The perfect showerhead?

[bmm32005]

Shower while sailing, why?

[Saqqara]

First test: expensive (rather large) Oxygenic Body Spa showerhead made comparable, perhaps slightly better pressure than my old unnamed shower head. In one minute, oxygenic pushed 5.25 quarts of water, old shower head pushed 7.0 quarts. Oxygenics is labeled "2.0 GPM Max". With cutoff switch off, Oxygenics pees a small stream of water. Old shower head cuts off completely.


I have a Flojet 03526 water pump, and there is a flow restrictor cap in the outlet of the shower valve / diverter.

[cheoah]

Originally Posted by SaucySailoress

I'd love to see Angelfish's hair....!

Yes I'm intrigued by this hair too, took me a second to envision the washing process. Careful not to foul the prop with that braid

The spray bottle and camp shower is a good idea for keeping consumption down. I let the family have their way with the water when they're onboard but 60 gallons lasts us a week even then. Just with my lady it lasts even longer but they're all pretty conscious from living on a well I guess. Funny, at that rate it still seems pretty luxurious; lots of hot water for dishes, daily showers, but not fresh water for flushing.

Cockpit showers rock. My previous boats have all been pretty spartan, so I'm easily wowed, but man I love that little convenience. Never use the inside one really.

[dugout]

Originally Posted by Saqqara

First test: expensive (rather large) Oxygenic Body Spa showerhead made comparable, perhaps slightly better pressure than my old unnamed shower head. In one minute, oxygenic pushed 5.25 quarts of water, old shower head pushed 7.0 quarts. Oxygenics is labeled "2.0 GPM Max". With cutoff switch off, Oxygenics pees a small stream of water. Old shower head cuts off completely. I have a Flojet 03526 water pump, and there is a flow restrictor cap in the outlet of the shower valve / diverter.

I have followed the thread and your testing is of interest. However, I feel your problem will survive any mechanical restriction you implement beyond literally shut down the pressure water pumps. This is a behavioral issue. Your crew has not embraced the concepts of water conservation and until that happens, IMHO, nothing will change. The problem may be bigger than a shower head. Good Luck!

[bobconnie]

Ahh and remember, this is another great reason to have a really nice bucket !! Gal and a half of water and a rag, and your good to go !!! Use salt water and rinse with fresh water!! worked for Connie and I for a couple of years ! (of course I had to make some changes after a while LOL)

[CAELESTIS]

All of the previous solutions involve spending more money.

Just shut the breaker switch off.

[Teknav]

When sailing/snorkeling/SCUBA diving/in hot weather environment, it's time for a very short hair style; easy to wash and dry. Life is so simple, if you want it to be.

Mauritz
Your opinion of me has no cash value!

[Jubilee39]

I second the scandvik bought at defenderc

[ssanzone]

i think your limitation is being hand held...

[BriRich]

we recently spent 3 weeks on our boat and the only way to fill the tanks was to take 6 5gal jugs back and forth on the dingy to the dock from the mooring. My two kids were in charge and did 5 round trips. all that work gave them a good lesson on the value of the water and conservation. we have a hand held nozzle that you have to squeeze for the water to run

[sailorboy1]

I hate having to go refill the water tanks. But I guess this thread shows what people value more, a good shower or having to fill their tanks. Personally I value the shower more!

[Saqqara]

Originally Posted by ssanzone

i think your limitation is being hand held...

Yeah, I'm not going to be satisfied with my little comparo until I try the whedon ultra saver head somehow adapted for handheld use as was my original idea. Of course I'm also trying not to finish this initiative with a drawer full of unused crap, and I am betting a kitchen sink sprayer

I certainly enjoy hearing of peoples' solutions for extreme water conservation, as befits a cruising forum, but that is not my use case. I am trying to balance efficiency without much compromise of comfort.

With conflicting work schedules (now remedied) as our biggest barrier, and vacation time substantially committed to overseas travel to Asia to visit inlaws, I've had two overnights on the boat with my wife in 6.5 years of marriage, and one with our four year old daughter (both very prone to motion sickness). I have been limited to day sailing and a couple of longer trips with male friends. The girls' comfort and enjoyment is going to open up more sailing opportunities for me than the cruising range afforded by tight water conservation. This is one of the reasons I upgraded to a boat with more creature comforts.

Also, I now believe I have a 40 gallon water tank, plus the water heater, so I probably misspoke when I said 60 gallons. Will a rotary diaphragm pump push enough air after an empty tank, to evacuate the hot water tank downstream? Seems like it does.

[Ocean Girl]

Conserving water, I don't think this has been mentioned. We do not have pressure water aboard, nor do i want it. Brian (Rain Dog) is working on mounting a saltwater wash down pump for the deck and anchor/rode. I thought, why not have our shower hooked up to it too? He was mounting the pump in the head anyways, using an un used intake through hull. So adding a y valve with shower head should be easy ( says the gal who doesn't have to do it)

Shower with saltwater all you want ( depending power drain) then just foot pump a couple cups of tank water to rinse body. Fresh as a daisy

[zeehag]

while under way i use sea water to wash my long hair--you may suggest wifey speak with some other female cruising souls, just a thought.

[Saqqara]

"Hot/Cold RV Exterior Shower - Shower Head" from Camping World arrived. It is much smaller than expected; it looks like a kitchen sink sprayer and is about that size too. The lever to engage the spray locks in place when you squeeze it, so you have to press at the top to disengage. So much for my hope that this one would have to always be squeezed, to encourage a "navy shower".

Pressure was not great, I was hoping for a more "needle like" spray. With my pump on the boat it moved 3.3 quarts of water in one minute, or 0.825 gallons per minute. It appears to have adequate flow to shower with, just not a lot of pressure.

Since we do most showering on the swim platform rather than turn the head into a swamp, with this latest showerhead outside and the Oxygenics in the head, I expect by changing showerheads I will have nearly doubled the showering "run time."

I will probably move on to other projects now, although I'd eventually like to test the flow of a cheapie kitchen sprayer and the Whedon ultra saver showerhead I mentioned in my first post.