You are so welcome! Thanks for watching! We don’t always have all the answers but we want to be honest about how things are working out for us! Hopefully it will help other while they are designing their systems.
Exactly what I was referencing in my comment above. The pros and cons of practical applied use are missing from most of the "Recirculating Shower" design How-to's. I've been pretty successful in getting feedback from the original author's by direct communication though.
Just an idea, which still need some details worked out: 1. Add a diverter valve with an input from your primary fw tank. This will allow switching between recirculate and fw tank. 2. Add a second drain, routed to a gray water tank. 3. Determine a way to toggle between the two drains. Could be as simple as toggling a plug between modes… 4. Now, you take “Navy Shower” as a pre-wash using primary fw and drained to gray tank. At this point you will have washed with whatever cleansers you desire. You are cleaned and rinsed using a minimal amount of fw. 5. Switch system to recirculating and take you long hot water shower. This should extend your maintenance cycles a little, since, you have pre washed. “Navy Shower”, 1. Get wet, shut off water. 2. Soap up - scrub. 3. Water on - rinse.
something like this would be my "dream loop shower". i think you could even go so far and automatize it using a sensor connected to an arduino or an rpi that measures conductivity or ph which should increase when there is soap in the water triggering a two-way-valve and knock off the very soapy water.
it would require the water to run down some kind of carefully designed pipe with exactly known timing between the sensor and the valve and require a steady flow - therefore you could run the system only within very small margins - making it more complex overall. but i am sure something like this has been done yet though.
@@wotzefakiu I love the concept! It sounds like a very fun project for some people and a nightmare for others... Finding the right sensor or combination of sensors to work in concert with each other would be a fun challenge. This does bring back memories of trying to unify all my entertainment devices with a Logitech Harmony remote - for the wife... She just wanted one button to start it all up. It got close, but, occasionally it would go off the rails and then she wanted to throw the $300+ remote across the room... I suppose if you could make it reliable enough for anyone else in you group you would be good. You could kit them up an sell them. I built a BBQ control system that way. For me, to keep a remote lifestyle at an acceptable level of frustration I would opt for simple, reliable, and easy to troubleshoot.
Dude, you’re a genius! Awesome solutions! But if I were to install the shower system, I’d not install a gray water tank. I would do it like this: I’d first rinse off using the recirculating shower system. Then, when I’m soaping and rinsing off the soap, I’d turn off the recirculating shower, and instead of the water going to the gray tank, it’ll go straight to the ground( I’ll be using natural products which are good for the environment). What’s the point of carrying all of that dirty water with you when you can simply use natural cleaning products and dump it onto the ground?
@@frankyeetermann4718 I wouldn't dump it directly on the ground if I was stealth camping in an urban like area, but otherwise yes that's a good idea. Maybe have a siwtch in the shower that could allow for all 3 options on the fly?
You need a pre filter in the drain hole in your shower floor, that will eliminate that one problem. Simply pull it out and clean it after each shower. The reverse flow will help with your other problem until someone comes up with a better idea.
I have skin conditions and I shy away from a lot of soaps and body washes. I know how well hot water and a scrub feels on the skin. The wife and I have an entire decade to plan for our nomad lifestyle. Videos like this are super helpful in getting us prepared. Thank you for making this :) New subscriber.
Recycling shower makes perfect sense to me, based on decades of personal experience. I stopped using shampoo &/or conditioner 25 years ago. Just water. Now 71, my hair is still red and mostly still there. My hair stylist daughter is amazed. My hair shines, and oiliness and dandruff tapered off to nearly nothing in the first year. Stopped using soap about 15 years ago. Water and a wash cloth does the trick. No problem at all. Always 3 fresh passes under the pits every shower for me. We garden, walk, ride bikes, sit in church, and sleep together. We shower 2-6 times per week, depending on work, weather, and swimming frequency. No problem at all.
Awesome! We love hearing success stories like this! To be absolutely honest, we feel cleaner not using all the soaps and our skin is so much healthier.
I am an ED travel Nurse as well and I am in the planning stage of an overlander build. When I am on assignment lodging in lots of locations around the country is very expensive and also in very short supply. Last year I spent over $21,000 on the most basic lodging on assignment in Washington! The overlander will be lodging on days I work and adventure vehicle/camper to go boondocking on days off. I am interested in a recirculating shower concept so I appreciate you guy providing the good and bad issues with that design.
For over a year, I’ve used baking soda in water as ‘shampoo’ and apple cider vinegar in water as ‘conditioner’. Depending on the season, I now go for 7-10 days between hair washings. As for soap, due to allergies and sensitivities, I’ve used water and friction in showers for decades. Thanks for sharing the info on your shower. If I ever outfit a van, this would be something I’d want to add!
Thanks so much for sharing! I may have to give the baking soda and ACV a try for my hair. How exactly do you use the baking soda? Do you mix a small about of it in water?
I use approx 1 tsp soda to 3/4 cup water. I put both solutions into small squeeze bottles and leave in shower stall. Lasts me 3-4 washings. However I have short hair! If you search, you’ll find gals with long hair using this method; might give you more accurate info!
Oh, and I keep a small drinking cup in the shower, put the T of baking soda in before getting wet. Then when you add water from the shower, you're not pouring cold liquid on your head. Leave in for a bit, rinse, then guess at a tablespoon of ACV (bottle lives in the shower) into the cup, add warm shower water. Much more comfortable.
NoPoo lol. No need shampoo. Once a year is good. My hair feels so much nicer now that I didn't shampoo and condition. 😆 My wife hasn't left me yet either lol
You can use 1 micron filter and reverse osmosis system. Water after reverse osmosis system is as clean as distillated water. You can drink it, or use for cooking. This system automatically divides water to two parts, so it has two output pipes. Distillated-clean water pipe and dirty gray water pipe. Proportions is like 1 to 1- it's easilly adjustable thing. So with this system you can't recirculate all water, only half, BUT this half will be ideally clean water. Sorry for my English.
Thanks! Its something we have considered, although we think its pretty easy to just pull the filter outs and rinse them too. If out next improvements arent sufficient, we are definitely think about this though! Thanks for watching!
I'm glad you talked about the problem with using soap, on my recirculating shower project i found the use of a Cleansing foam (Aloe Vesta) to work very well.
Hi Guys! Thank you so much for sharing this video (the first I see from you but will not be the only one I´ve subscribe already) Nice setup you have there, I am not in the Van life but willing to do in the future. I think I have something that you might find interesting and even helpful. Sorry, IT WILL BE A LONG POST but TOTALLY WORTH IT. First you need to be in context. I was in charge of a small 2 building 11 apartments construction with a pool in the common area, that was in Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, México. For reasons too long to mention I lived in the site during construction and a couple fellow workers lived there on workdays as well so I was there basically 24/7. Once we finished the pool I started to look for somebody to take care of it, being a tourist zone those services were expensive at the time and the owner (a friend) was running out of money fast so we were struggling terribly to finish the construction. Me being a foreigner and knowing nobody to do it for cheap I was pushed to look for solutions soon before the water turning green. First thing was go to my nearest Pool store and ask what products to use and how often, not very helpful neither effective, levels were all over the place, water was cloudy most of the time, (according to them because of the construction, partly right) and it was soo time and money consuming so I did a lot of research and suddenly I happily stumbled onto www.troublefreepool.com/blog/ Woooow! Did I learned something! Long story NOT SO short I learned how to keep a reasonably clean pool (construction site considering) and a reasonably clear water as well. It took a lot of time at the beginning but later a short 30-40 minute routine every other day (brushing mostly, what a great workout!) and pouring liquid chlorine every night did the job, that and 8-10 hours a day of filtering (30,000 liter pool around 7,000 galons which HAVE to go through filtering twice at least). To brush the sides of the pool you walk around the pool but for some of the bottom and intermediate wall you MUST get in the childrens area to do it right (you take corners and you will have to go into those same corners later, meaning DEEP DIVE BRUSHING!) so I would put my shorts and do the maintenance right willingly (water was around 27 degree Celsius, around 78 fahrenheit at the time so it was not so bad). As I mentioned water was reasonably clean but not “sparkling” so I kept reading articles in the troublefreepool site and ended adding Boric Acid to it. SIDE NOTE: Because of the boots up to 17 hours a day as well as caps/hats regularly I had athlete´s feet and some dandruff). NOW INTO THE DISCOVERY! Remember I told you I had to go into the pool in the children´s area? Well, after maybe 15 or 20 days since I added the boric acid one day I noticed my feet were INUSUALLY CLEAN, SOFT WITH NO ATHLETE´S FEET ANYMORE! That made me wonder why if I changed nothing (Not on purpose at least!). Thinking a lot about it for several days I got to the conclusion that had to be the pool´s water so I decided to give it a try to confirm my suspicion and asked my fellow workers to sit around the pool and get their feet in it while having some beers (they did the beers anyways so... LOL) and on my side I stopped taking showers and after brushing the pool started getting in the deep side of the pool to do exercise, then “wash my body” with a white scotch brite or body scrubber and massage my head while submerged to clean it. A few weeks later dandruff was gone too, on their side not conclusive results due to them saying their feet were warm from work and getting cold in the pool which gave them cramps at night so they stopped getting their feet wet (did not stop the beers though HAHAHA). So back at those days sometimes I would wonder (and MAYBE YOU ARE RIGHT NOW!) if that´s enough for cleaning but I concluded that if that water got rid of athlete´s feet and dandruff in a few days It well could get rid of any bacteria or dirt you might have on you. Should I mention my friend (the money guy) his couple and a couple friends of them too visited the apartments for a few days, at arrival my friend and his girlfriend to whom I´ve not seen in many months asked me what I´ve being doing to my skin because I looked younger (Same thing said my son whom I happened to not see long time too) and I mentioned it would be the pool water and the sea salt in it (Yes! I added Sea Salt weeks after the boric acid). First day of their visit we went for a bit into the pool and then out to get ready to go out, that day my friend´s girl asked me what did I used in the shower to get rid of the chlorine oddor on my hair because hers was so smelly even after shampoo and conditioner -Educational note later- and how I managed to be out of my apartment ready so soon and before than everybody. I told her it was a secret (it was at that time), my friend in the other hand mentioned that I should check for pH levels because he was itchy all over his body. The second day, same story with her and not so bad with him (pH levels OK though), It was then when I told them I did not use anything special because I was NOT taking showers at all for weeks then and that was why I was ready to go so soon. All of them were shocked! (and skeptical). THEY COULD NOT BELIEVE IT! Third day like a routine we went out of the pool to get ready, when I got out of my apartment one of the friends was still with his feet in the water and I did not give it importance (pool is next to my apartment). When the others came out all of a sudden he goes like “It is true!, HE DID NOT SHOWER!” He was checking on me! LOL. Couple of days later there is my friend, his girl and me enjoying the pool (the other two were gone) and he goes like “You know, I did not believe you at first but there is something with your water, the