Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Off grid cabin - shower setup

We're getting close to finally completing our off grid cabin, all that's left is adding a shower/kitchen sink and drain system. I want to make sure I get this right so I don't have to spend a bunch of time having to redo it. Here is what I'm planning to do and if something sounds amiss let me know.

I've got 35 gallon water tank that will sit next to our shower (upstairs), from there I am running a 110v rv 45 psi water pump to an on demand rv water heater which requires a minimum of 20psi for it to operate. I am planning on running a water line downstairs to our kitchen sink which will be teed off on the outlet side of the water pump and I will also t off another water line from the outlet side of the water heater down to the kitchen sink. I'm thinking that I'll need to add shutoff valves on those lines going down to the kitchen when I want to take a shower. We've got a water trough tub that we will use for a shower stall which I've already installed the drain on and I'm planning on running 2" pvc for the draining system which will be wrapped with 38° heat tape for winter use. I'm also going to run the kitchen sink drain into the 2" pvc and the 2" drain system will run about 25 feet under our cabin and angled enough to allow it to drain without any residual left in the pipe. I'm also going to put a clean out where the kitchen sink and shower drain join just in case something gets dropped or it becomes clogged for some reason. This is all gray water so it will empty out on a downhill slope in the front of our cabin so I'm not concerned about odor or contaminating the ground with chemicals or anything that might harm the environment around our cabin.


I plumbed a toilet and sink last fall for the wife so she wouldn't have to run to the outhouse in the middle of the night to take a leak and my drain is very similar to this except it does go underground into a buried 45 gallon barrel filled with rocks with gravel underneath it, it is completely insulated and enclosed in plywood to prevent it from freezing, there is no odor and we haven't had any issues with it not draining completely, even in the winter.

Yer one of those elitists, aintcha?

At our remote cabin I put a piece of plywood on the ground between a triangle if trees, drape a tarp around them, hang one of those sun-heater sacks filled with water from the cook stove above and we and the skeeters are good to go. If feeling up-town, I lay some planks from the cabin door to the "shower".

Jeeze man, live a little!

In my experience it is the women who object to a setup like that, particularly once they achieve motherhood.

As far as the setup goes, nothing jumps out as a bad idea as long as AK will let you drain a toilet into a barrel of rock. You might want to check the pump curve to be sure it can make 20+ PSI at the flow you need for the shower. Being as it is all RV stuff there shouldn’t be a problem but if they publish a curve it would be worth double checking.

Do you have a vent stack for the drain pipes?

I'm guessing off the grid means nobody but AKMTNHNTR knows about it....

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Lol.............you should see my shower setup in the summer, a tarp on the ground, a 5 gallon water jug sitting on the deck above me, towel, soap and shampoo, that doesn't work so good in the winter though.

Just curious but why would I need a vent stack? The gray water is going directly outside and there is no P-trap or anything else in the system.

In our cabin, we have a simple 2x6 floor that drains down in the middle . Under it we have a 5 gal. pan. We have 3 walls and a tarp for a curtain. I have a hole in the loft that holds a 5 gal. bucket with a little hole on the bottom. I take some warmed up water, it doesnt take more than a gallon neither. I just dump it in and run down stairs and take a shower. A gallon does wonders. Two gallons is heaven.

Get a cold plate from one of those portable keg tap systems, place it under the tub where you stand and plumb the hot water line to run through it so your feet stay toasty.
The wife will love you for it!

An RV water pump will supply enough water to get it done.

Just put a shutoff valve in the shower head like they do in trailers,to save water.

I don’t bathe when I’m camping.

I also crap standing up when roughing it

We have a mixing valve just like a regular shower at ones home, so we can control water flow at the shower with it.

Good to know...........lol.

Drop your drawers first, or not?

Maybe he goes naked like a squatch.

What is wrong with just using a washcloth and a pan of warm water ?

Like German women? lol

German women wash?

Remember... its only gray water if you dont pee in the shower!

Your system sounds good.

Mayve I missed it, do you have a well? You mention a 35 gallon tank, you filling that up from another source?