How to choose a tank for a summer cottage shower

An outdoor shower in the country is already a necessity. It is so nice to refresh yourself after "rest". Well, for the water to be warm and in sufficient quantities, a shower tank is needed.

A summer cottage or garden shower must have a water tank

Selection options

To make taking a shower in a summer cottage or garden area comfortable, you need to choose the right shower tank. It should not give enough water, at the same time, but at the same time, it should not be too heavy - construction country shower should easily withstand it. Therefore, they pay attention to several characteristics at once:

• volume;
• size and shape;
• material.
  

  Choice is never easy

Volume selection

The minimum size of the shower container is 50 liters. This amount of water will be enough for one person to quickly rinse. You should not count on long-term water procedures with so much water. The maximum volume is 300 liters. But such a container can be installed on a solid base, so you must also choose the volume with an eye on the reliability of the structure.

How to decide on the volume of the shower tank? When calculating, it is worth taking a supply of water of about 50 liters per person. This is enough to "wash" without frills. It is clear that you want to have more water supply, but you need to remember that this supply will have to be heated. If the sun is active in the region in summer, problems can arise only in spring and autumn. You can also build a heating element into the tank, but we'll talk about heated tanks below.

Size and shape

In shape, there are rectangular shower tanks - in the form of parallelepipeds, there are - ordinary barrels, there are with a flat bottom and a rounded top. The worst choice is barrels. Due to their design, the water in them heats up poorly, in any case worse than in flat containers or with a convex top.

Variety of shapes and volumes

Flat square tanks are also good because they can simultaneously serve as a roof for a summer shower. Then the dimensions of the frame should be slightly less than the dimensions of the container - so that it lies snugly on the support. This is how you can choose the size of the shower tank - first build a frame, and look for a container under it. But you can do the opposite - purchase a container and build the structure itself according to its dimensions. Although no one bothers, make a roof and put the container on it the way you want.

Metal

The shower tank is made of metal and plastic. The metal can be structural steel, galvanized steel or stainless steel. The best one is stainless steel. They are durable, despite the fact that they are made of thin sheets - the wall thickness is usually 1-2 mm. It's all about the qualities of this material - it does not rust, which means it does not collapse. The only exception can be seams if they are welded by conventional welding (not in an inert gas environment). In these places, the alloying materials burn out, the steel acquires its usual properties. The disadvantage of stainless steel shower tanks is their high price.

Stainless steel shower tank - a durable option

Galvanized products are inferior to stainless steel containers. The zinc layer protects the metal from destruction for some time, but sooner or later, it rusts. To make the protection more durable, the galvanized steel tank can be painted. Moreover, this must be done from the inside and outside. Not a good solution, but slightly extends the life of the tank.

The worst situation is with tanks made of structural steel - they quickly rust. They must be painted, renewing the coating annually. These are the most inexpensive containers for water, but they do not last long, and the presence of a large amount of iron oxides in water does not affect the skin in the best way.

Plastic

Better in terms of operation are plastic shower tanks. They are chemically neutral, do not react with water, and do not rust. The only thing that can destroy them is a strong blow and frost. And then there are polymers that can withstand temperatures down to -30 ° C. And if not, then the container must be removed for the winter for storage, because in winter you will not use the shower outside anyway.

Plastic shower tanks come in different shapes

Another plus of plastic water tanks is that they are black, which is why the heating by the sun is more intense. A metal tank can also be painted black, but the paint cracks and flies around rather quickly, and plastics are tinted in the mass - the coloring pigment is added to the mass and the entire thickness of the material has the same color.

Another advantage is low weight. Despite the fact that the walls of the container are not thin, they weigh very little. Nevertheless, they also have a drawback - if we talk about flat square tanks, then the minimum volume is from 100 liters. You will not find less. There are miniature shower barrels - here they are from 50 liters.

Another operational point: when installing a large flat water tank on a roof without overlap, it is better to have several intersecting strips that will support the bottom. At the bottom, of course, there are stiffening ribs - thickenings of the same material, but it is better to have additional support.

Heated tanks - pros and cons

The sun's heat is not always enough to heat the water to an acceptable temperature for us, and you can get hot water only in the south, with its hot sun. In order to ensure comfortable conditions in a summer shower in any weather, a heating element - a heating element - is built into the container. There are such models among metal containers and among plastic ones.

Metal heated shower tank

In a heated tank, the heating temperature is set on the thermostat, the degree of heating is controlled by a sensor in the water. There is also a thermostat that turns off heating if necessary (when the water is heated to the required degree). That is, it turns out a kind of country water heater for a shower (water, if desired, can be used for other economic purposes).

In general, the advantages of heated shower tanks are obvious - you can get water heated at 50-70 ° C. The degree of heating depends on the material from which the tank is made.

But it was not without its drawbacks:

• It is necessary to supply electricity to the summer cottage shower.
• You need to connect the shower to the water supply or water supply using a pump.
• We need a system for automatic control of the level and filling of the container with water.

That is, installing a shower tank with a heater is not an easy undertaking, it requires communications - at least electricity and water supply.