first couple of days I was itchy all over the place but yesterday and today I only in these little tiny bristles left from a feet-hand-mouth infection I got time ago and some of them are even popping!, I can´t believe it! We should patent it and sell it to Spas! (I gave it a thought every once in a while but never did, hehehe). Those were my happy poolbath days (all year round no matter what, even on rainy days, although not freezing temperatures here) for long 18 months since I realized how good it was until the property got sold :`( How often would I change water would you ask? I did not! Not even once! Daily filtering, brushing every other day, pour chlorine every night, and checking levels every 3-4 days (once you know your pool and users) and vacuuming every once in a while. Since then I´ve being thinking a way to make a system with a sand filter for a tub or shower since I do not own a pool nor have the money/place to make one at the moment but I still want to get the benefits of it. THE EDUCATIONAL NOTE: That “Chlorine oddor” you smell in pools it is not actually chlorine, it is combined chlorine also called chloramines, a toxic (yes) “intermediate breakdown product created in the process of sanitizing the pool. CC causes the “chlorine” smell many people associate with chlorine pools.” (as noted in ABC’s of Pool Water Chemistry). Remember that smelly oddor my friend´s girlfriend could not get rid off? It results she had her hair dyed one day prior so chlorine was acting against it. Same as my friend´s itchy skin, chlorine was acting against everything he had on him. Another point here, you´ve heard of women having her hair turn green “because of an excess of chlorine” that is another misconception, there are systems which used copper tubing and/or copper inclusive chemicals which when reacting with chlorine free copper into the water, something not noticeable until, yes you guessed it, a woman enters with a freshly dyed hair and then gets green colored. Safety personal recommendation, if you go to a pool which smells A LOT like chlorine Do Not Enter! Chances are there is not enough free chlorine to handle all the water has in it. Side effects of CC are irritation of eyes and breathing system. Time ago it was well documented although not well spread (not sure now but would not be surprised) it was common to young swimmers in schools (specially competing boys/girls) that had continuous health problems regarding chloramines. Unfortunately there is a lot of knowledge not spread around pool water because of mean or commercial interests. About the Sea Salt, used it because the water in the Yucatán Peninsula is pretty hard so to get it a softer feeling I used salt. Turns out the Sea Salt I got (Yucatán harvested) had a list of properties (it was used a lot for cows and other animals so they do not dehydrate therefore the list) and it happened to have over 70 different minerals which I assume are absorbed by the skin or something because WOW! it made a difference. So if you ever decide to try it get a decent unprocessed natural salt not your regular table fluor added salt. More about it here: www.troublefreepool.com/threads/can-i-add-salt-to-a-chlorine-pool.28286/ To finish: Poolmath calculator: www.troublefreepool.com/calc.html I did enter values for 27000 liters because it won´t give some results for a 27 liter amount. If you are willing to give it a try I will be more than happy to pass the out but I´ve ran out of time for now. More about chlorine: www.troublefreepool.com/blog/glossary/free-chlorine/ www.troublefreepool.com/blog/2019/01/18/chlorine-cya-chart/ If you want to know about borates in a pool check this: www.troublefreepool.com/threads/so-you-want-to-add-borates-to-your-pool-why-and-how.4655/
P.S. If you give it a try you must turn off your UV light, it will KILL the chlorine since there is no stabilizer (CYA). There were several hours in that post (noyt counting the ones to learn all that and resume it togheter. Hope it is good for somebody else too!
Hi, a good candid video. We have been using virtually the same system and you are absolutely right about not using any soap, a good long hot shower is perfectly ok, the only differences with our routine is we use large biodegradable antibacterial wipes to clean ourselves before each shower and have a hair wash and soapy shower before renewing the holding tank water.
hi there great to watch your video , i built recirculating shower in my caravan and it works very well i noticed that your set up has a few issues i had the same problem with mine at first i quickly realised that the filter just before the pump was to small and would clog up to quick so i come out of the shower into a much larger filter 200 mesh filter then to a small filter on the pump it then runs to my spin down filter then to my 5 micron to a .5 micron filter through my heater and back to the shower , if you have your spin down just after the pump its as simple as opening the valve and draining it out we have had no issues with our shower and our main filters are much bigger than yours happy to help mick from Australia
Definitely recommend using natural soaps and shampoos that are abundantly available. Not just for your system but also for the planet. Great vid tho. I too appreciate your transparency!
I'm 5 years from living in a OLV and am training myself with good water consumption habits now. One habit I've stopped was turning on the hot water for everything. I only use hot 10% of the time now. With the cooler weather I only shower once every two days. I will have the luxury to build and live/test my systems way before I go on the road. I will design all wiring and plumbing to be easily accessible for maintenance. Thanks for this information, standing on sholders
You are so welcome! Testing is important before hitting the road! Having designed the system we knew we had a solid idea but had no idea how it would actually turn out. Thank you for watching!
Thank you! It’s awesome to see everybody working to make a better system… maybe one day it will be the standard in RV’s, buses, and vans! Thank you for watching!
For anyone comming to this in the future. Pure sandlwood powder is an amazing soap and shampoo replacement. Look into it I won't go into all the details here. It takes a bit getting used to using it as shampoo but I have thin dry hair and my gf has thick hair and it works in both of ours. Just use a really nice leave in conditioner like k18 if needed AFTER showering.Also seems weird rubbing essentialy dirt on your face and body but I actually like it better then soap now. We don't use it at home except for face washing just bc it isbkinda expensive but on the road in a recirculation shower it is amazing for everyday sweat and dirt. The thing that makes it amazing is the regular 3 stage filters capture all of it and don't clog the system bc you don't need much and all the powder is over 10 microns at the smallest. Most of it gets caught in the 25 micron filters and the rest in the 10 and .5 and .2 we have a 4 stage with uv filter. Spin down, then 25 micron, then the 10, then a combo filter with a .5 and .2 then carbon then the uv filter. Water never smells and is always clear. Runs off 2 gallons could use less but we like having more in the system just bc lol
Great video thank guys! An idea.. two water tanks, one shower basin, with two plugs. Fist tank and plug is the recycling system for getting wet to lather up. Close plug A. Open plug B. The second tank washes away lather into a grey tank. Close Plug B Open plug A. Then back to first tank one to finish the shower for comfort.
If one has room a two tank system. Grey tank with sediment capture filtered to clean source tank. You are perfecting and learning for others, so thank you both.
When I have my skip a shower day, I use hyperchlorous solution I make with salt water that goes through electrolysis (which frees up the chlorite). I end up smelling like I just got out of a swimming pool, and it totally kills sweat smells. You might try using some of that before rinsing off in your shower. I don’t use it on my hair, though. I use a baking soda/ water mixture, and rinse with a bit of vinegar.
@@yxcvmk I got mine from a place online called Pur-Well. I fill the spray bottle to the line and add a spoonful of regular table salt. (Spoon is included.) I make sure the sprayer is off. Then, I plug it in and push the button. When it indicates that it is finished, I unplug it, turn the sprayer to the spray setting, and use it as I need to. DO NOT get this in your eyes or mouth, or any mucous membranes! But, judicious use on stinky areas helps a lot! You can also use it to disinfect your home’s surfaces!
I've seen something like this in hot tubs you add salt or Epsom salts and it is ran through an anode powered with about 12v creates chlorine. But one could simply add chlorine from time to time to break down organics and Clarifier to lump the oils and soaps.
Love your videos - they are brilliant! Technical suggestion:- If you want to use soap and shampoo etc in your recirculating shower, have you considered using a much larger centrifugal filter (I think you referred to them as spin down) or multiple centrifugal filters without any other filtration at all apart from a pump pre-filter? Think of how a Dyson vacuum cleaner works. Yes, even a Dyson vacuum cleaner has a standard filter, but 99.999% of what is removed is thanks to the centrifugal vortex effect. The higher the flow rate in your shower (bigger pump if necessary), the greater the potential effectiveness of centrifugal filters. I believe that a properly sized centrifugal filter combined with a more powerful pump could totally transform your system. You should not get the water flow issues associated with choked standard filters. You would obviously still require a pump suction filter - ideally very coarse mesh type and not too small. Another advantage of centrifugal filters is that they can be cleaned just by briefly opening the drain valve. Possibly a powered centrifugal filter rotating at high speed - if you can find one - might perform nearer to 5 microns?
Thank you so much! That’s an interesting suggestion! Will definitely have to do some research and see if it will work with our setup! Thank you for watching!
Wouldn't this extra pressure be too much for a continuous shower? I mean your could slow down the water rate but wouldn't that depressurize the water flow? Could you please explain? Thanks
I learned along time ago in restaurant dish cleaning that presoaking the dishes in cold water was an awesome first step. These days I wash my pans and dishes right after use or cold pre soak ( egg yoke ) and hot water wash with a mild scrub works just fine.
Ever consider wrapping the drain plug in 2 layers of cheese cloth? One facing one way, the threads of the 2nd cloth in opposite direction, then clip it back in place. I would think this would catch a lot of hair as well.
That actually doesn't work as well as the gadget he is currently using, which is made from silicon. Cheesecloth deteriorates rapidly when wet and will end up disintegrating into the drain and getting caught in the tubing. I've done this method in household drains and the silicon plugs DO work best. And they're only about $5 from Amazon.
@@richlouie99 thanks for the info. The drain we have does trap a lot of hair. We haven’t seen any making it past our drain trap to any of the other fikters
@@richlouie99 Hi Richlouie, ty for your comment on my comment. It would have to be cleaned after every use, and put back. That way it could be closely watched. But I do get what you are saying. :)
Thankyou for this . Your presentation was clear and really made me think. Being older I’ve settled on the simplicity and the versatility of the Evershower. Thankyou again
Thank you for watching! This is definitely a viable option and I like the portability of the system. If we didn’t have our system we could have easily accommodated that shower solution. Every system has its pros and cons. If you do get it let us know how it works for you!
A hard Castile type soap with the Epsom salt might be a viable option(lavender/tea tree).. You can also make if so inclined (hot process so You can use when cool).. A side note on the filters, the time listed on the filter for changing is not for debris, but the bacteria trapped and growing through the filter..( I would suspect the vinegar add would help to kill/slow that down).. There is also a wye screened prefilter that can be blown out without having to dismantle like the plastic one... hope it's helpful, & I look forward to the next update..
I wonder if there could be a more basic recirculating shower that doesn't store the same water days on end or require all the filtration. You could maybe stand in a deep shower tray with a plug in it to keep the water in and use fresh heated water initially until the tray was full. Then, when there was enough water in the tray, switch a pump on which recirculates only that water though the shower, and cut off the fresh hot water supply. Your shower could then last as long as the water stays warm. When you're ready to finally rinse off, drain the tray and use just a quick spray of fresh water to get the last of the soap off. You'd use more water between refills as the water for each shower would be dumped, but it wouldn't be a ton and you could use your soaps and not need filtration.
