Shower Water Delivery System: It works!

RL Flowmaster Head/Valve Assembly

Bell Foot Pump

Well, I finally figured out the water delivery system for our camp shower.  It involved a patchwork of many different research finds, but in the end...it works and works well!


I'll begin at one end and work my way to the other. (note:  this will be followed up with a detailed video soon)

I found, by digging through a few Australian Outback camping forums, that people spoke quite highly of the RL Flowmaster shower head attachment for the watering sprayers found at most big box stores.  I found that this particular spray head is no longer made and sold on the retail level and available only as a part.  Flowmaster is located in Michigan so the shipping was cheap and fast (so were the parts).  I ordered (2) Flowmaster shower heads and (2) valve/grip handles with thumb control lever.  Total cost was under $20 for everything.  From there I purchased a 20' length of 1/2" X 3/8" clear tubing, a bag of hose clamps and a double ended barbed brass fitting. I sized the clear hose so that it would fit into the compression fittings of the sprayer valve handle.  On the opposite end of the spray wand's fitting, I inserted the brass barbed fitting into the tubing and clamped it tightly with a hose clamp.

Metal Schrader Valve

On the other end of the barbed fitting, I cut the nossel back on the extinguisher and clamped it tightly.  Now we've got the complete line from fire extinguisher to spray nozzle.  To fill the tank, the top of the extinguisher is removed via a large nut and threaded neck.  Once 75% filled, we've got to figure out how to push the water from the tank, through the hose and out the shower head.  Thankfully, the tank that Jim provided had a schrader valve attached to it.  This permits the use of pneumatics to pressurize the tank and motivate the water forward.

Double Ended Brass Barbed Fitting

I found a Bell oversized foot pump on sale at Ollie's for under $10 and connected it to the neck of the extinguisher (AKA:  the water tank).  Once the foot pump reads 30 psi (about 20-30 pumps) the water will flow for about 3.5 minutes.  After this duration of time, the flow becomes slowed where another 20 pumps will deliver enough pressure to evacuate the tank of all remaining water.  Total flow equals about 6 minutes of constant water pressure at 2.5 (approximate) gallons and more than enough time if you are diligent with using the on/off toggle to conserve water during soap ups and rinse offs.   The only hangup in the entire system was the short tube of the foot pump.  It wasn't even long enough to make the connection to the top of the extinguisher while placed on the ground next to it.  Another trip to Lowe's where I purchased a 8' length of reinforced fuel tubing so that the foot pump can be placed inside the corner of the shower stall and the tank can be set outside and refilled if needed without disturbing the occupants.  Now that the guts of the system is finished, I brainstormed and devised a plan to construct a bracket that would hold the shower wand, but still allow someone to remove it and rinse off by hand if needed.  Sure you can purchase these brackets, but they're around $10 and made for specific brands.  I knew I could do it cheaper and have it custom fit to the shower wand handle.  Using a 45 degree angled 1.25" diameter PVC conduit elbow and an angle grinder to slice a notch, it all came together nicely.  I also used a few lengths of PVC pipe cut up and notched to hold the hose to the pressure treated board and keep it tidy.  All that is left is to bring it to camp and put a few screws through the board that'll hold it overhead!

Sorry for the suspense!  I'll try to get some shots of the setup here soon!