety.
 
cg_ops

cg_ops

1-Armed Bandit
Good/interesting feedback so far. From what I understand, based on a few hours of research about the project:


"It's not very portable" or "It's gonna be huge" I don't think that's a huge issue - putting it on pop up casters to get it out of the trailer via the ramp. The design I'd use is about 3'W x 3'L x 6'H and weigh roughly 200lbs, with water and filters. Not bad for endless showers :laughing

Roughly this size
400px-Showerloop_Final.jpg


Misc. filter concerns
F6NJ7Q0IGO3HENA.LARGE.jpg


The POC21 build:
Uses ~10liters of water on a loop
The filters last a year+ with daily use - I'm curious how that changes with only weekly use, if chlorine is used to keep bacteria in check. Obviously it would be shorter with infrequent use, letting the water sit.


Here's how the filtration is designed to address most of the concerns I've seen here.

Primary filter layers


  • Screen - keeps large items like hair, debris, badoogle, etc. out of the filters (change daily)
  • Pump - Pushes the water through the system
  • Fabric filter - filters visible and large microscopic debris (annual change)
  • Sand filter - further filters visible and large microscopic debris (annual change)
  • Activated carbon filter - this is the layer doing the heavy lifting, removing the soap, nitrates, and chlorine (so you can run chlorine to keep the previous filters from going nuts with bacteria/algae
  • The UV filter sterilizes the bacteria before is leaves the system and hits you

I see adding one more layer to basically make it drinkable - adding a reverse osmosis membrane to get the salts and solids out. With the UV + RO at the end and chlorine added occasionally in the beginning of the system, it'd be fine for shower purposes.

This kit is not built to handle grey water or the volume of running a shower, otherwise it'd be a perfect solution.

"I would be very cautious of a homemade system by a person who is not really into the engineering and background of water safety."

What danger are you envisioning if it's not being consumed?
 
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