Outdoor solar shower

[KrisIL]

Hi
Have anybody here build a outdoor solar shower ? Have seen that one DIY solar shower but cannot find the black ABS pipe anywhere near me. So I was thinking of using one of the black 55 gallons drums food graded. But not sure if I connect hose to it there will be enough pressure to push the water upwards toward the shower head. Any ideas?

 

[Richard320]

Flex poly piping is sold in huge rolls in the irrigation/sprinkler section at Lowes.

Years ago when I worked at a Boy Scout camp, we set up a temporary field shower and tried solar heat by laying coils of 1½ poly tubing out in the sun. The first few showerers got scalded, the next few were okay, and everyone else got ice water straight from the well. A barrel will work only if it's sealed air tight and the outlet is at the high point. Open the shower and let all the air bleed out and let it heat up. If the hose can push water up that high by itself, the barrel is just a wide spot so it will work.

Personally, what's wrong with finding black garden hose? It's already got fittings on it and if things don't work out the way you hope, you at least have plenty of hose to use for other stuff.

 

[KrisIL]

Basically it takes a lot of space and does not look as clean as other things

 

[jeffbrig]

The ones you can purchase allow you to mix the hot water with tap water for temperature control. That's worth a couple hundred bucks instead of getting scalded at first, at least IMO...

 

[KrisIL]

The ones you can purchase allow you to mix the hot water with tap water for temperature control. That's worth a couple hundred bucks instead of getting scalded at first, at least IMO...

I spoke to my wife. And since we have two young kids we decided to buy one.

 

[bobby1017]

The one in the first post is similar to one I built, it in my pool thread. Works pretty good if the day temps hit 80 deg, you will get at least 10 min of warm water.