Three quart boondocker's shower: Oxygenics BodySpa
California is in a bit of a drought -- you might have heard. And I heard that the Oxygenics can cut down on water usage. I was skeptical, frankly -- it sounded like hype to me. But since we needed a new hand-held unit in our shower at home, we bought a BodySpa unit, just as an experiment. I also added a simple in-line shutoff valve, which can not only shut off the water but can be tweaked to reduce the flow.
After installing the shower head (very easy), I did a time test with a watch and a one quart measuring cup. I adjusted the flow so that it was minimally acceptable: more than a trickle, but not a hard spray. It took 30 seconds to fill a quart, or half a gallon per minute.
On to the shower test -- it took me 15 seconds to get wet. Water off. Soap up, including hair. (Full disclosure -- I don't have much hair to wash.) Rinsing took one minute and fifteen seconds. Total water usage: 1.5 minutes, or three quarts! And this was with bar soap and shampoo -- when we are boondocking, we use diluted Dr. Bronner's liquid soap, precisely because it rinses off even faster than regular soap.
Obviously, we are not going to shower like this at home every day, unless and until the drought becomes really terrible. The difference between a three quart shower and a three gallon shower is trivial, at home. But when we are boondocking, the ability to conserve water while staying clean is a big deal.
Bottom line -- I hate to admit it, but the hype about the Oxygenics unit is apparently true.
After installing the shower head (very easy), I did a time test with a watch and a one quart measuring cup. I adjusted the flow so that it was minimally acceptable: more than a trickle, but not a hard spray. It took 30 seconds to fill a quart, or half a gallon per minute.
On to the shower test -- it took me 15 seconds to get wet. Water off. Soap up, including hair. (Full disclosure -- I don't have much hair to wash.) Rinsing took one minute and fifteen seconds. Total water usage: 1.5 minutes, or three quarts! And this was with bar soap and shampoo -- when we are boondocking, we use diluted Dr. Bronner's liquid soap, precisely because it rinses off even faster than regular soap.
Obviously, we are not going to shower like this at home every day, unless and until the drought becomes really terrible. The difference between a three quart shower and a three gallon shower is trivial, at home. But when we are boondocking, the ability to conserve water while staying clean is a big deal.
Bottom line -- I hate to admit it, but the hype about the Oxygenics unit is apparently true.
