Best of all, the hot water is free. What a waste of hot water. For years, I was using a black garden hose that hung in the sunshine and all summer, it spewed copious amounts of hot water every time the garden needed a drink.
Sometimes I would hose myself down after cutting the lawn or rinse away the dust after weeding the vegetable garden.
Then I came up with the idea of designing my own outdoor shower powered by the sun.
It's a simple affair, cobbled together with bits and pieces from the farm. There was the large coil of black PCV pipe rescued from a corner of the barn. All I did was drape the pipe over a tripod made from cedar logs and then faced it southwest to get the most sun in the afternoon and evening.
Well water is sent to the pipe via garden hose from the pumphouse and a second small piece of garden hose goes from the coil to the shower.
I built a cedar platform to keep feet clean and then put a pole up the back where the hose from the pipe is connected. I attached a hose nozzle to the pole and aimed it downwards.
A nozzle with an adjustable spray and a lock to keep it secured are important because on windy days, a fine spray is blown away before it hits your dirty body. A steady stream of water is needed to do the job when the wind picks up, while on very hot sunny days, a finer spray is best because the water is very hot.
I fit a washer inside the nozzle to cut down the water flow because the full blast was too strong. I live in the country and my solar shower is totally private, except for the birds and wild animals. Sometimes while enjoying a hot shower, there will be an audience of deer watching and the bluebirds use the pole as a perch while hunting for insects.
After a few bluebird accidents, I put a cover above the soap dish to keep it clean of bird poop. My solar shower gets used regularly from May to October.
This same sort of system could easily be set up in a city setting using a black garden hose and assuring privacy by adding a shower curtain. It's a fine way to clean up after a day working in the garden and, best of all, it's free hot water.
--Canwest News Service
