Working With Water Drainage for Your Outdoor Shower

Water coming from an outdoor shower spigot.

Having an outdoor shower is great when you have a pool outside, or if your home is near a lake or a beach. But even without them, it's still very handy when you've got to wash your dog after a long jog or walk outside, or freshen up your kids after playing outdoors. Outdoor showers simply help in keeping dirt away from the home. Here are some points to consider when working with water drainage for the outdoor shower.

Create an Outdoor Shower

While it may seem fairly simple to install a shower outside your house, you're probably wondering how to tackle the plumbing part of the shower. As long as you have a water source or connection outside, you can buy a shower head and some piping or a hose to connect the head to your water source.

Prepare the Shower Base

outdoor shower in a backyard

The first thing you will need to consider is the base of your outdoor shower. First, it must be a water-resistant material. You may choose a wide stone, concrete with tiles or stones, or a specialized wood. The other thing you will need to consider is having a base design where water can flow to your drainage system. You may sculpt a water flow system in your base to allow the water to flow to your drainage system.

Just keep in mind when you sculpt your base to make sure it's still stable and leveled to avoid accidents and keep you and your family safe.

Tackle the Drainage System

The gray water from outdoor showers is usually just drained to the garden or to the grass. That is why when creating your outdoor shower's base, it should be a little elevated so you can run a hose or pipe from the base to a flower bed or to your grass at an angle. This will allow the gray water to flow freely from your base to the garden. At the same time, this will keep your feet from standing on mud while taking a shower outdoors.

This is the most common way to drain your outdoor shower because it's eco-friendly. You get to save the water you used from rinsing dirt, soil, sand, and pollen for watering your plants. On the other hand, if you would like to have the gray water drain to your sewer you will need to know your city's regulations regarding drainage.

Some cities don't allow rainwater in the sewage system. If this is the case, make sure that your outdoor shower is covered so rain water won't flow to your drainage. If an outlet for drainage is accessible from where you are installing the outdoor shower, the process of installing the pipes will be similar to how you connected the shower head to your water source.

Working the water drainage for your outdoor shower isn't too hard a task. Now you're prepared to tackle it.