Necessary to shower?

[Bounce530]

You were chasing a water truck? I thought you were running like that to get in front of the crit-dicks parade.

[illy dilly]

Do you figure those water trucks are leaving enough water and moving fast enough to 'playa ski' behind them?
Just a thought. Any ideas?

[teardropper]

I'm wondering if you could make a shower stall out of PVC pipe and tarp covering.

I did, a few years ago. Two uprights, two threeway pipe joint, three upper pipes and tied two of the uppers to my cargo rack. Kept the water can on the rack. Think we used a shower curtain as well.

So you had this hooked up to your truck? How big was the PVC? I wonder if PVC would be strong enough to make a free standing stall?

[HadMatter]

Hi guys. Virgin Burner, here. (Ha! It's funny because normally only dirty sluts get "the burn") And, of course, resolute atheist that I am, being next to godliness is important to me; so I've been planning to bring one of those shower bags or some other means of showering. But I've had some time to dig around the site and I've heard/seen talk of "grey water." Qu'est-ce que c'est this, grey water?

......."What's that??"......"Oh, we have internet??".........

Ok, so it's waste water, but where are the lines that I assume were inevitably drawn, drawn? Are we required to drink our own bathwater? If we drink it first, can we bathe in our pee and call it even?

But seriously, I'm getting the feeling it's not ok to just let the water run into the ground. Are we really expected to pack out soapy water? Is it a terrain thing? For that matter, what is the terrain like? Is it loose sand like a beach; or dry, hard, packed clay where the water would run off into other camps and such? I mean, I've presumed a great deal of comfort in the assumption I'd have a shower, but I ain't THAT married to godliness, ya know?

[HadMatter]

As is usually the case, I posted my question and then immediately happened upon this wikipedia entry:

Even water is not to be dumped on the playa, and used shower water must be captured and either evaporate off, or collected and carried home with each participant. Methods used for evaporating water normally include a plastic sheet with a wood frame. The playa dust often blows into these catch basins and some participants end up with a muddy mess to take home. Careful design of small scale evaporating ponds has become an engineering competition, to see what works best.

So, thought I'd try to avoid wasting anybody's time, but if you have more advice on the subject - bring it!

[TomServo]

I'm wondering if you could make a shower stall out of PVC pipe and tarp covering.

I did, a few years ago. Two uprights, two threeway pipe joint, three upper pipes and tied two of the uppers to my cargo rack. Kept the water can on the rack. Think we used a shower curtain as well.

So you had this hooked up to your truck? How big was the PVC? I wonder if PVC would be strong enough to make a free standing stall?

About 3 inch PVC, and duct tape. Smaller would have worked...

[TomServo]

Hi guys. Virgin Burner, here. (Ha! It's funny because normally only dirty sluts get "the burn") And, of course, resolute atheist that I am, being next to godliness is important to me; so I've been planning to bring one of those shower bags or some other means of showering. But I've had some time to dig around the site and I've heard/seen talk of "grey water." Qu'est-ce que c'est this, grey water?

......."What's that??"......"Oh, we have internet??".........

Ok, so it's waste water, but where are the lines that I assume were inevitably drawn, drawn? Are we required to drink our own bathwater? If we drink it first, can we bathe in our pee and call it even?

But seriously, I'm getting the feeling it's not ok to just let the water run into the ground. Are we really expected to pack out soapy water? Is it a terrain thing? For that matter, what is the terrain like? Is it loose sand like a beach; or dry, hard, packed clay where the water would run off into other camps and such? I mean, I've presumed a great deal of comfort in the assumption I'd have a shower, but I ain't THAT married to godliness, ya know?

Jesus H Christ! Look for the threads on evaporation! It is fed land and are strict rules, and we try to abide by them...some of us antways.. make a shallow pond out of black plastic, and use a watering can to shower over it...nuff said!

[theCryptofishist]

But seriously, I'm getting the feeling it's not ok to just let the water run into the ground. Are we really expected to pack out soapy water?

Yes.

[Ugly Dougly]

A tiny little misting of grey water will not be noticed. Don't be extravagant of water use in your shower and the grey water won't be extravagant either.

[teardropper]

Hi guys. Virgin Burner, here. (Ha! It's funny because normally only dirty sluts get "the burn") And, of course, resolute atheist that I am, being next to godliness is important to me; so I've been planning to bring one of those shower bags or some other means of showering. But I've had some time to dig around the site and I've heard/seen talk of "grey water." Qu'est-ce que c'est this, grey water?

