h a l f b a k e r yThe embarrassing drunkard uncle of invention.
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I am a Product Design student in Liverpool, England and have been set the task of designing an 'Eco Friendly' shower. Me and my three fellow students have come up with an idea for a portable shower that is to be mainly used by campers and recycles water whilst needing no non
renewable power source.
Our idea is as follows:
- The shower system folds up into a briefcase sized box and is accompanied by a blow up shower cubicle.
- The user unfolds the shower base out of the box. It consists of a base that contains two foot pedals that the user stands on while showering and a control panel with a heat switch and clean rinse option. There is also a retractable shower pole that erects into a 6-7 foot pole with the shower head being fixed ontop.
- The theory behind the design is that the user slowly pumps the water around the system with their feet, which provides the power for the water to be moved around the system.
- The user blows up the shower cubicle which is around 8 foot tall and hollow.This can be done by either manually blowing up the tent cubicle (which may take some time) or by connecting it to the shower and using the showers built in pump to fill it up that way. The shower base is then put inside the cubicle and folded out into the starting position
before the shower begins.
- When the shower is in use and water falls from the shower head it lands inside the blow up cubicle and is sucked up by valves in the feel on the base that then sends the water round the cycle again
- The water is heated by a small gas heater
- This process can continue for as long as the user wishes, aslong as they continue to slowly pump, the hot shower will continue and there is no time limit because most of the water is being recycled.
- When the user feels they are fully washed they can select the "clean rinse" option from the control panel which then takes water from a small water tank of clean water, providing the user with a short clean wash before they leave the shower. This will get rid of any dirt that
may be left on the body. This rinse will only last for a few minutes as this water will not be recycled. It will be pure and hot and used only as a quick rinse at the end of each wash.
Camp Shower
http://www.campingg...supersunshower.html
Perhaps simpler, cheaper and easier to use. [AO, Oct 04 2004]
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//small gas heater// What about "no non-renewable power source"? |
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Will there be a filter in the recirculating line, to scrub out the soap scum, hair, dirt and sand? No need to be "pure", but I'd hate to be pumping this stuff back up onto my head. |
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I think there are some portable showers out there already. What's slightly different about your idea is that your shower recycles the water, right? Well, it is a good effort of design you've put into this idea but I don't think i would buy a shower that will put back on my body all the dirt I had already washed off, only warmer. |
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The pedals and the pumps sound fine, but I don't like the thought of dirt recycling, even if it's all going to be washed off with a last clean wash. |
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Yeah, if I want to wallow in my own filth, I'll just take a bath. ;-) |
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Welcome [davewillo]. Tip of the day: you can add paragraph breaks by adding 2 carriage returns (hit ENTER twice) at appropriate locations in the body of the text. You can create line breaks by typing <br> in the text where you want a line to break. |
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I wouldn't make the entire cubicle inflatable - there would be a real danger of suffocation as you're pumping away inside. Plus it would be hard to get in without letting the air out. Maybe have a hollow inflatable cage-type structure around the cubicle instead - not only might you still be alive at the end of your ablutions, but you've also got less to inflate. |
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Welcome to the HB, by the way. |
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That seems like a lot of work just to get dirty water recycled back though a shower head. |
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Existing camp showers (see link) will get you clean with less than 5 gallons of water (20 liters), which is already quite eco-friendly. If you want to recycle that water, it’s simply a mater of standing in a bucket. |
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1) Why an inflatable surround? Why not just a curtain and frame?
2) If I'm really camping, I probably don't want to haul around my bathing water. Let me pump it from a stream or reservoir.
3) Ditto the gas heater. Toss in a solar heater (a big plastic bag, clear on one side, black on the other).
4) Make the whole system with really good filters and I can use it to distill potable water, too. |
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for gods sake, don't pee in the shower without selecting the "clean rinse" option first!!! |
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