Recycling and filtering shower water.

[1976K5Chalet]

Before i go and try and reinvent the wheel i thought i would ask if there is a system available to recirculate and filter shower water when boon docking so the water would last longer. I did a search of this forum and the internet but i didn't find anything but a system for RV's and gray water.

DW

 

[Stumpalump]

Small pool filter or snag the whole filter system from an old hot tub. A pile of cloth diapers do a good job as well if you want to fab it up yourself. Small pool filters do a good job and are cheap. http://www.walmart.com/ip/20966325?...77780312&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=81470053592&veh=sem

 

[Bbasso]

Personally I wouldn't shower in pool clean water, I'd would aim for drinkable water. As long as you capture the water run through something like a katadyn water filter, boil then use the cooling water to wash.
Just my .02

 

[Nachos]

I recalled seeing this a few weeks ago on some tech blogs.
Unfortunately it looks like in the prototype phase, and the expected price wasn't listed then, but at least for ideas:

http://techcrunch.com/2016/03/15/th...the-same-five-gallons-of-water-for-two-weeks/

 

[e60ral]

You've got a decent amount of amperage for a 1/2hp pump, even if it has soft start.

There are a few problems though with using a sand filter in this application. To clean the sand filter you will need to backflush it which requires a fair amount of clean water. Another problem is the size and weight, that sand filter is going to be heavy and cumbersome when you fill it. When you add water it will be extremely heavy, so you will have to drain it to move and the drains on some of the small sand filters are bad about the drain on the bottom also letting sand out. Most importantly though is that you definitely need to treat the water or bacteria will go crazy in a sand filter. I don't think a pool pump is the best solution, but if you want to explore that idea a cartridge filter will be easier to use on the go, less weight, and cartridge filters are able to filter more (probably down to 5-10 micron vs maybe 30 for sand). Neither of these will be particularly soap friendly, you will need to do some research about what kind of soap and shampoos you can use.

But this water will not be pool clean, it will just be dirt free. Pool clean requires disinfection, a pool sand or cartridge filter alone will not filter out bacteria (or viruses or protozoa), pools are treated with chemicals to oxidize those things (generally chlorine). You could bring some bleach or powdered chlorine for this purpose if you want, for 5-10 gallons of water you would need just a very small amount, but how much effort to you want to put into this?

I would have no problem showering in pool clean water if i had to (its an eyes closed, mouth closed shower similar to what you have to do traveling in certain countries), but it seems like this is going to become a fairly bulky solution.

 

[doug720]

This is not scientific, and I know little about filtering/reusing grey water, but I have owned RV's and boats with waste water tanks for 30+ years. In my experience, grey water is just as nasty (and smells much worse!) then black water.

I can not see how the complexity, energy use, cost and most importantly, risk, would make recycling waste water worth the potential problems.

In our RV, we hold 96 gallons of fresh water and our camping is 95%+ dry camping. With 3 people and 3 dogs, we can camp and have plenty of water for 10 days easily, with with a little effort, we have gone 14 days and still had a nice reserve. This includes military showers, cooking, dishes, dog water, etc.

The 3 dogs drink a 1-2 gallons a day, and we use about 1.5 - 2 gallons per person/day. This is not scrimping.

My $2 worth.

 

[Kerensky97]

I think the best way to extend your water usage is just cut down on showers. Take a shower one day, and a "baby wipe" shower the next (or not depending how tolerant the people around you are).

 

[pugslyyy]

This is not scientific, and I know little about filtering/reusing grey water, but I have owned RV's and boats with waste water tanks for 30+ years. In my experience, grey water is just as nasty (and smells much worse!) then black water.

I can not see how the complexity, energy use, cost and most importantly, risk, would make recycling waste water worth the potential problems.

In our RV, we hold 96 gallons of fresh water and our camping is 95%+ dry camping. With 3 people and 3 dogs, we can camp and have plenty of water for 10 days easily, with with a little effort, we have gone 14 days and still had a nice reserve. This includes military showers, cooking, dishes, dog water, etc.

The 3 dogs drink a 1-2 gallons a day, and we use about 1.5 - 2 gallons per person/day. This is not scrimping.

My $2 worth.

I agree with all of this - practicing efficiency is the way to go rather than trying to recycle. A good dish detergent will stretch water a lot further than a cheap one, and a few cupfulls of hot water in a pail with a washcloth can get you really clean. Cleaning greasy pots and pans with dirt before rinsing with water also works really well.

If you really need more water than you can carry, I would look at implementing ways to sanitize surface water rather than recycle gray water. I have a particulate/charcoal/UV filter that I use, along with a backpacking filter for hiking.

That said, if you are insistent on recycling gray water the best technique I know is a solar still.

 

[grogie]

The 3 dogs drink a 1-2 gallons a day, and we use about 1.5 - 2 gallons per person/day. This is not scrimping.

That's impressive limited water usage! My wife and I travel with a solar shower and we can split 2 gallons and have decent showers. If you had asked me that before, I wouldn't have thought that it was possible.

 

[michaeljh1965]

Another option is to install a shower water filter. I had a similar problem and just started combining different filters and systems to get better results! This way over a long period of time I was successful! Installed a large filter in the basement of my house for water + drinking water filter. And in the shower, I just used small, store-bought filters. It gave me good results!

It really helped me and I continue to improve my abode)