There is currently such a system on the market! Water is changed every time. They don’t have a heated option as of yet but the company says coming soon! Thank you for watching
We are building our campervan now and we'll have recirculating shower too. Your videos are very helpful. Is always better to learn from the other people mistakes and experiences. Thanks a lot. 😇 👍 👩⚕️ 👨⚕️🚿
Thank you for the information, and I'll be looking at the other videos...but, it doesn't look like this is an upgrade I'll be making for my Class C in the future. I had never heard of a system like this, so it was interesting to learn about your experience.
Excellent video. I had seen this type of shower in someone else's custom van video and they made it seem like it was magical--but clearly there is some maintenance. I notice that the first thing in the shower is the thingy that is supposed to catch hair. Those types of things always let a lot of hair get by them. Some cheapo round metal screen thing above that (could be resting convex over the entire piece) could be worthwhile (and only like a $2 investment). I had to put one of these in our kids shower after pulling a massive wad of hair out of the drain.
Thank you so much! Still tweaking here and there. We were skeptical about such a shower at first, and while not perfect, it works for us! The tub shroom works for catching hair pretty well. Thank you for watching!
A friend of mine is adding recirculating shower to his new build. He has a different approach from the start. He is aiming for the smallest possible recirculating tank, but he will be using a regular hot water tank as well. His system is complex because it will have heat recuperating function., and there is "double up of everything", more pipes, more drains, etc. The idea is to start off with an army shower., that is a separate system with separate drain hole, and feed pipe I guess. Get clean and scrubbed down with soap and shampoo using as little water as possible. This water goes to regular grey tank. Then after getting scrubbed he will switch to the recirculating tank and he will be able to shower for a long period., I assume it will have it's own pipes and drain holes and pipes to filters and back to recirculating tank. Lots of pipes, lots of possible leaks and problems....But this will put as as little wear on the filters as possible, as there will be no soap or shampoo and likely less hair and skin cells in the return water for the recirculating system as body and hair is already washed off and clean. His build plans are for medical reasons first and foremost because he suffers from a bad case of arthritis. Long hot showers seems to help him get a decent start in the morning. I don't know more about his system, but I know ha is aiming for 7 filters in total, as well as some anti bacterial LED light or UV light. Will see next summer when his build is completed how it all works out and how often he needs to dump the recirculating tank and add new fresh and clean water, as well as the filters etc.
Someone else mentioned something similar, but I don’t understand. Once you’ve taken the quick shower and have gotten clean... what more is left to a shower?
His system does sound a bit more involved! We do like hearing about other systems and how they end up working! If you can update us on how it goes that would be great! Thank you for watching!
“What else is left to shower?” Enjoyment!!!!! Even in a house with virtually unlimited amounts of water, how long do you actually wash w soap and a wash cloth? It’s about enjoyment/quality of life….the soap/shampoo and wash cloth part is just a small of a nice long hot shower!!
Thanks for this video guys. Im going back and fourth with re-circulating shower, in our van conversion myself. The doubts i have is which kind of soap to use is just the main reason, for my hesitations. So for now we will just use the water from the freshwater tank, as we are just weekend campers for now. So there is no need for complicated shower system at this time. However the system keeps interesting me. What i will try in a test setup inside the house, is what a ultrasonic cleaner and a O3 generator wil do with particles and soap residues, in a funnel shaped holding tank. According to a guy on the internet with a similar boat setup; he claims that the ultrasound break up the particles and the O3 generator can take away bad odors. According to this guy, when the ultrasound cleaner and the O3 cleaner is turned of, the particles will sink into the funnel shaped holding tank. which then can be tapped off until the water becoms clear. If this really works, which i doubt. I will let you know. Ultrasounds only can travel best through filtered soft water. Which is the opposite of shower water. Cheers
Thanks so much for watching! We totally understand your hesitations! We went back an forth with the use before we just decided to go for it! We figure we can easily convert it to a normal shower if we find that this really doesn’t work for us. We are always looking for ways to improve the shower and will make some adjustments when we are somewhere we can do so. The ultrasound sounds very interesting. Would definitely love to know of you figure anything out on it!
What you need is a very fine mesh screen on your shower pan drain. It will catch All hair and a lot of dirt and even soap foam, that you can pull after every shower and shake into garbage. Also...I'd make sure to install entire filtration system inside the van, as this system is not for winter climates!
Weighing environmental impact of the manufacturing and disposal of filters and cleaning them vs discharging mildly soapy water which naturally recycles itself with no landfill or manufacturing impacts. Alternatively, backflushing one of the first inline filters to prevent clogging might only require dumping one gallon of dirty water.
Thanks for the transparency! We actually do shower in our van 1 once a day and get 6 days of water which includes drinking and cooking, but we have to haul around 40 gallons of water and use adjustable water restricted do to our van being very small. I really wanted to set up the system like yours but was limited on space and do spend in sub freezing temperatures. You are so right you have to compromise:). We find a lot of vanlifers don't use there showers and end up going to gyms
We definitely wanted to be transparent with this. We want to help people make better systems and feel like sharing the problems will help people come up with better solutions! I look forward to the day that someone figures out a similar system that will have a small footprint and be better for van applications. We mostly don’t plan to be in cold weather and if we had we probably wouldn’t have mounted under the van. We just figure if we do need to be in cold temps we will just purge the system and seek out other ways to shower. It’s definitely a work in progress and needs some fine tuning
@@WanderfulRevolution Have you looked at the "Hour Shower" by Gone Boondocking? He has the entire system housed in an enclosure that he can hang on the wall INSIDE the Wet Bath. This would seem to resolve some of the problems inherent in having components exposed to the weather and temperatures. ua-cam.com/video/8s3jsleHXcI/v-deo.html
Thanks for the "spin down filter" info. I am creating my own portable camping/emergency hot shower & drinking water filtration system and did not know about that particular filter. I went right to my big box store and got the housing and filter ordered. Always Be Prepared
Thoughts on the use of enzymes? They are used on pools, along with Sanitizer/Chlorine/Bromine. This creates the same circular system pools utilize. You can maintain the PH using pool resources to ensure there is no issue when dumping.
wondering if you put an efficient dehumidifier that drained into the shower you may never have to fetch a heavy jug again... you would have a recirculating shower that is always full of distilled water...eureka!
There are systems that reclaim water from the air and fill your tanks! We didn’t learn about these systems until much later! Maybe a future retrofit? Thank you for watching!
I love your video. Fine tuning your system to work better over time is the goal. I wish the major RV manufacturers would incorporate a Recirculating shower in their RV designs.
Thanks so much for watching! It would definitely be great if someone could come out with a great design. Shower in a box kinda deal. I think there are a couple companies out there working in this. We’d love to have something that has some quality control and water safety testing.
Try add 2 drain plugable Drain Holes on the floor one for cleaning and soap, when your done with soap, unplug the other one just for the water recirculation
I believe your filters are clogging up fast because you aren’t running water backwards to clean the filters after every shower. A small amount of water running backwards into a grey water tank would clean the filters quickly without using too much water. Shower loop and orbital showers both have this feature which allows filters to be cleaned every month instead of every week.
Your channel is amazing - love your honesty - in 1 month when you do your next update - your view about building this shower but perhaps 🤔 more « inside » format (we are in Canada) so the recirculating components could freeze. Although if the land borders actually open back up- we will be trying to run away in the Van.. Hopefully meet you on the road as well
Thanks so much for checking out the video and our channel! This definitely wouldn't be suitable for a Canada winter! WE try to chase nice weather ourselves! Hopefully they open the border for you soon!
Thanks for sharing, this was super informative! Just wondering if you ever did that update video? We did a quick search of your channel but didn't see it.
Seems like a good system! Congrats! I assume you don't live in your van in cold climates? I am saying that because you filters are quite exposed. I would think once you put the 1st (string wound) filter before the screen you could probably take the screen out of the system, because the 1st filter will probably take more out of the water than that screen does. And I agree with Scott K-T who said put in a valve that ends up reversing the flow from between the 3rd and 4th filter back toward the 1st filter! That could save you lots of cleaning!
Thanks so much for watching. Yes we generally try to stay in climates that are above freezing. We recently had to go to an area with some cold temps so we just purged the system until we left the area.
FINALLY, someone who understands where the REAL problem is with reusing water. Soap. I started using baking soda in the shower at home. But I haven't tested any filtration with it. I'm wondering if anyone else has tried it. *edit* Thanks. I just started experimenting with solar distillation - as a precursor to filtration. If I can get anything out of it, I'll try to film it.
Yes, ALWAYS Spin Down 1st on ALL Water Systems!!! Have U Tried Dawn Dish Soap? I’ve Been Washing (dishes/hair/body) Since The Duckling Commercial. Works Gr8!!! I Have (3) 20’s (2) 10’s & a (5), I Find I Clean The 1st (20) wkly, 2nd (20) mthly, 3rd (20) Every 2 mths, 1st (10) Every 2 mths, 2nd (10) Every 4 mths & The (5) Every 6ish mths… I Find Vinegar Dissolves Soap Better Than Epsom Salts…
Thank you! We actually built the entire enclosure! We bought the shower pan on Amazon, then created the falls and lined them with FRP then caulked the corners
Try baking soda and apple cider vinegar mixed in water and put into a spray bottle. I use half a teaspoon on baking soda and 2 tablespoons of vinegar in regular size spray bottle with water. You can play around with the mixture to find what ratio works best for you. This will also clean your hair very well with no need for condition. The vinegar works like a pH balance conditioner this mixture doesnt give any Suds so this will be something you may have to get use to. Some people need those suds to feel like their clean and washing your hair is a little strange with no suds. Sometimes its hard to tell if you got it all clean but if you spray the mixture on your hair rub it in your hair you will have clean hair. This is a very natural way to clean your hair and body it's much better for you then soaps and shampoos. I think this may work well for your filtering system too it may help keep it clean. Note: if your hair feels heavy or not as clean as you like the mixture needs to be changed to fit your body Chemistry add a little more baking soda is your hair feels heavy if your hair feels dry use less baking soda and a little more vinegar just play around with the mixture to you find the right mix for you. When you get it right your hair will feel just as clean as when you use shampoo. This is good for your skin and hair much better then shampoo and soap with all those Chemicals in it....
You could make a 1/2 gallon of 150 ppm hydrchlorus acid (not hydrochloric acid) solution to add to your shower in place of using soap. This will lower the surface tension of the water enough to wet your Skin and the small amount of free chlorine in the water will also kill some potential pathogens as well. Please note though that free chlorine in water will corrode any metal plumbing so check your system before using this process.
