Never in my life did I think I would need to write a blog about how to build a TRASH CAN SHOWER & survive as a family of 5 (with a newborn) with NO Clean Running Water in the year 2022, & yet here we are. It’s currently mid-January 2022 & for the past 2 months I’ve been collecting fresh water up the street from a military supply truck (10 gallons per day allotment for a family of 5) & am having to wash dishes & clothes in buckets, & shower from a trash can!! How did this all happen you ask?? for more on the HOW SEE THIS NY Times ARTICLE. For more on how we are personally managing & navigating without running water continue reading.
WHAT HAPPENED????
Mid November 2021 we started to smell fuel coming from our faucets, as did approximately 2k of our neighbors here on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu. This is on the heels of both me & our Newborn son (born November 13th 2021) having unexplained severe rashes & having GI issues since we had come home from the hospital. After the Navy denied that there was any cause for concern despite numerous health complaints being filed (thousands) the health department finally got involved & confirmed that Jet Fuel 350 times the “safe” limit for drinking water was found in our water supply.
CURRENTLY…
As of now January 2022 we are 2 months into living WITHOUT clean fresh running water in our home.
We are a family of 5 and our 3rd baby was born one week before this massive issue was brought to light. Luckily, my husband was given leave from the military to come home from deployment to meet his newborn son, & while he was here he helped me put most of the things you’ll see pictured & described below into place, so that we could live in our home without water until either the Navy fixed the issue & cleaned up the water OR we are able to move
Currently we are still in our home. The following is how I manage day to day.
SIDE NOTE… We were also finally given a hotel room that we can go to shower in, but since my husband is once again deployed & the hotel we were given is a 25 min drive (without traffic) into Waikiki (one of the busiest & congested parts of this island), it’s not feasible to get there with all three kids more than once a week.
Staying at the hotel would mean no kitchen, being far from the kids school, & none of the other comforts of home, so for a decent shower we try to get there once a week. For the other days of the week we rinse using our Trash Can Shower at home with the allotted clean water I collect from the military supply corps, which is set up in the park down the street from our house.
ITEMS I COULDN’T DO WITHOUT & LINKS
- Glass Gallon Jugs (I keep these at each sink to wash our hands)
- Water Dispenser (I put these on each of the Glass Gallon Jugs to make hand washing easier)
- Kitchen Sink Sprayer Pump (This pressurized pump holds several gallons of water & makes spraying off dishes so much easier)
- Big Berkey Gravity-Fed Counter Top Water Filter (one of the only filters that will catch petrochemicals)
- Trash Can Shower (I’ve broken down what you need for it & how to put it together below)
TRASH CAN SHOWER
YOU’LL NEED…
- PLASTIC GARBAGE CAN (we went with a 13 Gallon White, but you could do larger it will just take longer to heat up & will take up more space)
- SUBMERSIBLE HOT WATER HEATER (this thing heats up ours quickly & is hooked up to our Google Home Smart Plug so we can turn it on even if we aren’t home, so it’s ready when we get home)
- SUBMERSIBLE WATER PUMP (we have the 1/6 HP from Everbilt, but you can choose any submersible pump)
- 10 FT. HOSE LEADER
- GARDEN HOSE SPRAYER NOZZLE
- SMART PLUGS
- ALEXA DOT OR GOOGLE MINI NEST (this allows for voice activation of the shower so that you can conserve water by turning it on & off while you’re in)
- Zip Ties
- 2×4 cut to the length of your shower to mount the Sprayer attachment)
- Drill Bit OR Sturdy Knife (to cut holes in the lid of the garbage can for cords to water heater & pump)
PUTTING IT TOGETHER
It’s fairly straight forward. I’d say the most challenging piece for us was actually setting up the smart plug voice activation, but I believe that’s our lack of tech savvy coming through.
- Cut Holes in the lid of your garbage can for cords x2 (we used a keyhole bit to drill appropriate sized holes in the lid, but a regular drill bit with a sturdy knife could achieve the same thing)
- Measure & Mount your 2×4 between the wall & your shower curtain rod (we used zip ties to hold it in place, & mike grooved or recessed the wood where our rod sits so that it fit better)
- Place the Submersible Heater & Pump in the garbage cans & feed the cords through the lid
- Attach the Submersible Pump to the Garden Hose Leader
- Attach the Garden Hose Sprayer Nozzle to the Leader
- Connect your Nest Mini or Alexa Dot to your Smart Outlet by following the instructions on the Smart Outlet Packaging. (ours is connected to an app on our phone. 1 outlet controls the heat & another controls turning the shower off/on)
- Secure the Garden Hose Nozzle with Leader to the 2×4 with Zip Ties
- Fill your Garbage Can with Clean Water ( we do about 10 gallons at a time)
- Plug in your heater to your smart plug
- Plug in your submersible pump to your other smart plug (you can also just use one smart plug & manually switch it when you need to turn on/off the heater vs. turn on/off the pump when you’re IN the shower.
VIDEO OF WHAT OURS LOOKS LIKE & SET UP
DAY TO DAY
Each day after I drop the kids at school I take my empty 10 gallon jugs to the military supply to fill up. I have about 20 jugs at any one time, so that on days I can’t make it there or they run out (which they have several times) I don’t run out.
LAUNDRY…
I use 2 gallons of the clean water in a bucket that I warm up using our extra submersible water heater to wash the newborn babies clothes. (newborn life means there is spit up on EVERYTHING) For BIG loads I once a week go to a laundromat OR visit a good friend who is willing to let me do laundry at their house. (I have several who have not been impacted by the toxic water situation)
DISHES…
My Eco-Friendly heart won’t allow me to use single use plates and utensils daily. So instead I again use my Sprayer that I keep filled with clean water throughout the day. Then after dinner each night I fill a large bucket with 1-2 gallons of water & use my submersible water heater to get it warm, add soap & do dishes in the bucket. I rinse with the sprayer & lay out to dry.
SHOWERS…
We use the Trash Can shower to rinse daily, & once a week we either go to the hotel room downtown (as I described below) OR visit a friend who lets us do bath time and hair washing at their house.
WRAPPING IT ALL UP
We have NO IDEA if/when the military will fix the issue with our water, & to be quite honest I’m not sure I would trust it even if they said they did. We are in the process of trying to move, but can’t just pick up & go, so in the meantime the plan we have is livable. It just makes A LOT more work for this solo-parent while also navigating newborn life!
I do hope that you never have to experience this, BUT if you do I hope some of these ideas help you out!