Checking the Off Grid Shower's Rainwater Plumbing After First Winter
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 พ.ค. 2023
- Last year I showed y'all how I plumbed my off-grid outdoor shower using rain catchment, with a pump, accumulator tank, filters, PEX pipes and all that good stuff (that video: • Plumbing with Rainwate... ).
Since people seemed to like seeing that, I thought I'd do an update video to see how it survived its first winter.
I also decided to upgrade the filter from a 5 micron wound cotton filter (amzn.to/3WjqeiK) I originally used, to a 1 micron activated carbon filter (amzn.to/41WmDIF) to help improve the water quality and reduce potential hazards such as Giardia
• NEW - 1 Micron Filter: amzn.to/41WmDIF
• OLD - 5 Micron Filter: amzn.to/3WjqeiK
• Pump: amzn.to/3oQmzwn
• Accumulator Tank: amzn.to/3oJxbwK
• Clear Filter Unit: amzn.to/3LDUe53
• Pex Crimp Kit: amzn.to/40Om8Qp
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Question: Are you finding the dual valves on the shower useful? Since the heater has temp/flow control, would a single valve shower been easier? Thanks!
Really enjoyed this video! I have a question for ya.
I am looking to do something similar, but am blessed to have a creek below i can use to pump into my water holding tank.
In the summertime, being that the temperature of the “cold water” isn’t cold at all, i would assume the “cold water” tap on your shower acts as a very slight trim to your hot water.
I hear some people say that even on minimum gas setting the water can be scolding hot almost, and being that your heater doesnt have to heat up freezing cold water, i imagine it gets VERY hot even on the minimum settings. Was just wondering if this was the case and if your “cold water” tap indeed acts as a trim to make it a comfortable temperature.
Also have you had any issues with the cold water tap pressure fighting the hot water tap pressure when both valves are open and having your heater trip on low flow?
A lot of people say you cant really have a single mixing valve but two separate valves one hot, and one cold seems like it wouldn’t be as much of an issue.
Thanks for the great content 🙌
If I understand your question, two questions maybe, the heater is like any tankless heater you would have in a home, it regulates flame and water flow to achieve a constant temperature. There is also a summer/winter setting on this model. That said, since I rely on rain, and it’s been a completely dry summer I haven’t had a chance to use it to text that idea.
As for the mix taps, the accumulator tank holds the pressure (after the pump but beige the filter) at 65psi. Which is plenty of pressure to provide full flow to the faucets (and the low flow shower head). So there is no drop in pressure wether. And yes the cold faucet mixes the direct feed with the hot, so you could turn the hot just a tiny bit, (or not at all) and adjust manually.
Overall though, it’s an outdoor shower for a camp site and it’s never going to be like a fancy hotel shower with perfect pressure and temp controls and infinite water. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Thanks for watching. :)
Try using a black barrel. The blue barrel let's sunshine in. How did you quiet your pump?
Yeah, I might try painting the barrel, or build a wood frame/box around it. A plastic barrel (blue or black) is hardly the look I’m going for. LOL 😂 For the pump I ended up pulling it off the plywood wall and mounted it to a cinderblock with some concrete screws. It helped, but I think a lot of the noise is coming from the remaining plumbing fixtures, so I don’t have a solid solution yet. It’s still an annoying sound.
@@lumberingshenanigansis the sound constant? Or only when water is flowing?
Just while the pump is running. The pump is triggered by the drop in water pressure when you turn the faucet. So “only while using” but still an annoying sound. I haven’t fully tracked down what’s making the sound actually. When I used to use this same pump just to transfer water it seemed very quiet, so I have a hunch it’s the WAY it pumps water that causes the pipes and other parts of the system to vibrate.
@@lumberingshenanigans I also think a black barrel or UV protection might already do the job, since algea shouldn't be able to grow inside of the tank anymore. Great job by the way!
Black paint seems like a popular solution, or at least a step towards one. Thanks for watching and contributing. :)
Is the pump operated off a solar charging system? I just bought 11 acres and I'm living out of a tent while I get some off grid/no grid systems in place and the shower build is probably going to be the second addition, after a composting toilet.
