How to choose and install a summer shower tank
An outdoor shower is a must at any summer cottage, because it provides comfort after rest and work. How to choose a tank for a summer shower and is it worth making it yourself? What material is best used in this matter? Before starting work, you need to understand these issues.
Most of the tank selection issues come down to its capacity, shape and material. In order to make the right decision, it is necessary to investigate all the main types of tanks and their characteristics.
Buy or do it yourself
The advantages of buying a ready-made container:
- The new product is made of good materials that will definitely last a long time.
- Since the tank will be filled with water, its tightness is very important. Purchased goods guarantee it.
- If you want to install a heated tank, a finished model will be much safer than a DIY one.
There are also disadvantages to buying a ready-made shower container. For example, it is significantly higher in price. In addition, there is not always a model of this size and characteristics as intended.
Hand-made production of a shower tank has advantages:
- Economic benefit. Materials for self-made containers are inexpensive. And if you take them from the stocks of your good economy, then it is spent and there will be no need at all.
- Volume, size and all proportions can be made according to your own decision, in accordance with personal preferences and characteristics of a summer shower.
- It is quite possible to install a heated tank. But in order for its use to be as safe as possible, you need to carefully follow all the rules for the manufacture and installation of such units.
As a result, everyone weighs all the pros and cons and chooses whether to buy a ready-made tank, or to make it at home.
Varieties of containers for a summer shower
The first thing that every owner pays attention to when making an outdoor shower is the material for its manufacture. Often used in this area:
- carbon steel;
- galvanized steel;
- chrome steel;
- plastic.
Carbon steel for tank
One of the positive things about this material is its durability. Minus carbon steel in poor corrosion resistance.
Ready containers usually hold from 100 to 200 liters of water. To use such a tank, it must be equipped with a shower head and a valve. It is also necessary to attach a cover, a fitting and a sensor that regulates the amount of liquid.
You need to pour water from above, through the opening provided for this. Also, do not forget about closing the lid, in order to avoid clogging the tank inside.
Galvanized steel for tank
A galvanized steel tank can be considered corrosion resistant, which is its main feature. This effect is achieved by the fact that the surface of the material is covered with a zinc layer, which is less susceptible to rusting. This extends the life of products made from such material. This is very important when it comes to items subject to high humidity. And since the tank for summer shower constantly in contact with water, galvanized steel is a very suitable material for its manufacture.
Finished shower tanks come in very different shapes. Their volume ranges from forty to two hundred liters. The price category of such a product is quite budgetary, thanks to which many summer residents purchase a shower tank made of galvanized steel.
Chrome steel for tank
Chrome plated steel is also called stainless steel. It is better than any other steel, protected from rusting. Therefore, this material is great for making a tank that will store water for a summer shower.
Although the service life of a stainless steel shower tank is especially long, such a product has a minus. It lies in the price. The finished container is expensive. If you only buy materials, it will cost a little less. However, if the owner has a couple of sheets of good stainless steel in his old stocks, they should be used in the manufacture of containers for a summer shower.
Chrome steel will certainly pay off, serving as long as possible. In addition, during the operation of the stainless steel shower tank, mold and mildew will not grow in it, the color and composition of the water will not change due to the rust formed inside the container.
Factory tanks have a rectangular sludge square shape, containing from forty to two hundred liters of liquid. The self-made version completely depends on the preferences of the master.
Plastic tank
Plastic shower tanks have the following advantages:
- high wear resistance;
- practical shape of the product;
- ease of transportation and installation;
- good water capacity;
- rust resistance.
In addition, all factory plastic tanks are designed so that you can easily pour water into them directly from the bucket. Thanks to this, such a product can also be called simple and convenient to use.
Also, now you can buy not only an ordinary tank for a summer shower, but also a unit with heated water... Such a flat shower tank allows you to heat water quickly and so that all of it is at the same temperature. Thanks to this, taking a shower will bring refreshment in any weather, even if warm water is not provided at the summer cottage.
Homemade summer shower tank
Do-it-yourself material for making a shower container for a dacha should have the following characteristics:
- resistance to temperature extremes;
- high water resistance;
- corrosion resistance.
A lot of materials are suitable for these characteristics, and each summer resident chooses the most convenient option for himself.
When making any homemade summer shower tank, before installing it, you must draw a full container of water to check for holes and cracks.
Making a tank from a finished barrel
Often, ordinary plastic or metal barrels are used to equip a summer shower. There are square, round and rectangular shower barrels. They are of different sizes, but always lightweight and easy to install.
The work is done as follows:
- A hole is created in the container, into which a tap is mounted that supplies water (it is desirable that it has a sprayer in its configuration).
- To fill the tank, you can use the opening provided for this in the shower barrel. But if the owners do not want to do this work manually using buckets, it is better to install a pump or hose to replenish the water.
To install a container for a shower in a summer cottage, you need to prepare a special structure that serves as the walls of a summer shower. For this, any suitable materials are used, be it brick, metal profile, wood or even durable opaque polyethylene. For convenience, it is also better to install a wooden floor grate.
Homemade sheet metal tank
Another good option for making a summer shower tank is to use stainless steel sheets for this. This method has several irrefutable advantages:
- The master can decide for himself what size the container for the summer shower will be.
- The tank can be made so that it also serves as a roof.
- There is a possibility to make an automatic system of water intake and heating.
The thickness of the metal sheet must be at least one millimeter.The master determines the length and width depending on the features of his drawing. Usually it is a square structure, approximately 1.2x1.2 meters. Such a tank will also serve as a roof for a summer shower.
A standard tank holds one hundred liters of fluid. Step by step, the work on its manufacture is as follows:
- Drawing creation. For a stoliter tank, you need two sheets of 1.2x1.2 m for the upper and lower parts, as well as four walls measuring 1.2x0.7 m. These figures are also regulated depending on the desired volume.
- The steel plates are cut with a grinder and cleaned.
- The edges of the metal plates are aligned to the most straight line so that the joints meet perfectly.
- The walls of the sheets are welded together in turn.
- At the end of the welding, slag is removed from the joints.
- On the finished container, markings are applied to the zones where the water drain will be mounted. Then they are cut out and watering cans are installed in them.
At the end of welding, all joints are re-cleaned of slag and the container is installed in the upper part of the summer shower structure.
When welding metal sheets, it is necessary to carefully regulate the supply of current, since too high a temperature can burn through the metal, which reduces the strength of the joint, and sometimes even forms holes in the sheet.