I'm pretty sure that your pump pre-filter is on backwards. With all of these style filters the sediment should be accumulating on the outside of the filter. Your pre-filter has all the junk on the inside of the screen, it will drop the flow faster. Another thought is to get a second 50m spin down filter, one before (basically a larger pre-filter) and the one that you have after the pump. You could always change out the filter that clogs the fastest with a 4" diameter filter. I've also heard the the 5m charcoal filters help keep the water 'fresher'. Finally, once you are done running the system for 5 minutes after taking a shower you could dump some calcium chloride (the really cold weather driveway salt) dissolved in water down the drain. This will work better than Epsom salt at precipitating the soaps. The water will be warm, making it even more effective and you could always drain off a bit of water (the next day) to dump the precipitates that accumulated at the bottom of the holding tank.
I think a good idea would be to opt-out of the filters except for the spin-down filter. Wash rinse (Recycled) then a final rinse with clean water and perhaps lite on the soap. You won't have to use special soaps which is still a good idea. And you will still save on the water although you'd be replacing the dirty water after every shower. There's always a drawback..... But no maintenance or cost for filters $$$.
I think this is a sensible approach and a good suggestion. We may try this in the future if the filters prove to be too much of a hassle! Thank you for watching!
We are designing a recirculating shower in our home (not a van) and this video is quite useful! Not sure how you do the heating though... I am thinking of having a heater than can heat already warm water (those made for solar boilers) or, just using some water from the warm water system, to bring the water back up to the right temperature, and also deluting the water a bit (calculated 3% per circulation).
Thanks for watching and so glad you found the video helpful. I would imagine you could use a tankless heater if some sort and you can probably set it for the exact temperature you want. Diluting the water to help keep it fresher sounds like a great idea as well . Would have loved to do something like that but space was definitely an issue! Best of luck with your design! Let us know how it goes!
I read a scientific paper that said something about adding titanium dioxide to the water to allow better degradation of the soap. That would be great because you could just use something one of the soaps that use titanium dioxide for white colorant. But it requires like 20 minutes of exposure to the UV light to get the degradation. Which would probably require an additional tank or pipe system to keep it in front of the light for that period. May be unreasonable. Just a thought.
Interesting concept! Could be a solution for a future build but it’s always good to have more information than less! Thank you for contributing to the list! 😂 Now to go and try to find and read it!
A couple of options would to use organic shampoos and soap. Second, maybe using a larger fresh water tank and use a switch to drain initial clean to the grey tank and then switch to recirculating for remainder of shower. In other words, dump the initial shampoo and soap to grey tank and then switch to recirculating for remainder. Using a 20 gal fresh water tank and a 15 gal grey tank, you can probably get 10-15 showers before refilling the fresh water tank and emptying the grey tank, plus save on filter costs since the water will not be as dirty that is going to be recycled. All the hair and soap will go to the grey tank first. Just a thought.
We are definitely testing v out organic soaps and shampoos. Unfortunately we don’t have the room to add more tanks, but I’ve seen one person do something similar to this. Although we rarely see updates on how these systems are really working out. We will keep pressing and hope to come up with a tolerable solution! Thanks for all the suggestions!!
This is a great and honest video about these systems. I've always wondered about it and you've answered a lot. So if you are not using soap, and assuming you do a wet wipe cleaning beforehand each time, I suspect it wouldn't clog up your filter really much more if you just wanted to jump in for a hot water rinse every day versus every 2 or 3 days, right? It seems the dirt and grime accumulated on your body would be the same amount? Also, I'm guessing no more going number one in the shower either! 😜 (Sorry, I had to go there) Thanks for the video!
Haha definitely NO peeing in the shower!! We could definitely jump in everyday for a quick rinse if we wanted to, but we do well with every other day. Wipes are definitely one of our best friends in vanlife. Thanks so much for watching! See ya out there.
@@WanderfulRevolution yes well all have to make them soon and I'm expecting to have to heat water and pour it in a pot with holes soon the way things are going in this country but I will enjoy soap and peeing in the shower till the party's over lol. Anyway having a shower in a van is a must and cool for sure
Have been thinking about the UV sterilizer… effectiveness would be a property of how slowly the water passes through the unit and how many passes it makes. A low-flow shower head (1 gpm or less) will make UV more effective (longer residence time) and a minimal amount of water in the system will cause more passes through filters/UV. I will also be installing a “filter” mode where the shower head is bypassed and water just loops through the system - a large volume of water and a short shower would provide very little filtering of the water and bacteria are going to multiply in the 24 - 48 hrs between showers. Bypass filtering would be very beneficial.
I'm not sure where you're at on this saga I just found these videos but I think it'd be really handy if you could switch the shower drain from recirculation to dump. That way you can rinse off soap and have it drain to the waist tank instead of the recirculation tank.
Thank you for the suggestion! We are on the road currently! At some point we may stop and revisit improving the shower… thank you so much for watching!
Some great tips there folks. I was going to follow your tips on the hour shower, but never even considered the effects on the filtration by soap. I’ll wait until you discover a solution. Great series though.
Thanks so much for watching! This has definitely been a system of trial and error! But we knew it most likely would be and we are enjoying trying to figure it out. Hopefully it will help some others who are trying to do something similar.
I'd think that the ideal is a two water system. Recirculating so you can chill out and enjoy a hot shower for as long as you like, then flip to a fresh water system for a quick scrub down. (I like to linger.)
Have you considered adding an oil water separator in there to deal with the oils/soap scum? They have them on some boat supply websites and it seems like it would take care of the issue.
We have not… to be honest I didn’t even know they existed! Definitely worth it for us to do a bit more research on it! Thank you for your suggestion and watching!
Epson salt bonds with soap particles, making it heavier than water and sinking the bottom of your holding tank. Give it 30 min to sit in your tank, then flush out the bottom layer of water, only using the clean upper layer. Otherwise, the salt will just clog your filters even faster.
I don’t know whether you have thought of this but I make my own soap for me and my daughters due to excema/lupus rashes with just glycerin,witch hazel and baking soda…it also helps their acne. Adding a tablespoon of white vinegar to the used water will also clean microbes and any scum. Plus vinegar in water will help the hair too lol
Great video! How about some how building something that allows you to use a big coffee filter or two as a pre filter that you could change out quickly and cheaply. You could have a container that you pass the water thru where on the end of water line, so the water passes thru the coffee filter. It could be placed in a window screen for support of the filter. Then bunch the filter and the screen up and zip tie it to the end of your line(allow enough room for water). Then take your filtered water from there (your output from the container). Hope that makes sense. Hope that might be something you can work with, let me know how it goes.
That is an interesting solution! My only concern is restricting water flow and giving the system enough of a water supply to recover… it does make sense! Maybe a future mod? Thank you for the suggestion and for coming along on our journey! Stay Wanderful!
Consider putting a 'paper' food oil filter over the drain to capture the soaps,,, you can get a net bag filled with crushed ceramic (or get aquarium ceramic balls) & it over the food oil paper. You will capture a lot of gunk before it ever travels through your system. Toss the paper & container the net ceramic bag to avoid any smells.
Great vid thanks for the detail. looks like more hassle than its worth plus i dont like the idea of re-circulating water. just heat a 20l and watch your time. I guess if fresh water is really scarce but in europe its not really a problem.
Thank you! We just released our FINAL recirculating shower video! Fresh water isn’t too much of an issue here in the US, but our goal with the shower was to cut overall water consumption and stay out longer…
Other UA-camrs don’t talk about the pros and cons of the system. Thank you so much for sharing the information.
You are so welcome! Thanks for watching! We don’t always have all the answers but we want to be honest about how things are working out for us! Hopefully it will help other while they are designing their systems.
This really cannot be stressed enough. You are spot on Lotso.
@@WanderfulRevolution Really appreciate your openness and thoroughness.
Exactly what I was referencing in my comment above. The pros and cons of practical applied use are missing from most of the "Recirculating Shower" design How-to's. I've been pretty successful in getting feedback from the original author's by direct communication though.
the future is a fish pump connect to shower head, round bucket round shower curtain. optimal fish water heater. 45 minute shower on 1 1/2 gallons.
Just an idea, which still need some details worked out:
1. Add a diverter valve with an input from your primary fw tank. This will allow switching between recirculate and fw tank.
2. Add a second drain, routed to a gray water tank.
3. Determine a way to toggle between the two drains. Could be as simple as toggling a plug between modes…
4. Now, you take “Navy Shower” as a pre-wash using primary fw and drained to gray tank. At this point you will have washed with whatever cleansers you desire. You are cleaned and rinsed using a minimal amount of fw.
5. Switch system to recirculating and take you long hot water shower. This should extend your maintenance cycles a little, since, you have pre washed.
“Navy Shower”, 1. Get wet, shut off water. 2. Soap up - scrub. 3. Water on - rinse.
something like this would be my "dream loop shower". i think you could even go so far and automatize it using a sensor connected to an arduino or an rpi that measures conductivity or ph which should increase when there is soap in the water triggering a two-way-valve and knock off the very soapy water.
it would require the water to run down some kind of carefully designed pipe with exactly known timing between the sensor and the valve and require a steady flow - therefore you could run the system only within very small margins - making it more complex overall. but i am sure something like this has been done yet though.
@@wotzefakiu I love the concept! It sounds like a very fun project for some people and a nightmare for others... Finding the right sensor or combination of sensors to work in concert with each other would be a fun challenge. This does bring back memories of trying to unify all my entertainment devices with a Logitech Harmony remote - for the wife... She just wanted one button to start it all up. It got close, but, occasionally it would go off the rails and then she wanted to throw the $300+ remote across the room... I suppose if you could make it reliable enough for anyone else in you group you would be good. You could kit them up an sell them. I built a BBQ control system that way. For me, to keep a remote lifestyle at an acceptable level of frustration I would opt for simple, reliable, and easy to troubleshoot.
Dude, you’re a genius! Awesome solutions! But if I were to install the shower system, I’d not install a gray water tank. I would do it like this: I’d first rinse off using the recirculating shower system. Then, when I’m soaping and rinsing off the soap, I’d turn off the recirculating shower, and instead of the water going to the gray tank, it’ll go straight to the ground( I’ll be using natural products which are good for the environment). What’s the point of carrying all of that dirty water with you when you can simply use natural cleaning products and dump it onto the ground?
@@frankyeetermann4718 I wouldn't dump it directly on the ground if I was stealth camping in an urban like area, but otherwise yes that's a good idea. Maybe have a siwtch in the shower that could allow for all 3 options on the fly?
You need a pre filter in the drain hole in your shower floor, that will eliminate that one problem. Simply pull it out and clean it after each shower. The reverse flow will help with your other problem until someone comes up with a better idea.
If not too expensive, have 2 more filters on hand to switch in. Can take time to soak the dirty filter.
I have skin conditions and I shy away from a lot of soaps and body washes. I know how well hot water and a scrub feels on the skin. The wife and I have an entire decade to plan for our nomad lifestyle. Videos like this are super helpful in getting us prepared. Thank you for making this :) New subscriber.
