The Walden Effect: Farming, simple living, permaculture, and invention.

outdoor shower

There's something rather glorious about a simple outdoor shower. Mark built one, here's my take.

Not as perfect as a waterfall, but more convenient. I put it together in lego mode, just snapping bits together until it seemed right. The water barrel collects the flow when the shower is not in use and also serves as ballast. I have replaced the duct taped shower head with a garden watering wand since taking the picture, as well as adding things like a soap dish.

My shower is fed down from a small spring house, using 150-some feet of hose, that drops at least 12 feet. That provides enough pressure for a good shower. Earlier this spring, there was enough water flowing to leave the hose running all the time. Now that the spring has slowed to a trickle, I turn the shower off when not in use, so it can build up a head of water in the spring house, and be ready for a nice long shower next time.

I've also found that from 10 am on, the hose heats the water enough so it's a hot shower for a few minutes, then a warm shower, before it becomes a cold springfed shower. That's perfect, it's just how I like my showers! By using a black hose this would probably even work in colder parts of the year, as a simple solar shower.


Not that the alternative isn't nice too..

Joey is an occasional guest poster and resident at the Walden Effect. yurtsmall.jpg



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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.



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Can't wait to try it out.
Comment by Errol Wed Jun 1 16:34:46 2011

I'm fiercely allergic to poison ivy. I'm planning on setting one of these up, along with a small screen to keep the neighbors peeping eyes out. At the moment I just enter through the mud room, throw the clothes immediately into the washing machine then immediately take a shower with tec-nu. It works, but I'd rather do the whole things outdoors so I could keep the crap entirely out of the house, clean gear after hunting, etc.

http://deathtozombies.com

Comment by diggitydog Sat Jun 4 20:05:36 2011

Daddy --- I'm sure Joey would be glad to share. :-)

Diggitydog --- Ah, the joys of living in the country. We never even think about privacy screens.

Comment by anna Sat Jun 4 20:20:05 2011





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