How many gallons in a shower?

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JayArr

JayArr

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Joined
Jun 13, 2020
Posts
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Location
Mission British Columbia Canada
I've recently realized that my grey water tank is much larger than I thought. It always seemed to go from empty to full on the panel with only a couple of showers and some dishes. I thought maybe it was a much smaller tank than the black one but I now realize the sensors are fouled and reading incorrectly. I actually took a five gallon bucket and dumped it 8 times into the bathtub before it backed up so I'm now 100% sure it's a 40 gallon tank.

So, assuming we have the style of shower head with the cut-off switch so we shut it off to lather up then turn it back on to rinse and assuming we're using the trailers pump, not city water (dry camping). How much water is a shower or, more to the point how many days can we shower in a row before we fill a 40 gallon tank?
 
there is a lot of variability with a shower.. nozzle size, pump pressure, amount of time flowing etc..

I have heard some extreme values of less than a pint using a facecloth to wash with..!

with my current shower setup and without trying too hard to conserve, I would estimate between one to two gallons at most. if we are trying to minimize water usage then we shower every two days.. nice thing about boon docking is that we don't usually have to deal or interact with others, so a little additional body odor can be tolerated. !
 
JayArr said:
Wow! with 1.5 gallons for dishes twice a day that's 5 to 7 days.
Click to expand...

we use paper plates when appropriate, they end up on the pit/fire.
washing dishes only once a day in a bowl, dishwater goes into the black tank..
with 80 gallons of fresh we could be off grid for 20 days, in practice though, we usually do two weeks without running dry, it's usually food that we run out of.. ! ( oh, and beer... ! )
 
Last edited:
JayArr said:
Wow! with 1.5 gallons for dishes twice a day that's 5 to 7 days.
Click to expand...
When dry camping we make liberal use of disposable dinnerware and prepare most hot meals on the grill to minimize the need to wash dishes. Full disclosure: My wife's current medical equipment requirements make electric hookups pretty much mandatory unless we're in a private spot where we can run the onboard generator nearly 24/7. That mostly limits our "dry camping" to state parks with electric only sites these days.

Years back we used a number of tactics to extend our true boondocking stays, including bathing in nearby creeks or ponds and "doing what the bears do" in the woods. As crowded as boondocking spots tend to be in the current RV boom, I suspect those opportunities are minimal now.
 
During the summer we're travellers more than campers so this isn't a problem but in the spring and fall we like long weekends in the local provincial parks or just down a forestry road beside a river. Knowing I can go Thurs night to Monday morning with a shower each day helps a lot!

PS We also do the paper plate thing and cook frozen meals in their own containers in the oven (lasagne, shepards pie etc.)
 
We use an Oxygenics RV shower sprayer with a cut off button, it flows about 1.8 Gallons per minute, we also use a shower timer, I usually set it for 3 minutes, get in wash, use cut off button while lathering up, rinse as needed and get out. I am often ready to get out when the 3 minute timer goes off, I strongly suspect my wife uses a longer preset on the timer if she uses it at all. This is the timer I use, it has quick buttons for 3, 5, 7 or 9 minutes also the buttons can be used in combintation, want 8 minute shower, press 3 then 5, want 6 minutes press 3 twice, Amazon.com: Shower Timer Alarm Plus Coach with Suction Cup Water Saving Minute Bathroom Kit Showertime : Home & Kitchen
 
Here are some of our water saving practices.

1 - We sailor shower every three days unless we've done something pretty messy. We bucket bath between. I guess about 1/2 gallon of water in a bucket and a sponge.
2 - We use regular dinner ware. We wipe clean all the dishes with paper towels then rinse. Actually we use the heavy duty blue automotive towels. One of these will usually wipe pots and dishes for two. Most of our cooking is "one pot."
3 - If it's yellow let it mellow. We only flush number two's. A little lysol poured in the bowl keeps the odor manageable.
4 - We find we are gray tank limited almost all the time (i.e. we use more gray than black). So when doing dishes we use a small plastic bucket in the sink as well and that and bucket bath often get dumped outside in a treeline depending where we are.