Recycling shower makes perfect sense to me, based on decades of personal experience. I stopped using shampoo &/or conditioner 25 years ago. Just water. Now 71, my hair is still red and mostly still there. My hair stylist daughter is amazed. My hair shines, and oiliness and dandruff tapered off to nearly nothing in the first year.
Stopped using soap about 15 years ago. Water and a wash cloth does the trick. No problem at all. Always 3 fresh passes under the pits every shower for me. We garden, walk, ride bikes, sit in church, and sleep together. We shower 2-6 times per week, depending on work, weather, and swimming frequency.
No problem at all.
Awesome! We love hearing success stories like this! To be absolutely honest, we feel cleaner not using all the soaps and our skin is so much healthier.
Gross 😕.
I am an ED travel Nurse as well and I am in the planning stage of an overlander build. When I am on assignment lodging in lots of locations around the country is very expensive and also in very short supply. Last year I spent over $21,000 on the most basic lodging on assignment in Washington! The overlander will be lodging on days I work and adventure vehicle/camper to go boondocking on days off. I am interested in a recirculating shower concept so I appreciate you guy providing the good and bad issues with that design.
This is the reality check that I needed to see! Thanks!
We do hope it helps people decide if a shower like this is right for them! Or build a better one!!! Thank you for watching!
For over a year, I’ve used baking soda in water as ‘shampoo’ and apple cider vinegar in water as ‘conditioner’. Depending on the season, I now go for 7-10 days between hair washings. As for soap, due to allergies and sensitivities, I’ve used water and friction in showers for decades.
Thanks for sharing the info on your shower. If I ever outfit a van, this would be something I’d want to add!
Thanks so much for sharing! I may have to give the baking soda and ACV a try for my hair. How exactly do you use the baking soda? Do you mix a small about of it in water?
I use approx 1 tsp soda to 3/4 cup water. I put both solutions into small squeeze bottles and leave in shower stall. Lasts me 3-4 washings. However I have short hair! If you search, you’ll find gals with long hair using this method; might give you more accurate info!
I've used the baking soda/vinegar "no-poo" method for years, long hair and short. I'd love to hear how that works for the recirc shower!
Oh, and I keep a small drinking cup in the shower, put the T of baking soda in before getting wet. Then when you add water from the shower, you're not pouring cold liquid on your head. Leave in for a bit, rinse, then guess at a tablespoon of ACV (bottle lives in the shower) into the cup, add warm shower water. Much more comfortable.
NoPoo lol. No need shampoo. Once a year is good. My hair feels so much nicer now that I didn't shampoo and condition. 😆
My wife hasn't left me yet either lol
You can use 1 micron filter and reverse osmosis system. Water after reverse osmosis system is as clean as distillated water. You can drink it, or use for cooking. This system automatically divides water to two parts, so it has two output pipes. Distillated-clean water pipe and dirty gray water pipe. Proportions is like 1 to 1- it's easilly adjustable thing. So with this system you can't recirculate all water, only half, BUT this half will be ideally clean water.
Sorry for my English.
Thanks for the suggestion!
One improvement could be a backwash cycle - when draining the tank it can clean the filters like a pool
Thanks! Its something we have considered, although we think its pretty easy to just pull the filter outs and rinse them too. If out next improvements arent sufficient, we are definitely think about this though! Thanks for watching!
If you do decide to backwash in the future, will you use a vinegar or some other solution to run thru it? I have not really started my research yet.
I'm glad you talked about the problem with using soap, on my recirculating shower project i found the use of a Cleansing foam (Aloe Vesta) to work very well.
Awesome! Thanks for this suggestion! We will have to see if se can find this soap and try it!
@@WanderfulRevolution I bought it on Ebay it's also sold on Amazon.
Hi Guys! Thank you so much for sharing this video (the first I see from you but will not be the only one I´ve subscribe already) Nice setup you have there, I am not in the Van life but willing to do in the future. I think I have something that you might find interesting and even helpful. Sorry, IT WILL BE A LONG POST but TOTALLY WORTH IT.
First you need to be in context. I was in charge of a small 2 building 11 apartments construction with a pool in the common area, that was in Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, México. For reasons too long to mention I lived in the site during construction and a couple fellow workers lived there on workdays as well so I was there basically 24/7. Once we finished the pool I started to look for somebody to take care of it, being a tourist zone those services were expensive at the time and the owner (a friend) was running out of money fast so we were struggling terribly to finish the construction. Me being a foreigner and knowing nobody to do it for cheap I was pushed to look for solutions soon before the water turning green. First thing was go to my nearest Pool store and ask what products to use and how often, not very helpful neither effective, levels were all over the place, water was cloudy most of the time, (according to them because of the construction, partly right) and it was soo time and money consuming so I did a lot of research and suddenly I happily stumbled onto www.troublefreepool.com/blog/ Woooow! Did I learned something!
Long story NOT SO short I learned how to keep a reasonably clean pool (construction site considering) and a reasonably clear water as well. It took a lot of time at the beginning but later a short 30-40 minute routine every other day (brushing mostly, what a great workout!) and pouring liquid chlorine every night did the job, that and 8-10 hours a day of filtering (30,000 liter pool around 7,000 galons which HAVE to go through filtering twice at least). To brush the sides of the pool you walk around the pool but for some of the bottom and intermediate wall you MUST get in the childrens area to do it right (you take corners and you will have to go into those same corners later, meaning DEEP DIVE BRUSHING!) so I would put my shorts and do the maintenance right willingly (water was around 27 degree Celsius, around 78 fahrenheit at the time so it was not so bad). As I mentioned water was reasonably clean but not “sparkling” so I kept reading articles in the troublefreepool site and ended adding Boric Acid to it.
SIDE NOTE: Because of the boots up to 17 hours a day as well as caps/hats regularly I had athlete´s feet and some dandruff).
NOW INTO THE DISCOVERY!
Remember I told you I had to go into the pool in the children´s area? Well, after maybe 15 or 20 days since I added the boric acid one day I noticed my feet were INUSUALLY CLEAN, SOFT WITH NO ATHLETE´S FEET ANYMORE! That made me wonder why if I changed nothing (Not on purpose at least!). Thinking a lot about it for several days I got to the conclusion that had to be the pool´s water so I decided to give it a try to confirm my suspicion and asked my fellow workers to sit around the pool and get their feet in it while having some beers (they did the beers anyways so... LOL) and on my side I stopped taking showers and after brushing the pool started getting in the deep side of the pool to do exercise, then “wash my body” with a white scotch brite or body scrubber and massage my head while submerged to clean it. A few weeks later dandruff was gone too, on their side not conclusive results due to them saying their feet were warm from work and getting cold in the pool which gave them cramps at night so they stopped getting their feet wet (did not stop the beers though HAHAHA). So back at those days sometimes I would wonder (and MAYBE YOU ARE RIGHT NOW!) if that´s enough for cleaning but I concluded that if that water got rid of athlete´s feet and dandruff in a few days It well could get rid of any bacteria or dirt you might have on you. Should I mention my friend (the money guy) his couple and a couple friends of them too visited the apartments for a few days, at arrival my friend and his girlfriend to whom I´ve not seen in many months asked me what I´ve being doing to my skin because I looked younger (Same thing said my son whom I happened to not see long time too) and I mentioned it would be the pool water and the sea salt in it (Yes! I added Sea Salt weeks after the boric acid). First day of their visit we went for a bit into the pool and then out to get ready to go out, that day my friend´s girl asked me what did I used in the shower to get rid of the chlorine oddor on my hair because hers was so smelly even after shampoo and conditioner -Educational note later- and how I managed to be out of my apartment ready so soon and before than everybody. I told her it was a secret (it was at that time), my friend in the other hand mentioned that I should check for pH levels because he was itchy all over his body. The second day, same story with her and not so bad with him (pH levels OK though), It was then when I told them I did not use anything special because I was NOT taking showers at all for weeks then and that was why I was ready to go so soon. All of them were shocked! (and skeptical). THEY COULD NOT BELIEVE IT! Third day like a routine we went out of the pool to get ready, when I got out of my apartment one of the friends was still with his feet in the water and I did not give it importance (pool is next to my apartment). When the others came out all of a sudden he goes like “It is true!, HE DID NOT SHOWER!” He was checking on me! LOL. Couple of days later there is my friend, his girl and me enjoying the pool (the other two were gone) and he goes like “You know, I did not believe you at first but there is something with your water, the first couple of days I was itchy all over the place but yesterday and today I only in these little tiny bristles left from a feet-hand-mouth infection I got time ago and some of them are even popping!, I can´t believe it! We should patent it and sell it to Spas! (I gave it a thought every once in a while but never did, hehehe).
Those were my happy poolbath days (all year round no matter what, even on rainy days, although not freezing temperatures here) for long 18 months since I realized how good it was until the property got sold :`(
How often would I change water would you ask? I did not! Not even once! Daily filtering, brushing every other day, pour chlorine every night, and checking levels every 3-4 days (once you know your pool and users) and vacuuming every once in a while.
Since then I´ve being thinking a way to make a system with a sand filter for a tub or shower since I do not own a pool nor have the money/place to make one at the moment but I still want to get the benefits of it.
THE EDUCATIONAL NOTE: That “Chlorine oddor” you smell in pools it is not actually chlorine, it is combined chlorine also called chloramines, a toxic (yes) “intermediate breakdown product created in the process of sanitizing the pool. CC causes the “chlorine” smell many people associate with chlorine pools.” (as noted in ABC’s of Pool Water Chemistry).
Remember that smelly oddor my friend´s girlfriend could not get rid off? It results she had her hair dyed one day prior so chlorine was acting against it. Same as my friend´s itchy skin, chlorine was acting against everything he had on him. Another point here, you´ve heard of women having her hair turn green “because of an excess of chlorine” that is another misconception, there are systems which used copper tubing and/or copper inclusive chemicals which when reacting with chlorine free copper into the water, something not noticeable until, yes you guessed it, a woman enters with a freshly dyed hair and then gets green colored.
Safety personal recommendation, if you go to a pool which smells A LOT like chlorine Do Not Enter! Chances are there is not enough free chlorine to handle all the water has in it. Side effects of CC are irritation of eyes and breathing system. Time ago it was well documented although not well spread (not sure now but would not be surprised) it was common to young swimmers in schools (specially competing boys/girls) that had continuous health problems regarding chloramines. Unfortunately there is a lot of knowledge not spread around pool water because of mean or commercial interests.
About the Sea Salt, used it because the water in the Yucatán Peninsula is pretty hard so to get it a softer feeling I used salt. Turns out the Sea Salt I got (Yucatán harvested) had a list of properties (it was used a lot for cows and other animals so they do not dehydrate therefore the list) and it happened to have over 70 different minerals which I assume are absorbed by the skin or something because WOW! it made a difference. So if you ever decide to try it get a decent unprocessed natural salt not your regular table fluor added salt.
