Water Storage/ Shower Situation

[DustBoat]

Hello, this year will officially be my first burn! So excited to finally make it to the playa! Since I've never done this before I was wondering what is found to be the best way to store water (we will be using a yurt, no camp trailer). We will have a flatbed trailer to bring supplies etc.
Also, what is the shower situation? Make your own? Provided on the playa? etc. Any help would be huge!

[Popeye]

Hello, this year will officially be my first burn! So excited to finally make it to the playa! Since I've never done this before I was wondering what is found to be the best way to store water (we will be using a yurt, no camp trailer). We will have a flatbed trailer to bring supplies etc.
Also, what is the shower situation? Make your own? Provided on the playa? etc. Any help would be huge!

Hi DustBoat and welcome to EPlaya. Stop on over at Greeters and tell us a little about yourself,what you know, what you do and why you are coming to BM.
Store water in the containers you bring it in. Could be 5 gallon jugs or cases of botttled water.
You don't really need a shower. Any sweat evaporates almost immediately. Some build one many/most just use a spray bottle and mist in the morning. Surprisingly effective if you haven't tried it before. You might try a whores bath, wipe down pits and bits with a wet cloth and some soap. Do NOT throw grey water on the playa. Haul it back out and dispose of at home. Larger camps will pay to have it pumped and removed, some try an evaporation pond but this can turn imto a mess.

All your questions have been answered before many times. Try searching either in the search box top right or google Epaya: your question.
Read the survival guide.
Read the First Timers Guide

[Sham]

Hello, this year will officially be my first burn! So excited to finally make it to the playa! Since I've never done this before I was wondering what is found to be the best way to store water (we will be using a yurt, no camp trailer). We will have a flatbed trailer to bring supplies etc.
Also, what is the shower situation? Make your own? Provided on the playa? etc. Any help would be huge!

As far as your shower, yes, make you own. You'll need a way to capture the water and keep from landing on the playa, as it's not allowed, but more important is that the ground turned into a slick, slimy mosh pit.
I use the 5 gallon camping shower bags for the water, that I fill before getting to the playa. You could improvise a shower stall, or not use one at all depending on your shyness level. A large tarp on the ground with 2x4's around the perimeter works great as an evap pond.
Also, bring lots of baby wipes for those days you just don't get a chance to shower.

[Joeln]

Popeye's talking truth here.
Many ideas have been tried for evaporating shower water - some work well, others turned into an amazing moop mess. I'd suggest go for the spray or whores bath for your first year and if you really want to shower your second time around, check out everyone's methods while you're there and figure out what works. I got lucky, my first camp knew how to do evap ponds right. i sure have seen some disasters out there - you've been warned.

Do NOT throw grey water on the playa. Haul it back out and dispose of at home. Larger camps will pay to have it pumped and removed, some try an evaporation pond but this can turn into a mess.

[Captain Goddammit]

Hell no, no need to take whore baths! Have a real shower.
Not much beats how great a real shower feels in a hot dirty desert.
You’ve got a trailer. You can carry water barrels. All you have to do is bring empty barrels to pour your grey water into, and a big funnel.
That’s what I’ve always done. It works great. If you can haul it in, you can haul it out. Simple.

[gaminwench]

Large bin, towel in the bottom. Hudson sprayer, natural soap. Hang towel to air dry, post shower. Repeat until gross.

[Token]

Also, what is the shower situation? Make your own? Provided on the playa? etc.

Based on how you asked the question, I suspect you need to do a hell-of-allot more research in what you are getting into.

Start with the Survival Guide here:

https://survival.burningman.org

If at all possible, find a long weekend where you can go camping for 3-4 days in a spot with ZERO services. One of them places where you have to dig your own latrine and burn the toilet paper. Preferably somewhere dry, windy and blazing hot.

Then come back with questions.

Get a bit of dust and dirt on that ass before you dive in.

[Lightspeed]

Large bin, towel in the bottom. Hudson sprayer, natural soap. Hang towel to air dry, post shower. Repeat until gross.

I like this. But isn't the shower grey water kinda moopy? You know, with hairs and such? I'm no salamander, and the idea of hanging that towel up afterwards paints an ugly photo of a wet, dusty, hairy flag flappin' in the wind. Pollinating the playa with pubes and blue mohawk hairs.

[gaminwench]

I am braided and shorn when on the playa. No hair MOOP here.

I also, as hard as it was, gave up glitter, feathers and sequins at BRC.

I still manage to sparkle and smell good!

[Zubeneschamali]

Heck, shower away. Collect all water and store in a grey water bin. Pay to have a pumper haul it away just like the RV's.

[LowePro]

Hey @joeln,
wondering you can elaborate on "Imy first camp knew how to do evap ponds right"
What did you all do differently or special that worked? Thx

[Savannah]

Hello, this year will officially be my first burn! So excited to finally make it to the playa! Since I've never done this before I was wondering what is found to be the best way to store water (we will be using a yurt, no camp trailer). We will have a flatbed trailer to bring supplies etc.
Also, what is the shower situation? Make your own? Provided on the playa? etc. Any help would be huge!

Showers/Astral Headwash/Steam baths on the playa are occasionally run into, or you may have a friendly RV neighbor who offers you one, if you're lucky, or ask nicely (meaning: rinse yourself in 60 seconds or so, turn the water off, lather thoroughly, and then rinse) . . . BUT . . . . you should not count on running into one, and if you bring your own, you will need to evaporate--or tote out--any grey water (dishwater, shower water).

One of the easiest ways to do things, even in a tent: bring a few spray bottles (for water, lemon juice, etc), multiple wash cloths, hand towels (because they can get you dry without taking up as much space as a bath towel), and body wash (it lathers way easier than bar soap). Some clothespins, too.