Congrats on the land. Where in the world are you? And yeah priorities are so unique to every individual. I just “dug a hold in the ground” for the first year, it was only when other people started showing up to stay at the site that I had to build a more user friendly toilet. But yes, the shower pump and lighting all runs at 12v off a battery that’s recharged by a 50watt renogy panel using a really cheap and simple 10amp renogy charge controller. I should do an episode just on the electrical setup, but it would be very similar to this one I did for the a-frame: th-cam.com/video/383I_3TrFCQ/w-d-xo.html
If you are looking to buy a solar rig of any size, I’ve been very happy with all the stuff I’m using from Renogy. In my camper, in the a-frame, and in the shower build. Full disclosure, because I do like the products, I signed up to be a Renogy affiliate, and this link should help support the channel with a tiny percentage of any sale: renogy.sjv.io/a132KY - If you have any more specific questions about solar feel free to ask.
As for the pump… if I were trying to solve the shower problem from scratch, I would probably have grabbed one of the camping specific units like this one: amzn.to/3OORcwV Which are all self contained and run off an internal battery. I’ve not used one, but they look like a much simpler self-contained solution. Throw that outside a little shower tent like this one I’m using for a toilet tent and you’re all set: amzn.to/43Ab4bn .but if you’re looking for a more “installed” option that would need power for the pump, Camplux (who make the pump I used) also have a kit that combines the pump and a heater: amzn.to/3C6Gs5K
I hope this was useful, please follow up if something was unclear. Shared links are affiliate links.
@@lumberingshenanigans I do appreciate all the information. I'm going to look into it and if I go with the Renogy, I'll definitely use your affiliate link.
As far as where I'm at, I'm in the south eastern region of the United States.
Another youtuber that I cant remember right off has a nice video on a composting toilet system that I'm probably try to replicate. The shower design you have is great, but I'm going to try to find a way to incorporate it in with the cabin that I plan on building.
Oh yeah if you’re building it into a cabin then you’ll want the kind of heater I have (vented for indoor use) and you could get a bigger pump and use the same system to plumb other stuff too. I have a single cold water faucet running off the shower plumbing, but it could just as easily feed a hot/cold sink, or a hose for the yard etc. Especially if you’re in a region that doesn’t freeze. Building a proper cabin in on my to-do list for the 2023!
The Pacific North West gets winter?
Welcome to the channel! Yes we get winters here, not as harsh as the Midwest, but a little colder than Scotland in the UK for example. The peak of Lumbering Shenanigans Forest is around 1k in elevation and is fairly near the Columbia River Gorge, so we get hit. The past few years have seen more heavy snows, harsh winter storms, and definitely enough below zero days to split irrigation connections and destroy unheated outdoor plumbing. *According to WSU, the average minimum temp for Washington State was 19.8º in December 2022. Thanks for watching! :)
35% Food Grade Hydrogen Peroxide
Hey thanks for the tip. The new filter has definitely been helping. But can you say more? Like, do you know how much would be right to add to a 50 gallon barrel?
@@lumberingshenanigans 2 mL of 35% hydrogen peroxide per 1 gallon of tap water. There are 3,785 ml per 1 gallon. So 1 gallon or 128 oz of 35% hydrogen peroxide can treat 1,892 gallons of water.
@@lumberingshenanigans We use a Danner AP-20 Air Pump and a Plasma Discharge Ozone generator to disinfect our water in a 275 gallon IBC Tote. Using a SeaFlo series 55 12 volt pump the water is sent through three stage filter with a 20, 5 and 1 micron polyester cleanable filters. The pump is very quite dose not require a pressure accumulator. runs off solar power.
Oh wow! You’re blowing my mind here. None of these options have come up in any of my googling. Amazing. Okay, this is great, so you pump ozone/air into a tube that goes under the water in the tote, like you would an aquarium? Did you find a 12v ozone generator? All the ones I’ve found so far seem to be 120v.
And thanks for the review of the SeaFlow 55 pump, after you saying that I’m looking at the 33, which is listed for intermittent use and is more the capacity suited to this setup I think, and 1/3 the price. A great help! Do you have a channel on here where you’re sharing this info?
@@lumberingshenanigans The Ozone and air pump are 120 volts. I use an aeration stone made for Ozone and C-PVC pipe because it resists ozone. I got a small 600 watt pure sine wave inverter to run them. I could send you links, non affiliated.
No to the channel, some day maybe. The SeaFlo series 42 is like the 33 but it dose pressure bypass and does not need the accumulator tank. it produces 55 psi at 3.0 GPM. My 55 does 60 psi at 5.5 gallons per minute. I have two in parallel to produce 11 GPM. Ozone is better then Chlorine and Hydrogen Peroxide, and is 100% safe.