More about it here: www.troublefreepool.com/threads/can-i-add-salt-to-a-chlorine-pool.28286/
To finish:
Poolmath calculator: www.troublefreepool.com/calc.html
I did enter values for 27000 liters because it won´t give some results for a 27 liter amount. If you are willing to give it a try I will be more than happy to pass the out but I´ve ran out of time for now.
More about chlorine: www.troublefreepool.com/blog/glossary/free-chlorine/
www.troublefreepool.com/blog/2019/01/18/chlorine-cya-chart/
If you want to know about borates in a pool check this: www.troublefreepool.com/threads/so-you-want-to-add-borates-to-your-pool-why-and-how.4655/
P.S. If you give it a try you must turn off your UV light, it will KILL the chlorine since there is no stabilizer (CYA). There were several hours in that post (noyt counting the ones to learn all that and resume it togheter. Hope it is good for somebody else too!
Hi, a good candid video. We have been using virtually the same system and you are absolutely right about not using any soap, a good long hot shower is perfectly ok, the only differences with our routine is we use large biodegradable antibacterial wipes to clean ourselves before each shower and have a hair wash and soapy shower before renewing the holding tank water.
Totally agree! We do use wipes as well and don’t shower everyday! Glad to hear it working for you! Thank you for watching!
hi there great to watch your video , i built recirculating shower in my caravan and it works very well i noticed that your set up has a few issues i had the same problem with mine at first
i quickly realised that the filter just before the pump was to small and would clog up to quick so i come out of the shower into a much larger filter 200 mesh filter then to a small filter on the pump it then runs to my spin down filter then to my 5 micron to a .5 micron filter through my heater and back to the shower , if you have your spin down just after the pump its as simple as opening the valve and draining it out we have had no issues with our shower and our main filters are much bigger than yours happy to help
mick from Australia
@@LeanneCraig-y2h that’s awesome to hear! Thank you for the tips as well… sounds like you have it sorted!
Thanks for explaining this, I’ve seen other UA-camrs talk about there recirculating shower, but they never really explain it
You are so welcome! We were disappointed with the lack of info out there and wanted to be transparent!!!! Thank you for watching!!!
Definitely recommend using natural soaps and shampoos that are abundantly available. Not just for your system but also for the planet. Great vid tho. I too appreciate your transparency!
Thanks so much for watching! WE are definitely trying out some natural and biodegradable soaps to see what will work best!.
I'm 5 years from living in a OLV and am training myself with good water consumption habits now. One habit I've stopped was turning on the hot water for everything. I only use hot 10% of the time now. With the cooler weather I only shower once every two days. I will have the luxury to build and live/test my systems way before I go on the road. I will design all wiring and plumbing to be easily accessible for maintenance. Thanks for this information, standing on sholders
You are so welcome! Testing is important before hitting the road! Having designed the system we knew we had a solid idea but had no idea how it would actually turn out. Thank you for watching!
I love the one that Gone Boondocking engineered. You have to put a sock over the intake part. Good job.
Thank you! It’s awesome to see everybody working to make a better system… maybe one day it will be the standard in RV’s, buses, and vans! Thank you for watching!
Why does this not have 1 million plus views
Whew! Not sure but that would be nice! 😂
For anyone comming to this in the future. Pure sandlwood powder is an amazing soap and shampoo replacement. Look into it I won't go into all the details here. It takes a bit getting used to using it as shampoo but I have thin dry hair and my gf has thick hair and it works in both of ours. Just use a really nice leave in conditioner like k18 if needed AFTER showering.Also seems weird rubbing essentialy dirt on your face and body but I actually like it better then soap now. We don't use it at home except for face washing just bc it isbkinda expensive but on the road in a recirculation shower it is amazing for everyday sweat and dirt. The thing that makes it amazing is the regular 3 stage filters capture all of it and don't clog the system bc you don't need much and all the powder is over 10 microns at the smallest. Most of it gets caught in the 25 micron filters and the rest in the 10 and .5 and .2 we have a 4 stage with uv filter. Spin down, then 25 micron, then the 10, then a combo filter with a .5 and .2 then carbon then the uv filter. Water never smells and is always clear. Runs off 2 gallons could use less but we like having more in the system just bc lol
Great video thank guys!
An idea.. two water tanks, one shower basin, with two plugs.
Fist tank and plug is the recycling system for getting wet to lather up. Close plug A.
Open plug B. The second tank washes away lather into a grey tank. Close Plug B
Open plug A. Then back to first tank one to finish the shower for comfort.
If one has room a two tank system. Grey tank with sediment capture filtered to clean source tank. You are perfecting and learning
for others, so thank you both.
you two are so cute :) i hope safe travels and many happy memories to you both!
Thank you!!! Hopefully we can make many more memories!!!!
When I have my skip a shower day, I use hyperchlorous solution I make with salt water that goes through electrolysis (which frees up the chlorite). I end up smelling like I just got out of a swimming pool, and it totally kills sweat smells. You might try using some of that before rinsing off in your shower. I don’t use it on my hair, though. I use a baking soda/ water mixture, and rinse with a bit of vinegar.
Hyperchlorous solution? That sounds interesting. Could you point me to some information about the DIY process?
@@yxcvmk I got mine from a place online called Pur-Well. I fill the spray bottle to the line and add a spoonful of regular table salt. (Spoon is included.) I make sure the sprayer is off. Then, I plug it in and push the button. When it indicates that it is finished, I unplug it, turn the sprayer to the spray setting, and use it as I need to. DO NOT get this in your eyes or mouth, or any mucous membranes! But, judicious use on stinky areas helps a lot! You can also use it to disinfect your home’s surfaces!
I've seen something like this in hot tubs you add salt or Epsom salts and it is ran through an anode powered with about 12v creates chlorine. But one could simply add chlorine from time to time to break down organics and Clarifier to lump the oils and soaps.
I would use colloidal silver... Stops 100% of bacterial growth, viruses and fungus from developing.
Love you guys. Miss you salty and Sandy.
😀 We miss you too! hope you are doing awesome!
Love your videos - they are brilliant! Technical suggestion:- If you want to use soap and shampoo etc in your recirculating shower, have you considered using a much larger centrifugal filter (I think you referred to them as spin down) or multiple centrifugal filters without any other filtration at all apart from a pump pre-filter? Think of how a Dyson vacuum cleaner works. Yes, even a Dyson vacuum cleaner has a standard filter, but 99.999% of what is removed is thanks to the centrifugal vortex effect. The higher the flow rate in your shower (bigger pump if necessary), the greater the potential effectiveness of centrifugal filters. I believe that a properly sized centrifugal filter combined with a more powerful pump could totally transform your system. You should not get the water flow issues associated with choked standard filters. You would obviously still require a pump suction filter - ideally very coarse mesh type and not too small. Another advantage of centrifugal filters is that they can be cleaned just by briefly opening the drain valve. Possibly a powered centrifugal filter rotating at high speed - if you can find one - might perform nearer to 5 microns?
Thank you so much! That’s an interesting suggestion! Will definitely have to do some research and see if it will work with our setup! Thank you for watching!
Wouldn't this extra pressure be too much for a continuous shower? I mean your could slow down the water rate but wouldn't that depressurize the water flow? Could you please explain? Thanks
I learned along time ago in restaurant dish cleaning that presoaking the dishes in cold water was an awesome first step. These days I wash my pans and dishes right after use or cold pre soak ( egg yoke ) and hot water wash with a mild scrub works just fine.
Definitely a good way to save on water instead of trying to power through with lot of hot water! Thank you for watching!
This was useful! Thanks for sharing!
That looks like a really cool shower! I think I need to try it!
Haha! You are welcome anytime! 😂 we will even put in fresh water!
From a nurse in Melbourne Australia, please stay safe 😘
Thanks you! 🥰 Hope you are staying safe and well!
Great to see someone talk about their filter cleaning!
Thanks so much! It’s definitely something that needs to be talked about. The system definitely isn’t without maintenance.
I agree on the backwash cycle. That and switching to the 4 inch filters.
I love this idea. So glad i came across this channel.
Thank you for watching!
Ever consider wrapping the drain plug in 2 layers of cheese cloth? One facing one way, the threads of the 2nd cloth in opposite direction, then clip it back in place. I would think this would catch a lot of hair as well.
Thanks for the suggestion. Hadn’t thought of this! Will look into it! Thanks!
That actually doesn't work as well as the gadget he is currently using, which is made from silicon. Cheesecloth deteriorates rapidly when wet and will end up disintegrating into the drain and getting caught in the tubing. I've done this method in household drains and the silicon plugs DO work best. And they're only about $5 from Amazon.
@@richlouie99 thanks for the info. The drain we have does trap a lot of hair. We haven’t seen any making it past our drain trap to any of the other fikters
@@richlouie99 Hi Richlouie, ty for your comment on my comment. It would have to be cleaned after every use, and put back. That way it could be closely watched. But I do get what you are saying. :)
Thankyou for this . Your presentation was clear and really made me think. Being older I’ve settled on the simplicity and the versatility of the Evershower. Thankyou again
Thank you for watching! This is definitely a viable option and I like the portability of the system. If we didn’t have our system we could have easily accommodated that shower solution. Every system has its pros and cons. If you do get it let us know how it works for you!
A hard Castile type soap with the Epsom salt might be a viable option(lavender/tea tree).. You can also make if so inclined (hot process so You can use when cool)..
A side note on the filters, the time listed on the filter for changing is not for debris, but the bacteria trapped and growing through the filter..( I would suspect the vinegar add would help to kill/slow that down)..
There is also a wye screened prefilter that can be blown out without having to dismantle like the plastic one... hope it's helpful, & I look forward to the next update..
Awesome! Thanks so much for the suggestions and info! WE will definitely consider this as we continue to experiment with the system!
@@WanderfulRevolution the more You learn... the more We learn 🤓
I wonder if there could be a more basic recirculating shower that doesn't store the same water days on end or require all the filtration. You could maybe stand in a deep shower tray with a plug in it to keep the water in and use fresh heated water initially until the tray was full. Then, when there was enough water in the tray, switch a pump on which recirculates only that water though the shower, and cut off the fresh hot water supply. Your shower could then last as long as the water stays warm. When you're ready to finally rinse off, drain the tray and use just a quick spray of fresh water to get the last of the soap off. You'd use more water between refills as the water for each shower would be dumped, but it wouldn't be a ton and you could use your soaps and not need filtration.
There is currently such a system on the market! Water is changed every time. They don’t have a heated option as of yet but the company says coming soon! Thank you for watching
@@WanderfulRevolution interesting thanks. Do you remember the name of it?
@@mistert800 hamwells.com/en/loopz/
We are building our campervan now and we'll have recirculating shower too. Your videos are very helpful. Is always better to learn from the other people mistakes and experiences. Thanks a lot. 😇 👍 👩⚕️ 👨⚕️🚿
So glad it was helpful!!! Definitely nice to use other experiences to avoid making the same types of mistakes!