Stand on a hand towel, spritz yourself with water, lather up with body wash, spritz again and dry off. Hang your towel with a clothespin, but don't count on being able to use it again. It may get dusty while it dries, and do you an Injustice. (So bring several.)

Cornstarch baby powder is nice to prevent chafing on multiple areas. If your thighs rub, use Bodyglide or a white stick deodorant on them.

Flawless!

[Papa Bear]

FYI, Astral Headwash is taking a year off, so won't be found on playa again until 2020.

[TT120]

Evap ponds can work very well if managed right. Our camp has been using one for many years with no problems. You have to make sure your campers and neighbors don't put anything but shower water in it. You have to sweep the water around every now and then so it doesn't puddle up too much and make sure the water doesn't get over an inch deep. We used 2 ponds and when one got full, we'd move the shower structure over to the other one. We shut the shower down a couple days before the end to let all the water evaporate and then roll up the plastic and throw it away. We've never had a odor problem either. It also helps to use the water sparingly. We teach everyone how to take a "navy" shower and with that method, you can get a really refreshing shower with about a half gallon of water.

[Joeln]

Hey @joeln,
wondering you can elaborate on "Imy first camp knew how to do evap ponds right"
What did you all do differently or special that worked? Thx

See the above post by TT120 - he ran the camp I'm referring to!

[Shoeshine]

I use a mortar mixing tub from home depot and a (fresh, unused for chemicals) garden sprayer.

Lay down a towel just big enough to cover the bottom of the tub, mist enough to get wet, lather up (something not too harsh like Dr. Bronners is good), mist to rinse all the crap, dust, and sunscreen off your body. Having a friend helps (and the right friend can make it even more fun) You can do a moderately decent cleanse with 1/2 gallon of water. use a clean towel to dry off. I put the towel from the tub over the roof rack on my truck, it's dry by the next day as well as any residual water in the tub. The towel you stand on does get pretty crusty by the end of the week so your feet need a extra baby wipe/washcloth treatment, but you should be caring for your feet anyway.

A real shower? no... But, no grey water to deal with, refreshing and rejuvenating.

Keeps me feeling human for the time I'm there, and then I can luxuriate in the shower at the hotel at the end of the first day driving home.

Just my $.02
Shoe

[Papa Bear]

TT120's advice is good. A few additional notes:

* You have to make sure they are big enough. I'd say an inch deep is pushing the limits, especially later in the week. The shallower the depth, the better your overall evaporation rate, and the less risk you run.

* At the same time, too little water can be an issue when the winds kick up. Be prepared to weight it down if necessary.

* You want to minimize any trapped air under the plastic. That means the best time to lay out an evaporation pond is in the heat of the day. That way, any trapped bubbles shrink when it gets cool, making it flatter. If you lay it out when it's cool, the bubbles get bigger when it warms up.

* Ensuring camp members, neighbors, and strangers don't add anything to it (especially late in the week) can be harder than it sounds. You'd be amazed how many people think it's cool to just dump their cooler water in an evap pond ("What's the problem, it's clean?") or see it as a slip-n-slide or urinal when drunk or stoned. You typically have to be active about monitoring and defending it.

[Jackass]

If someone wants to slip n slide the evap pond, I'm getting my camera and popcorn...
That's just good olde fashioned entertainment right there.

[syringesmiajames]

there is issue with this plan of water

[Elorrum]

As a solo camper, I tried an evaporation approach one year, and never tried it again. The packed volume of the dirty (icky dirty, mind you) evap system was larger than a simple 5 gallon grey water container. I put a small hunk of polyester batting/filter floss in the bottom of a big funnel each time I pour into the container. That dries and goes in regular trash. I use a small garden sprayer to rinse dishes over the funnel. I can wash my hair over a basin with a soda bottle of water. Adult disposable wash cloths I use for daily wipe down.

[DustBoat]

Right on! Thank you all for the tips. Definitely not going with the evaporation method for gray water after hearing of numerous horror stories. We ended up stumbling upon a cool little place (Nevada Container Supply) in Reno that had IBC Totes and the perfect size barrels for drinking water and gray water. Made a shower out of the tote, and multiple barrels with water spigots to dispense water. Wish me luck! So excited!!!!!!

[BrandonMllr]

Great thread, thanks to the author! I am also interested in this question, since I plan to go to the festival next year too.

[The Rod]

Stay the fuck away from all of the different versions of evapotrons and wheels and gismos that are supposed to evaporate water faster, unless you want it to be your playa project that you check on, repair, tweak several times a day and spend all week explaining how it works to your neighbors. I have seen them, in rare instances, actually speed up the evaporation rates exponentially, more often than not I have seen them fail.

Same goes for the classic tarp/2x4 pond setup. I've seen it work, but not enough times to warrant widespread acceptance as an appropriate way to deal with gray water.

Best thing to do IMO is just pack it in and pack it out.

[The Rod]

oh and don't forget the bleach. Treat your gray water regularly, it will keep the smell down and also mitigate a potential health hazard.

[myrtlerankind]

Is it possible to rent a bleach there? Or I should care mine one?

[Captain Goddammit]

Is it possible to rent a bleach there? Or I should care mine one?

You’re not having a stroke are you?

[myrtlerankind]

Is it possible to rent a bleach there? Or I should care mine one?

You’re not having a stroke are you?

?

[TT120]

Is it possible to rent a bleach there? Or I should care mine one?

We don't understand what this means. Bleach is a liquid that can disinfect water. Bring a little container of it with you. Renting bleach is not a thing. The second sentence makes no sense at all.

[The Rod]

I mean, I suppose you could mine your own salt from the playa and make bleach out of it. That's pretty darn radically self-reliant.

Not sure how that lines up with LNT but I'd definitely stop by Bleach Camp if it was a thing.