Forums
New posts
Search forums
What's new
New posts
New profile posts
Latest activity
Internet Search
Members
Current visitors
New profile posts
Search profile posts
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Search forums
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Forums
Parent Support Forums
General Parenting
funeral and kids
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Marguerite" data-source="post: 419569" data-attributes="member: 1991"><p>If you need to shut power off entirely, use a bush shower for everybody. I lived with one at my parents' place for a few years. We had no running water; there was one tap in the kitchen from the rainwater tank, that was all. The bathroom was being slowly built by my father; for the first few years you could look down through the plug hole and see the ground under the house. no pipes. Any shower water just ran free under the house and down the hill. Mum had planted some hydrangeas on the downhill side of the house, they caught the bathwater and stopped it becoming an erosive flood into the downhill neighbour's place.</p><p></p><p>The bush shower - it was a large plastic container (like a plastic jerry can) which hung form a hook above our heads. You could lift it down, but trying to lift it back up when it was full was tricky. There was a large hole cut in the top of one side of this so we could put water in; you could only ever fill it half full because of that hole. At the bottom of the container was a telephone shower attachment. There was another hook for the shower head piece so you could hang it up above the water level.</p><p></p><p>For a short hot shower, we put in one kettle full of boiling water (we did have electricity) and two kettles of cold, from the kitchen tap. With the shower head hanging up, no water would flow until you lifted it down. So - you stand in the bathtub (the whole apparatus was hanging up over the tub) and quickly wet yourself all over. Then hang the shower head back up again. Soap up. Lather your hair if you;re washing your hair. Take down the shower head and rinse off. Focus on your hair if you're washing it, the soap on your body will take care of itself. Hang the shower head back up again quickly, then check to be sure you've removed all the soap and shampoo. For a conditioner run, a leave-in conditioner is probably best. Use any remaining water to rinse hair again. </p><p></p><p>In a lot of drought-stricken areas, the shower water is collected and used on the garden. In that place, we obviously had no inside toilet. The outside toilet was literally a pit. Going there after dark was a scary experience so we had a bucket for communal night-time use. In the morning the bucket would be carried to the tank stand outside, filled with water then poured onto the vegetable garden. Tomatoes, not lettuces. On the ground, not on the plants. Not on the herbs, although some of it percolated through to the herb roots which was OK.</p><p></p><p>In warmer weather I used to go for a daily swim and take my shampoo and conditioner with me to the beach. There was a public shower there, cold water only, no cubicle. I stood there for all to see, in my swimsuit, and washed my hair after my swim. It was a bit chilly to do this in the middle of winter, but sometimes I was desperate and I knew my hair needed more than three kettles of water!</p><p></p><p>It can be done. It also should be legal. And I tell you, non-compliance with the time limit means you HAVE to get out, covered in suds, wrap yourself in a towel and go boil the kettle for a refill.</p><p></p><p>It was a valuable lesson for me - it was not punishment, it was necessity. I've been contemplating putting in a bush shower outside, for use after a trip to the beach. A black water reservoir container will automatically warm the water. Fill it before we go to the beach and it will be just right on our return. Couldn't leave it full, though - mosquitoes.</p><p></p><p>You haven't lived, until you've lived with tank water and having to drink your way around the tadpoles and mosquito wrigglers. You learn to leave them stranded on the side of the glass... </p><p></p><p>Marg</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Marguerite, post: 419569, member: 1991"] If you need to shut power off entirely, use a bush shower for everybody. I lived with one at my parents' place for a few years. We had no running water; there was one tap in the kitchen from the rainwater tank, that was all. The bathroom was being slowly built by my father; for the first few years you could look down through the plug hole and see the ground under the house. no pipes. Any shower water just ran free under the house and down the hill. Mum had planted some hydrangeas on the downhill side of the house, they caught the bathwater and stopped it becoming an erosive flood into the downhill neighbour's place. The bush shower - it was a large plastic container (like a plastic jerry can) which hung form a hook above our heads. You could lift it down, but trying to lift it back up when it was full was tricky. There was a large hole cut in the top of one side of this so we could put water in; you could only ever fill it half full because of that hole. At the bottom of the container was a telephone shower attachment. There was another hook for the shower head piece so you could hang it up above the water level. For a short hot shower, we put in one kettle full of boiling water (we did have electricity) and two kettles of cold, from the kitchen tap. With the shower head hanging up, no water would flow until you lifted it down. So - you stand in the bathtub (the whole apparatus was hanging up over the tub) and quickly wet yourself all over. Then hang the shower head back up again. Soap up. Lather your hair if you;re washing your hair. Take down the shower head and rinse off. Focus on your hair if you're washing it, the soap on your body will take care of itself. Hang the shower head back up again quickly, then check to be sure you've removed all the soap and shampoo. For a conditioner run, a leave-in conditioner is probably best. Use any remaining water to rinse hair again. In a lot of drought-stricken areas, the shower water is collected and used on the garden. In that place, we obviously had no inside toilet. The outside toilet was literally a pit. Going there after dark was a scary experience so we had a bucket for communal night-time use. In the morning the bucket would be carried to the tank stand outside, filled with water then poured onto the vegetable garden. Tomatoes, not lettuces. On the ground, not on the plants. Not on the herbs, although some of it percolated through to the herb roots which was OK. In warmer weather I used to go for a daily swim and take my shampoo and conditioner with me to the beach. There was a public shower there, cold water only, no cubicle. I stood there for all to see, in my swimsuit, and washed my hair after my swim. It was a bit chilly to do this in the middle of winter, but sometimes I was desperate and I knew my hair needed more than three kettles of water! It can be done. It also should be legal. And I tell you, non-compliance with the time limit means you HAVE to get out, covered in suds, wrap yourself in a towel and go boil the kettle for a refill. It was a valuable lesson for me - it was not punishment, it was necessity. I've been contemplating putting in a bush shower outside, for use after a trip to the beach. A black water reservoir container will automatically warm the water. Fill it before we go to the beach and it will be just right on our return. Couldn't leave it full, though - mosquitoes. You haven't lived, until you've lived with tank water and having to drink your way around the tadpoles and mosquito wrigglers. You learn to leave them stranded on the side of the glass... Marg [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Forums
Parent Support Forums
General Parenting
funeral and kids
Top