Shower head modification to save water for those non-hookup times.



These heads are normally used for an outside shower around the rv.  Older rv's used to use them for the main
shower inside.  They can be adapted to really save water and increase the pressure at the head at the same time.
The shutoff in this unit can be used to control the flow of water during a shower, in addition to the modification below.







Remove the center screw, remove the insert, and flip the insert over.  Here you can see that all but the 4 holes with the arrows have
been plugged with an o-ring of the appropriate size.  I cut the o-ring, force it into the hole, then, cut it off.  This will allow me to remove any or all of these plugs at a later time, should I ever want to return to a full flow rate.  Water only flows through the 4 holes shown, which drastically increases pressure at the head, as well as reducing the flow rate, and really conserves water.  Typically, we only use the water pump onboard, even when in a campground, and can tell by the sound of the pump, how much water we are using.  Normally, with the correct rate of water flowing, the pump will run about 1 second, then stop for 1 second, and repeat.  If you open the shutoff valve more, then the pump will run more, and use more water.  If you close the shutoff more, then the pump runs less, and you conserve more water.  Typically, we take military showers, where we run water long enough to get fully wet, shut off the water, with the shutoff button on the head, wash body and head with the water shut off, then turn the water back on and rinse off.  This typicaly results in about a gallon or so of water per shower, per person.  Our Motor Home has a 55 gallon fresh water tank, and between showers, washing dishes, using the water for 2 pots of coffee per day, brushing teeth, etc., one tank will last us for 7 to 10 days.  The big factor is how many loads of dishes we do during the week.  We can actually use more water washing dishes, than we do taking showers.  If we use a lot of paper products, then the water lasts in the 10 day range.  If we wash more dishes, then we get about 7 days.  Our grey tank is 30 gallons, and the black tank is 20 gallons, and it works fine for the 2 of us.