Old video but this just helped me a bunch!
Glad to hear!!!! If you’re doing a build good luck!
l'm interested in extending the boondocking time, plus the idea of recycling water is dear to my heart. Thank you for sharing.☮
Thanks for watching Linda! It definitely lets us stay out for a week no problems!! Usually by that point we want a change of scenery haha!
Thank you for the information, and I'll be looking at the other videos...but, it doesn't look like this is an upgrade I'll be making for my Class C in the future. I had never heard of a system like this, so it was interesting to learn about your experience.
@@Jennifer-z9e thank you for watching! It’s not perfect but it was worked… one day someone will perfect it!
Excellent video. I had seen this type of shower in someone else's custom van video and they made it seem like it was magical--but clearly there is some maintenance. I notice that the first thing in the shower is the thingy that is supposed to catch hair. Those types of things always let a lot of hair get by them. Some cheapo round metal screen thing above that (could be resting convex over the entire piece) could be worthwhile (and only like a $2 investment). I had to put one of these in our kids shower after pulling a massive wad of hair out of the drain.
Thank you so much! Still tweaking here and there. We were skeptical about such a shower at first, and while not perfect, it works for us! The tub shroom works for catching hair pretty well. Thank you for watching!
A friend of mine is adding recirculating shower to his new build. He has a different approach from the start. He is aiming for the smallest possible recirculating tank, but he will be using a regular hot water tank as well. His system is complex because it will have heat recuperating function., and there is "double up of everything", more pipes, more drains, etc. The idea is to start off with an army shower., that is a separate system with separate drain hole, and feed pipe I guess. Get clean and scrubbed down with soap and shampoo using as little water as possible. This water goes to regular grey tank. Then after getting scrubbed he will switch to the recirculating tank and he will be able to shower for a long period., I assume it will have it's own pipes and drain holes and pipes to filters and back to recirculating tank. Lots of pipes, lots of possible leaks and problems....But this will put as as little wear on the filters as possible, as there will be no soap or shampoo and likely less hair and skin cells in the return water for the recirculating system as body and hair is already washed off and clean. His build plans are for medical reasons first and foremost because he suffers from a bad case of arthritis. Long hot showers seems to help him get a decent start in the morning. I don't know more about his system, but I know ha is aiming for 7 filters in total, as well as some anti bacterial LED light or UV light. Will see next summer when his build is completed how it all works out and how often he needs to dump the recirculating tank and add new fresh and clean water, as well as the filters etc.
Someone else mentioned something similar, but I don’t understand. Once you’ve taken the quick shower and have gotten clean... what more is left to a shower?
His system does sound a bit more involved! We do like hearing about other systems and how they end up working! If you can update us on how it goes that would be great! Thank you for watching!
“What else is left to shower?”
Enjoyment!!!!!
Even in a house with virtually unlimited amounts of water, how long do you actually wash w soap and a wash cloth?
It’s about enjoyment/quality of life….the soap/shampoo and wash cloth part is just a small of a nice long hot shower!!
Thanks for this video guys. Im going back and fourth with re-circulating shower, in our van conversion myself. The doubts i have is which kind of soap to use is just the main reason, for my hesitations. So for now we will just use the water from the freshwater tank, as we are just weekend campers for now. So there is no need for complicated shower system at this time.
However the system keeps interesting me. What i will try in a test setup inside the house, is what a ultrasonic cleaner and a O3 generator wil do with particles and soap residues, in a funnel shaped holding tank.
According to a guy on the internet with a similar boat setup; he claims that the ultrasound break up the particles and the O3 generator can take away bad odors.
According to this guy, when the ultrasound cleaner and the O3 cleaner is turned of, the particles will sink into the funnel shaped holding tank. which then can be tapped off until the water becoms clear.
If this really works, which i doubt. I will let you know. Ultrasounds only can travel best through filtered soft water. Which is the opposite of shower water.
Cheers
Thanks so much for watching! We totally understand your hesitations! We went back an forth with the use before we just decided to go for it! We figure we can easily convert it to a normal shower if we find that this really doesn’t work for us. We are always looking for ways to improve the shower and will make some adjustments when we are somewhere we can do so. The ultrasound sounds very interesting. Would definitely love to know of you figure anything out on it!
ozone is toxic and very dangerous to breath in.
Thank you for the update. Getting ready to do a bus build and my honey is a plumber. I told him that I wanted a recycling shower. Blessings and Love 💗
You’re welcome!!! Thanks so much for watching!! Best of luck on your bus build!!!! ❤️
Thanks guys
Thank you!!!
What you need is a very fine mesh screen on your shower pan drain. It will catch All hair and a lot of dirt and even soap foam, that you can pull after every shower and shake into garbage.
Also...I'd make sure to install entire filtration system inside the van, as this system is not for winter climates!
This system is definitely not four season. If we happen into freezing temps we will purge the system. Thank you for watching!
Great info in this video. Thanks!
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!
Weighing environmental impact of the manufacturing and disposal of filters and cleaning them vs discharging mildly soapy water which naturally recycles itself with no landfill or manufacturing impacts.
Alternatively, backflushing one of the first inline filters to prevent clogging might only require dumping one gallon of dirty water.
Thanks for the transparency! We actually do shower in our van 1 once a day and get 6 days of water which includes drinking and cooking, but we have to haul around 40 gallons of water and use adjustable water restricted do to our van being very small. I really wanted to set up the system like yours but was limited on space and do spend in sub freezing temperatures. You are so right you have to compromise:). We find a lot of vanlifers don't use there showers and end up going to gyms
We definitely wanted to be transparent with this. We want to help people make better systems and feel like sharing the problems will help people come up with better solutions! I look forward to the day that someone figures out a similar system that will have a small footprint and be better for van applications. We mostly don’t plan to be in cold weather and if we had we probably wouldn’t have mounted under the van. We just figure if we do need to be in cold temps we will just purge the system and seek out other ways to shower. It’s definitely a work in progress and needs some fine tuning
@@WanderfulRevolution Have you looked at the "Hour Shower" by Gone Boondocking? He has the entire system housed in an enclosure that he can hang on the wall INSIDE the Wet Bath. This would seem to resolve some of the problems inherent in having components exposed to the weather and temperatures.
ua-cam.com/video/8s3jsleHXcI/v-deo.html
Spa Jacuzzi higher capacity pre return to tank.
Big spin down before is also correct. Nice series thanx
Thanks for the "spin down filter" info. I am creating my own portable camping/emergency hot shower & drinking water filtration system and did not know about that particular filter. I went right to my big box store and got the housing and filter ordered.
Always Be Prepared
Best of luck on your system! Thanks for watching.
Thoughts on the use of enzymes? They are used on pools, along with Sanitizer/Chlorine/Bromine. This creates the same circular system pools utilize. You can maintain the PH using pool resources to ensure there is no issue when dumping.
Would have to do more research but sounds promising! Thank you for watching!!!
wondering if you put an efficient dehumidifier that drained into the shower you may never have to fetch a heavy jug again... you would have a recirculating shower that is always full of distilled water...eureka!
There are systems that reclaim water from the air and fill your tanks! We didn’t learn about these systems until much later! Maybe a future retrofit? Thank you for watching!
I love your video. Fine tuning your system to work better over time is the goal. I wish the major RV manufacturers would incorporate a Recirculating shower in their RV designs.
Thanks so much for watching! It would definitely be great if someone could come out with a great design. Shower in a box kinda deal. I think there are a couple companies out there working in this. We’d love to have something that has some quality control and water safety testing.
So so helpful. My retirement is around the corner and a recycled shower is as well. Great explanation you've been a godsend
Awww thanks so much Curtis!! We are really glad you are finding the shower videos helpful!!!
Try add 2 drain plugable Drain Holes on the floor one for cleaning and soap, when your done with soap, unplug the other one just for the water recirculation
I believe your filters are clogging up fast because you aren’t running water backwards to clean the filters after every shower. A small amount of water running backwards into a grey water tank would clean the filters quickly without using too much water. Shower loop and orbital showers both have this feature which allows filters to be cleaned every month instead of every week.
This is something that we would put in looking back at it… might be a future addition down the road? Thank you for your comment and for watching!
Your channel is amazing - love your honesty - in 1 month when you do your next update - your view about building this shower but perhaps 🤔 more « inside » format (we are in Canada) so the recirculating components could freeze. Although if the land borders actually open back up- we will be trying to run away in the Van.. Hopefully meet you on the road as well
Thanks so much for checking out the video and our channel! This definitely wouldn't be suitable for a Canada winter! WE try to chase nice weather ourselves! Hopefully they open the border for you soon!
Thanks for sharing, this was super informative! Just wondering if you ever did that update video? We did a quick search of your channel but didn't see it.
Thank you! No not yet! We’re traveling around and haven’t had time to do the revisions… hopefully this month or next! Thank you for watching!
Thanks for the info !
Thank you for watching!
Seems like a good system! Congrats! I assume you don't live in your van in cold climates? I am saying that because you filters are quite exposed. I would think once you put the 1st (string wound) filter before the screen you could probably take the screen out of the system, because the 1st filter will probably take more out of the water than that screen does. And I agree with Scott K-T who said put in a valve that ends up reversing the flow from between the 3rd and 4th filter back toward the 1st filter! That could save you lots of cleaning!
Thanks so much for watching. Yes we generally try to stay in climates that are above freezing. We recently had to go to an area with some cold temps so we just purged the system until we left the area.
FINALLY, someone who understands where the REAL problem is with reusing water. Soap.
I started using baking soda in the shower at home. But I haven't tested any filtration with it. I'm wondering if anyone else has tried it.
*edit*
Thanks. I just started experimenting with solar distillation - as a precursor to filtration. If I can get anything out of it, I'll try to film it.
Thank you! I’m really curious about the solar distillation! That’s a great idea! Fingers crossed you’ll film it!
Yes, ALWAYS Spin Down 1st on ALL Water Systems!!!
Have U Tried Dawn Dish Soap? I’ve Been Washing (dishes/hair/body) Since The Duckling Commercial. Works Gr8!!!
I Have (3) 20’s (2) 10’s & a (5), I Find I Clean The 1st (20) wkly, 2nd (20) mthly, 3rd (20) Every 2 mths, 1st (10) Every 2 mths, 2nd (10) Every 4 mths & The (5) Every 6ish mths…
I Find Vinegar Dissolves Soap Better Than Epsom Salts…
Thanks for the suggestions!
Where did you purchase the shower enclosure? Nice build and thank you for making the video!
Thank you! We actually built the entire enclosure! We bought the shower pan on Amazon, then created the falls and lined them with FRP then caulked the corners
Great information
Thank you!!!! Hope it helps!
