Updated December 18, 2022
One of the benefits of traveling in an RV is having access to contemporary conveniences like a shower that are not available to you when you camp in other ways. However, showering in a trailer differs slightly from showering at home because the water will either come from a holding tank or from a campground’s water hookup line.
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How much water does an RV shower use?
A travel trailer shower typically uses 2 to 6 gallons of water per shower. This depends on a number of variables, including how long you shower for, how much water the shower head uses, and if you turn the water off to lather up. These figures are averages, therefore individual results and those of individual RVs will naturally differ. Before any journey, it is usually advised that you examine your owner’s manual to get more details about your trailer and its shower.
Let’s examine how much water a traveler typically needs for a day of camping. Cooking, drinking, flushing the toilet, brushing your teeth, washing your hands, and having a bath all require fresh water. While dry camping, you can require close to 40–50 gallons of fresh water. As we already saw, the amount for showers might reach 35 gallons daily. Depending on how many people are camping in the RV, different amounts of water will be used for cooking.
For cooking and short utensil washing, you should be able to spend on average 6 to 8 gallons of water, if not even less. Depending on the type of cuisine you prepare, it can even be less. The next is for flushing the toilet. If there are 3 persons in the RV, you might use up to 8–10 flushes, which might result in up to 15-20 gallons of water being lost in the black water tank. Other daily water use factors include brushing teeth, washing hands, and cleaning.
How many showers are possible in rv per day?
How you use the water in your RV is entirely up to you. You may, on average, take 4-5 showers altogether because after you start camping, you won’t have access to any water sources. More wouldn’t be possible, at least not in an 80 gallon tank. Up to 8-10 showers lasting no longer than 10 to 12 minutes may be conceivable if your tank is larger—more than 120 gallons.
It all depends on how long you spend in the shower. A 20-minute shower taken by one person would need an additional 20 gallons of water, limiting the total number of showers that can be taken. Children frequently take longer showers, which also uses up more water. Everything relies on how you use the water while taking a shower. A person who uses a lot of soap and shampoo will wind up taking more showers.
The first thing to keep in mind is that an RV shower is different than a shower in your home bathroom. Yes, a class A RV would allow you the luxury of enormously large water storage, but a travel trailer or class C RV may not be able to do the same. The majority of RVs will only have a finite amount of tank space, therefore every one will be unique. Your water might be removed from the tank so quickly with a flow rate of 2 gallons or more.
How long can I shower in an RV?
You can take a shower almost anywhere with a mobile trailer. The length of your shower session and the amount of water you can use will depend on where you plan to park your trailer. You will be totally reliant on the amount of water that is available in your water holding tank and the amount of water that can go in your gray water tank if you wish to take a shower in your trailer when it is not connected to a water source, such as a spigot at a campsite. You are only permitted to utilize up to the amount of water that is present there.
If you are not connected to a sewer system, you need also think about how much water you will be able to consume. You will only be able to use as much water as your trailer’s grey water tank can hold if it cannot immediately dispose of the water used in the shower. Then, this needs to be disposed of at a certain disposal facility. You can take as long of a shower as you’d like if you can get a full hookup with a full water hookup and an endless waste disposal system! However, you will need to consider how much hot water is available for the shower.
Tips For Conserving Water in Your RV While Showering
There are further steps a travel trailer owner can take to save water while using the shower in the trailer. Some of these suggestions should be thought through before you leave with your vehicle, while others can be completed on-site.
The type of shower head being utilized has a significant impact on how much water is consumed in the trailer. Some shower heads have adjustable spray heads, lower water flows than others, and a water shut-off valve.
When not necessary, turn off the water. Don’t leave the water running. When taking a shower, you can turn off the water when you aren’t using it, such as when applying shampoo or when using soap. When you need to wash something off, turn on the water only then. Alternately, leave it in the off position to save a ton of water.
Use the shower facilities at the campground. The majority of well-established campgrounds include one or more bathrooms with shower facilities. This is a fantastic method to increase shower space without having to worry as much about water usage. This is not an option, though, if your campground doesn’t have one or you aren’t staying there.
Reduce the number of showers you take every day. While camping, though, you might want to think about taking a shower every other day or every few days. In between showers, you can still clean yourself off using baby wipes.
These are just a few easy actions that owners of travel trailers may do to cut back on the water they use while on the road. These measures can be especially helpful in reducing water usage if numerous family members are taking showers at once.
The ability to take a shower is one luxury that RVing offers that tent camping does not. Learn about the shower in your RV, how much water it can store (in the water tank and the gray water tank), and how your water heater works. Once you are aware of all of these things, utilizing the shower in your RV will be more enjoyable and won’t give you any extra headaches while you are traveling.