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There’s nothing like an off grid shower after a day of work on the land, right? But how is that possible if we don’t have a shower to take a shower in?
Read this article and find out how, with a little creativity, we design and build a simple off grid shower that works, for less than 20 euros.
Why We Needed a Shower?
Back in 2022 we bought an abandoned land in Spain with the goal of transforming it into a thriving homesteading.
While our long-term plan includes building a more permanent outdoor shower for our Camp Base One, we needed something cheap and practical for our weekly visits to the Finca.
(When this article was written, we were not yet sleeping on land).
This is what we were doing:
We were driving two hours to the Finca, working all day, getting dirty and having to driving two hours back sweaty and smelly.
This became a problem that needed a urgent solution.
Off-Grid Shower Systems
We explored several off-grid shower systems, such as:
- Solar water heated showers;
- Propane water heated showers;
- Wood fire water heated showers;
- Gravity-fed water showers;
- Electric pump showers;
While these options are effective, they either exceeded our budget or weren’t suitable for our need at the beginning of the Eridu Life project.
When we build the Camp Base One, we will revisit these solutions for a more advanced shower option.
The Simple Off Grid Shower Solution
After some research, we decided to design and buid a hand pump pressure shower. We chose this option because it is simple, cost-effective, and the components were easy to find and assemble.
For assemble this simples off grid shower we used the following components:
- A 5-liter spray pump;
- A piece of garden hose;
- A couple of hose fasteners;
- A garden hose spray gun;
The total cost of this simple off grid showe was less than 20 euros 🙂
I recorded a video to show this simple and effective setup, which uses a hand pump to compress air, creating pressure in the water for a quick and refreshing shower.
Watch the video:
In the video above, you’ll see how simple and ingenious this solution is. This off grid shower works for us and who knows, it might work for you too 🙂
Why This Shower Works for Us?
This off grid shower was the perfect solution for our off grid needs when we started the Eridu Life project. As it requires no electricity.
It works by adding water and pumping it manually until compressed air pulls the water through the hose and spray gun.
While it doesn’t offer high water pressure, it gets the job done!
Plus, it’s portable, affordable, and easy to assemble. All essential qualities for our situation at the time.
The Future: A More Modern Off Grid Shower
Although this off-grid shower meets our immediate needs, it will only used at the beginning of the Eridu Life project. Learn more about the project here.
As we progress with our homesteading journey, we’ll eventually build a more modern off-grid outdoor shower equipped with a propane water heater.
This future upgrade will offer more comfort and efficiency for long-term living on our abandoned land in Spain.
Conclusion
In this article, we’ve shared how we built a simple, cost-effective off-grid shower for less than 20 euros.
With this creative solution, we now can make the trip back to our apartment clean after a day of working on our abandoned land in Spain.
That’s it for this article. Did you like it?
Leave your comment or suggestion below. I love responding to all comments and I always do it personally.
Talk to you soon 🙂
P.S. If you would like to help us build our dream home, you can do it here. Or if you would like to help us continue recording videos, you can do it here. Either way, your support is very much appreciated.
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This is so simple and so functional. Wondering how can you take shower in cold water. Great content on youtube. Keep on doing what you are doing.
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Hello Chris. It is simple and functional. Before taking shower I do warm the water with gas stove. I kind of using 1L of hot water to 3L of cold water to get a nice water temperature. Thanks for visiting the blog 🙂