Posted 2009-02-01 7:07 PM (#98616) Subject: How to recirculate shower water to toilet
Location: KY
Does anyone have a system that captures the shower water and then uses it for the toilet? If so, whether horse trailer or home application, please provide details on set up. Thanks you all!
Posted 2009-02-01 8:17 PM (#98619 - in reply to #98616) Subject: RE: How to recirculate shower water to toilet
Member
Posts: 42 Location: elkhart indiana
that would be a great way to save water but you might have to use a dfferent black tank, than one from the kitchen sink,because you would not want that waist to go through any kind of water pump it would brobably get stuck and burn your pump up, I supose you could get a second pump and hook it up to just the shower tank, Maybee find a fitting that has a small screen in it to catch any small dirt particals from the shower.but then agin you would have to worry about all the shampo residue stoping up the small ports in your toilet. you can get all kinds of water fittings for RV & trailers from eather Esco or Wesco both are out of elkhart. and you can get the pumps from Shurflow water pumps also out of elkhart. RV surplus in elkhart carries all kinds of black tanks. but that would make me try to experiment out side of instaling it all. you dont want to have a broken toilet in the middle of winter BRRRRRRRRR.
Posted 2009-02-01 8:35 PM (#98621 - in reply to #98616) Subject: RE: How to recirculate shower water to toilet
Veteran
Posts: 171 Location: Henderson, TN 38340
A year or so ago I found a shower pump that was just like a Bilge pump with a float switch to pump the water after a small holding tank gets full. It is used on boats. This could be rigged to lift the shower water up to a toilet supply tank.
Posted 2009-02-02 5:39 AM (#98628 - in reply to #98616) Subject: RE: How to recirculate shower water to toilet
Elite Veteran
Posts: 954 Location: Hagerstown, MD
It depends on how your LQ is set up from the conversion company? My trailer has three holding tanks; a black water tank, a grey water shower tank and a grey water tank for the kitchen sink. If I wanted to plumb the toilet to use the grey water from the shower, I would need to install a suction line in the shower grey water tank, a separate water pump wired with a sepatate switch and interupt the supply line going to the toilet and plumb the line in from the shower grey water pump. That's the simple version. If I were going to do it in my LQ, I would install a check valve in the factory supply line to the toilet with a "T" valve so that I could choose whether to use the shower grey water or the water from my holding tank. That way, if we hadn't used the shower yet and needed to flush the toilet, I have a water supply either way.
Posted 2009-02-02 11:14 AM (#98639 - in reply to #98633) Subject: RE: How to recirculate shower water to toilet
Expert
Posts: 3802 Location: Rocky Mount N.C.
Originally written by greyhorse on 2009-02-02 10:19 AM
That grey water is not going to smell good, especially after a couple hot summer days. That would be my guess as to why nobody does that setup.
That was my thinking... A toilet is hard enough to keep clean using fresh water, now you want to rinse and fill it with soap scum, sweat crud water!!! That sounds like a bad trick you would play on someone else, LOL!
Stopped at a rest are somewhere on I-81 around the Va.,Tn. line... They recycled their water to flush the toilets.... That was bad, I mean it was really bad. Any of you thinking about trying this grey water to flush black...DON'T.
Posted 2009-02-02 3:03 PM (#98658 - in reply to #98639) Subject: RE: How to recirculate shower water to toilet
Elite Veteran
Posts: 954 Location: Hagerstown, MD
retento, I guess you have never traveled with my wife and daughter in our horse trailer? I'm pretty particular about dumping the black water and the grey water from the sink at the local truck stop. The shower grey water comes out smelling like a lot of cream rinse, shampoo, body wash and so on. I accidentlly bumped the dump valve on the shower tank while mowing and it took a couple of days to figure out who was doing laundry 24/7? It smelled like fabric softener all the time!
Posted 2009-02-03 1:35 AM (#98683 - in reply to #98616) Subject: RE: How to recirculate shower water to toilet
Location: KY
In the middle east where water is a premium commodity, shower (or gray water) is routinely used for toilets; it just seemed like a logical thing to me since we have camped where we had to haul water and it seemed unnecessary not to use the water again if possible.
Posted 2009-02-03 10:09 AM (#98698 - in reply to #98683) Subject: RE: How to recirculate shower water to toilet
Elite Veteran
Posts: 714 Location: Minnesota
I would think that all that conditioner, body wash and shampoo would eventually buildup in the lines to the toilet. I know that's why we have to keep cleaning our shower. Also, what about the hair? I know that my wife loses a lot of hair in the shower because I'm the one that has to unplug the drain on a regular basis. Good idea, but just doesn't seem practical.
Posted 2009-02-03 10:10 AM (#98699 - in reply to #98616) Subject: RE: How to recirculate shower water to toilet
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 383 Location: Texas
I'm sure it wouldn't hurt anything to use it, just remember that you'll be in a confined, semi-sealed space with the water that may or may not smell bad. My experience has been that it only really smells bad in hot weather..... not sure if it's the heat or that more sweat gets washed off in the shower.
Posted 2009-02-03 1:22 PM (#98714 - in reply to #98616) Subject: RE: How to recirculate shower water to toilet
Veteran
Posts: 188 Location: Kinston, NC
Recirculation of water....I would recommend the multi functional shower-toilet combo. Who says you can't save alittle time and water, just direct the shower head right into the toilet, voila!! :)
How to recirculate shower water to toilet