We've gone 6 days with three guys to water empty holding full.
 
It's a simple exercise to run the shower into a known container and time the seconds it takes to fill it. From there you get your GPM, and just like counting Ah from a battery or solar you can manage your usage as needed.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
 
solarman said:
we use paper plates when appropriate, they end up on the pit/fire.
washing dishes only once a day in a bowl, dishwater goes into the black tank..
with 80 gallons of fresh we could be off grid for 20 days, in practice though, we usually do two weeks without running dry, it's usually food that we run out of.. ! ( oh, and beer... ! )
Click to expand...
We also wash the dishes in a bowl..saves a lot
 
Earlier this year I bought a water meter that i installed at the fresh water input. It was educational to see a weeks worth of usage. With no effort to conserve (at a full hookup site - practicing for the following week at a water & electricsite) we used 46 gal in a week. I think we ate out on one Night.
We have gone 10 days on galley & black tanks but the shower tank filled in 9 days.
With an 60 gal fresh, I feel confident we can boondock for a week with a little conservation.
 
When my friend and his GF come to visit at my cabin I'll let them use my trailer to stay in. Now bear in mind that every drop of water I have to shuttle there from town in 4, 7 gallon jugs, and the on board tank is 25 gallons. I swear to God no matter how many times I tell them you can't run water like you do at home, they can use almost all that water in a weekend, and waste an entire roll of paper towel as well (when there's perfectly good hand towels hanging underneath the dispenser). Next time I'm leaving the pump turned off and telling them to bring their own jug of water and paper towel. Some people will never understand the need to use water sparingly when it comes to RVs and camping.
 
My fresh tank is 160 gallons my shower/ bathroom tank is 84 gallons my kitchen and black are 84 gallons each .
I dont worry about it lol
 
Back in my boating days, I bought a 1 gallon garden sprayer, the kind you pump up. I changed the spray end for a shower head. I would heat up water to shower temperature in a half gallon tea kettle. One tea kettle full in that rig gave me a nice navy shower, and I even had hair in those days! How much water for a shower? For me, about a half gallon. I find it takes more water to warm the shower up than to actually take a shower.
 
Jkoht said:
When my friend and his GF come to visit at my cabin I'll let them use my trailer to stay in. Now bear in mind that every drop of water I have to shuttle there from town in 4, 7 gallon jugs, and the on board tank is 25 gallons. I swear to God no matter how many times I tell them you can't run water like you do at home, they can use almost all that water in a weekend, and waste an entire roll of paper towel as well (when there's perfectly good hand towels hanging underneath the dispenser). Next time I'm leaving the pump turned off and telling them to bring their own jug of water and paper towel. Some people will never understand the need to use water sparingly when it comes to RVs and camping.
Click to expand...
The first time I let my kid take the RV with his GF and another couple they planned a 3 day weekend. On day two they were almost out of water and overflowed the gray tank.

The girls (maybe all of them) were taking two "home" showers a day.

The stupid part was my kid called with, "Dad there is something wrong. The drains backed up and we are almost out of water." My kid grew up on boats and should have known better.

I am not sure what solution they did of the two I suggested - break camp and go to the dump station but more likely was option 2 - bucket brigading gray water into the black tank to get through the final day.
 
I can shower with less than 1 gallon, and I am dirty, sweaty and gross when I have been out all day exploring.
I turned the water pump down to its lowest, and of course use the off button on the shower head.
Wash body, then shampoo hair and rinse it all once. I squeegee out as much shampoo from hair with my hands as I can so there is less to have to rinse with water.
I use a kids shampoo as it makes less suds and rinses quicker.
If I am not sweaty then might not even wash hair.
My current rig has a small water tank, so I am careful with water.
I don't pre-wet my toothbrush.
I catch dish water in one bowl to use to pre-rinse the next...
I use a lever faucet and not the turn-knobs so I can turn water off faster when at the sink...
 
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