The location of the shower stall is within 6 feet of the actual well source that feeds the sink in the shop as well as our garden hose. However, there are two right angle curves that had to be takem into account as well as a split so that the shower could run without disrupting our garden watering system. The hot water then had to be fed into the hose so it could sit and heat and be ready to flow on command.
So, the breakdown is this. Water comes up from the well and feeds into a smaller PVC pipe taking a break at a ‘T’ split (which is buried now and can’t be seen) to run in one direction for the shower and in another for the garden irrigation and shop indoor sink. Now, if you follow the water through the ‘T’ and around the corner of the shop (still buried underground) you will see a PVC pipe coming up, splitting at another ‘T’ (this is where the cold water feeds into the shower system), and still continuing to travel upwards to feed into the black polypipe where it then completes the water circuit after traveling through almost 200 ft. of heated, black, poly-goodness. At that point, the person in the shower only needs to use the hot and cold handles as they would an indoor shower and they can mix appropriately what they would like for their shower.
All products used in the shower must be 100% biodegradable as they drain through the shower drain in the floor, travel through a PVC pipe, angling slightly down (and underground, mind you) 8 ft. away to the edge of the garden where it drains and allows for root system irrigation.
Once all the PVC was in place and the pipe connections were solid we went about putting the corrugated metal into place and screwing it in using self tapping metal screws. We used 6 sheets total to wrap both the stall and the dressing area. The door leading into the dressing area was built using leftover white oak planks from an abandoned barn. It closes using a traditional screen porch hinge (yes, the cheap wire kind…not the expensive built in hinges) and locks with an inexpensive bolt lock. All hardware was coincidentally found in trash pile within the city limits on a one day outing.
Inside the dressing area we built a small bench to either sit on or prop your foot up on when drying off. We then put up about 5 hooks for hanging clothes, towels, etc. And we created the shower curtain out of a standard tarp from the hardware store with a few grommet holes for the shower curtain rings.
All in all, it is a pretty basic shower system with great functionality and a lot of personality.
If you have any specific questions feel free to email me or view the entire Flickr set. Well … smell you later!