Try baking soda and apple cider vinegar mixed in water and put into a spray bottle. I use half a teaspoon on baking soda and 2 tablespoons of vinegar in regular size spray bottle with water. You can play around with the mixture to find what ratio works best for you. This will also clean your hair very well with no need for condition. The vinegar works like a pH balance conditioner this mixture doesnt give any Suds so this will be something you may have to get use to. Some people need those suds to feel like their clean and washing your hair is a little strange with no suds. Sometimes its hard to tell if you got it all clean but if you spray the mixture on your hair rub it in your hair you will have clean hair. This is a very natural way to clean your hair and body it's much better for you then soaps and shampoos. I think this may work well for your filtering system too it may help keep it clean.
Note: if your hair feels heavy or not as clean as you like the mixture needs to be changed to fit your body Chemistry add a little more baking soda is your hair feels heavy if your hair feels dry use less baking soda and a little more vinegar just play around with the mixture to you find the right mix for you. When you get it right your hair will feel just as clean as when you use shampoo. This is good for your skin and hair much better then shampoo and soap with all those Chemicals in it....
Great system. I need to start looking for an option on our bus.
Well you know we are always here to answer questions!
You could make a 1/2 gallon of 150 ppm hydrchlorus acid (not hydrochloric acid) solution to add to your shower in place of using soap. This will lower the surface tension of the water enough to wet your Skin and the small amount of free chlorine in the water will also kill some potential pathogens as well. Please note though that free chlorine in water will corrode any metal plumbing so check your system before using this process.
I'm pretty sure that your pump pre-filter is on backwards. With all of these style filters the sediment should be accumulating on the outside of the filter. Your pre-filter has all the junk on the inside of the screen, it will drop the flow faster. Another thought is to get a second 50m spin down filter, one before (basically a larger pre-filter) and the one that you have after the pump. You could always change out the filter that clogs the fastest with a 4" diameter filter. I've also heard the the 5m charcoal filters help keep the water 'fresher'. Finally, once you are done running the system for 5 minutes after taking a shower you could dump some calcium chloride (the really cold weather driveway salt) dissolved in water down the drain. This will work better than Epsom salt at precipitating the soaps. The water will be warm, making it even more effective and you could always drain off a bit of water (the next day) to dump the precipitates that accumulated at the bottom of the holding tank.
I think a good idea would be to opt-out of the filters except for the spin-down filter. Wash rinse (Recycled) then a final rinse with clean water and perhaps lite on the soap. You won't have to use special soaps which is still a good idea. And you will still save on the water although you'd be replacing the dirty water after every shower. There's always a drawback..... But no maintenance or cost for filters $$$.
I think this is a sensible approach and a good suggestion. We may try this in the future if the filters prove to be too much of a hassle! Thank you for watching!
I don't even know how to drive a car, but I still enjoyed the video
You don’t need a car or know how to drive one to watch! LOL! Thank you for watching!!!!!
Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome! Thanks so much for checking out the video.
Mix a little apple cider vinegar with water and use instead of soap.
thanks so much for the suggestion!
We are designing a recirculating shower in our home (not a van) and this video is quite useful! Not sure how you do the heating though... I am thinking of having a heater than can heat already warm water (those made for solar boilers) or, just using some water from the warm water system, to bring the water back up to the right temperature, and also deluting the water a bit (calculated 3% per circulation).
Thanks for watching and so glad you found the video helpful. I would imagine you could use a tankless heater if some sort and you can probably set it for the exact temperature you want. Diluting the water to help keep it fresher sounds like a great idea as well . Would have loved to do something like that but space was definitely an issue! Best of luck with your design! Let us know how it goes!
I read a scientific paper that said something about adding titanium dioxide to the water to allow better degradation of the soap. That would be great because you could just use something one of the soaps that use titanium dioxide for white colorant. But it requires like 20 minutes of exposure to the UV light to get the degradation. Which would probably require an additional tank or pipe system to keep it in front of the light for that period. May be unreasonable. Just a thought.
Interesting concept! Could be a solution for a future build but it’s always good to have more information than less! Thank you for contributing to the list! 😂 Now to go and try to find and read it!
A couple of options would to use organic shampoos and soap. Second, maybe using a larger fresh water tank and use a switch to drain initial clean to the grey tank and then switch to recirculating for remainder of shower. In other words, dump the initial shampoo and soap to grey tank and then switch to recirculating for remainder. Using a 20 gal fresh water tank and a 15 gal grey tank, you can probably get 10-15 showers before refilling the fresh water tank and emptying the grey tank, plus save on filter costs since the water will not be as dirty that is going to be recycled. All the hair and soap will go to the grey tank first. Just a thought.
We are definitely testing v out organic soaps and shampoos. Unfortunately we don’t have the room to add more tanks, but I’ve seen one person do something similar to this. Although we rarely see updates on how these systems are really working out. We will keep pressing and hope to come up with a tolerable solution! Thanks for all the suggestions!!
WE loved your report 6 months ago about the shower, and how to maintain it. You were going to give us another update. I can't seem to find it.
Sorry Glen… we haven’t had a chance to make an update video… hopefully soon! Thank you for watching!
This is a great and honest video about these systems. I've always wondered about it and you've answered a lot. So if you are not using soap, and assuming you do a wet wipe cleaning beforehand each time, I suspect it wouldn't clog up your filter really much more if you just wanted to jump in for a hot water rinse every day versus every 2 or 3 days, right? It seems the dirt and grime accumulated on your body would be the same amount? Also, I'm guessing no more going number one in the shower either! 😜 (Sorry, I had to go there) Thanks for the video!
Haha definitely NO peeing in the shower!! We could definitely jump in everyday for a quick rinse if we wanted to, but we do well with every other day. Wipes are definitely one of our best friends in vanlife. Thanks so much for watching! See ya out there.
@@WanderfulRevolution what fun is that then? No soap or peeing ? Lol
@@rachelross5829 unfortunately sacrifices had to be made! 😂 😂 😂
@@WanderfulRevolution yes well all have to make them soon and I'm expecting to have to heat water and pour it in a pot with holes soon the way things are going in this country but I will enjoy soap and peeing in the shower till the party's over lol. Anyway having a shower in a van is a must and cool for sure
Have you thought about adding a Auto Flushing sediment filter? Search for
Waterdrop Spin Down Sediment Filter, Auto Flushing Backwash, 40 Micron
We’ve never heard about that particular filter until now! Definitely worth researching! Thank you for the tip!
Have been thinking about the UV sterilizer… effectiveness would be a property of how slowly the water passes through the unit and how many passes it makes. A low-flow shower head (1 gpm or less) will make UV more effective (longer residence time) and a minimal amount of water in the system will cause more passes through filters/UV. I will also be installing a “filter” mode where the shower head is bypassed and water just loops through the system - a large volume of water and a short shower would provide very little filtering of the water and bacteria are going to multiply in the 24 - 48 hrs between showers. Bypass filtering would be very beneficial.
Great video
@@motionsick thank you!
Wow, super helpful.
Thanks for watching! Glad it helped!
Use pressure differentials. Maybe double the original filter pressure indicate need of change.
That’s a great idea! Thanks for watching!
I'm not sure where you're at on this saga I just found these videos but I think it'd be really handy if you could switch the shower drain from recirculation to dump. That way you can rinse off soap and have it drain to the waist tank instead of the recirculation tank.
Thank you for the suggestion! We are on the road currently! At some point we may stop and revisit improving the shower… thank you so much for watching!
Some great tips there folks. I was going to follow your tips on the hour shower, but never even considered the effects on the filtration by soap. I’ll wait until you discover a solution. Great series though.
Thanks so much for watching! This has definitely been a system of trial and error! But we knew it most likely would be and we are enjoying trying to figure it out. Hopefully it will help some others who are trying to do something similar.
I'd think that the ideal is a two water system. Recirculating so you can chill out and enjoy a hot shower for as long as you like, then flip to a fresh water system for a quick scrub down. (I like to linger.)
We agree that it would be a great solution! Unfortunately space had us between a rock and… well… the hard space of the undercard of the van!!!!!!
Would love an update on the soap!
Hopefully soon!!!
this is perfect
Thank you!!!
Great video. Very well explained. Thanks for the info.
Thanks so much for watching!!!
thanks for this video
Your welcome! Thanks for watching.
Have you considered adding an oil water separator in there to deal with the oils/soap scum? They have them on some boat supply websites and it seems like it would take care of the issue.
We have not… to be honest I didn’t even know they existed! Definitely worth it for us to do a bit more research on it! Thank you for your suggestion and watching!
Epson salt bonds with soap particles, making it heavier than water and sinking the bottom of your holding tank. Give it 30 min to sit in your tank, then flush out the bottom layer of water, only using the clean upper layer. Otherwise, the salt will just clog your filters even faster.
I’m putting a recirculate system in my build.
Awesome! Hopefully you have success!
I don’t know whether you have thought of this but I make my own soap for me and my daughters due to excema/lupus rashes with just glycerin,witch hazel and baking soda…it also helps their acne. Adding a tablespoon of white vinegar to the used water will also clean microbes and any scum. Plus vinegar in water will help the hair too lol
P.S. in Girl Scouts years ago we only used bleach and water to do dishes lol
@@pissedoffpennsylvanian a lot of van lovers have spray bottles of vinegar that they clean dishes with. :)
Great video! How about some how building something that allows you to use a big coffee filter or two as a pre filter that you could change out quickly and cheaply. You could have a container that you pass the water thru where on the end of water line, so the water passes thru the coffee filter. It could be placed in a window screen for support of the filter. Then bunch the filter and the screen up and zip tie it to the end of your line(allow enough room for water). Then take your filtered water from there (your output from the container). Hope that makes sense. Hope that might be something you can work with, let me know how it goes.
That is an interesting solution! My only concern is restricting water flow and giving the system enough of a water supply to recover… it does make sense! Maybe a future mod? Thank you for the suggestion and for coming along on our journey! Stay Wanderful!
Consider putting a 'paper' food oil filter over the drain to capture the soaps,,, you can get a net bag filled with crushed ceramic (or get aquarium ceramic balls) & it over the food oil paper. You will capture a lot of gunk before it ever travels through your system. Toss the paper & container the net ceramic bag to avoid any smells.
Thank you for the tips and for watching!!!
I was looking online and they do make a 40 Micron spin down screen for your filter setup , That should make your filters last a little longer - :)
Thanks! I’ll look to see if I can find the 40 micron screen! Great idea
Have you made the updated video on the shower. I could not find it. Thanks
Not yet! We are still testing it out more! It will probably be after the holidays though!
Great vid thanks for the detail. looks like more hassle than its worth plus i dont like the idea of re-circulating water. just heat a 20l and watch your time. I guess if fresh water is really scarce but in europe its not really a problem.
Thank you! We just released our FINAL recirculating shower video! Fresh water isn’t too much of an issue here in the US, but our goal with the shower was to cut overall water consumption and stay out longer…