......."What's that??"......"Oh, we have internet??".........

Ok, so it's waste water, but where are the lines that I assume were inevitably drawn, drawn? Are we required to drink our own bathwater? If we drink it first, can we bathe in our pee and call it even?

But seriously, I'm getting the feeling it's not ok to just let the water run into the ground. Are we really expected to pack out soapy water? Is it a terrain thing? For that matter, what is the terrain like? Is it loose sand like a beach; or dry, hard, packed clay where the water would run off into other camps and such? I mean, I've presumed a great deal of comfort in the assumption I'd have a shower, but I ain't THAT married to godliness, ya know?

As far as your shower greywater, get a small battery powered sump pump and pump it back into the jerry can you brought it in. But there are tons of posts on that.

The terrain. Black Rock City is built on a dry lake bed in a big desert. One of the most inhospitable places there is. It is left over from the ice age Lake Lahontan and is hard packed silt/dust. As the wind blows, which it does all the time, it blows playa dust, that incredibly sticky and pervasive dust that gets on and in everything you bring out there.

[Magpie]

can any one even smell the smell of people over the smell of the playa?

the playa has a smell?? I hear people saying this but I can't smell it...unless that occasional whiff of chalkboard chalk is actually playa. I did smell a lot of armpits last year, though. Not on purpose either.

[Savannah]

Click here and scroll down for the Burning Man sanctioned evap pond:

http://www.burningman.com/environment/r ... water.html

This evaporation pond worked absolutely fine for two girls and was quick to build. I don't think either one of us showered every single day, but it was really lovely. We made a cage-like shower structure of pvc pipe, solar shower bag hung on the pipe with rope, regular shower curtains and rings (3 sets, clothes-pinned together at the edges), and a wood pallet that fit within the PVC to stand on. (Humorously enough, commercial "shower tents" usually do not support the weight of several gallons of water--I think they're meant to be used with a tree hanging the bag).

We put the whole deal right ON the evap pond. We were careful not to shower one right after the other so as not to overwhelm the pond. I would recommend that size pond for a very small group (3 or 4 people who are conscious of how the pond is doing and stop showering before the end of the event). Be careful to get the 6mil plastic. Thinner plastic punctures easier.

I recommend showering at twilight because then you don't sweat again right away, and you don't have to coat yourself in sunscreen 'til the next morning.

Note: you will probably have to either stake your shower structure (but not on the plastic), or--if it's PVC--pull it into 2 pieces & lay it down. Strong winds will blow the structure down otherwise.

This year I will also bring a concrete mixing tub for quick mini baths.

Er . . . as to what the original poster was asking specifically . . . it is not absolutely crucial to shower out there, culturally speaking. A lot of people make do with wipes. That's what I did my first year, although for a clean semi-freak like myself it was a true test of my squeamishness, and on the last day I was so desperate I improvised a shower right out in the open at 5:30am with a gallon jug of water; something I would not usually be moved to do. I have a sensitive nose, but for the most part have never really been offended or overwhelmed by the smell of humanity out there. Might be that it's not humid, or there's dust in my nose (almost certainly) or the superior air circulation, a.k.a. amazing windstorms, but the desert is not a place where smells seem to . . . carry.

[dewnorth]

If anyone wants to boil gray water off, there's a chance you'll gross yourself out so much you'd go to the porta-potties for fresh air.

I was once in a sauna heated with a wood stove. I was feeling great after washing myself down with some nice, clean water.

But I wanted the sauna hotter. All I had was the water I'd used to wash off with. Not very "gray" yet. Just a bit of dirt & skin oils, etc.

The dirty water steamed away on the sauna's rocks. Then the worst stench came from the stove--I can't describe it! I was afraid I'd wrecked their sauna! The skin oils, etc. were a very bad thing!

In a panic, I got the sauna as hot as I could and kept putting fresh water on the rocks to get rid of the smell. Eventually the smell went away.

So for your sake and the sake of your neighbors, you might want to test your stove with the same dirty water you'll have on the Playa.

[mudpuppy000]

can any one even smell the smell of people over the smell of the playa?

the playa has a smell?? I hear people saying this but I can't smell it...unless that occasional whiff of chalkboard chalk is actually playa. I did smell a lot of armpits last year, though. Not on purpose either.

I could smell/taste the lack of playa dust when I put my respirator at the end of the week, it was amazing, lol.