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Small Cabin Forum / Off-Grid Living / Pressurizing a sink
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WY_mark
Member
# Posted: 6 Aug 2018 09:24
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Hi all,
At our cabin we operate out of portable water jugs. I have a kitchen sink that drains into a bucket. I have 10' ceilings and could elevate a small tank approx 5' above the sink with the way things are set....that barely gives me 2.5psi with gravity alone. And it wont run a standard facuet (boo!)
One of our main uses for our cabin is fishing and i could really use a little pressure to wash fish (and people)
Im wondering if anyone has an idea for an inexpensive low flow sink that reaches closer to household pressure? I dont want to dramatically increase our water use but i would love it if 1 i could have pressure specific to fish washing and/or 2 we could hook up to the tap that came with the sink and operate like a "normal" sink getting water from the tap.

Low $ ideas?

ICC
Member
# Posted: 6 Aug 2018 10:17
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RV water pump running on 12 VDC.

ILFE
Member
# Posted: 6 Aug 2018 10:29
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ICC is spot on.

In 2013, I purchased a Shurflo Water Pump from a company on eBay and had it shipped here to Cambodia. It is still running fine, today.

DaveBell
Moderator
# Posted: 6 Aug 2018 10:32 - Edited by: DaveBell
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You can buy a long Schrader valve (the one used on bicycles). Drill a hole smaller than the valve in a 5 or 7 gallon water container cap. Fill 2/3 with water, screw on the caps, using a portable automotive air tank, pressurize the container, and you have water pressure. My brother and I did that to one of those 55 gallon blue water barrels for a camp shower. One cap had the Schrader valve, the other cap we drilled to 1/2" or so and put in a 8' long PVC pipe, 4' into the barrel, attached a heavy duty ball valve and shower head. Worked very well.

We then modified it for warm water. Took a 6' piece of thin copper pipe (something that will bend) and bent it around a small cook pot so it would fit into a larger cook pot submersed in water on a campfire. Soldered garden hose fittings on each end. So the pressureized water went from the barrel, though a garden hose, though the copper coil, which heated it in the boiling water, out into another garden hose back to the ball valve and shower head.

It heated the water to warm, just comfy for camp shower. After two people showered, we recharged the air pressure and more showered.

https://www.globalindustrial.com/p/pneumatics/air-compressors/air-compressor-tanks-pa rts-acc/eagle-portable-air-tank-ihct05-5-gal-150-psi?infoParam.campaignId=T9F&gclid=E AIaIQobChMIrtvPndPY3AIV00wNCh0nywdOEAQYAyABEgLy7PD_BwE

No generator needed, fill the air tank at the gas station.

Borrego
Member
# Posted: 6 Aug 2018 10:32
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I assume you have a generator?

kilwillie
Member
# Posted: 6 Aug 2018 19:27 - Edited by: kilwillie
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Check out the battery operated shower systems on amazon and youtube so u can see them in action. It will work great for fish and people --its just like a kitchen sprayer with 1 hr batterys. charge anywhere car, tiny solar that are made for cell phones run 30-40 bucs.

buckybuck
Member
# Posted: 7 Aug 2018 12:36 - Edited by: buckybuck
Reply 


I run water to my sink from an RV-style reservoir in the loft, which, like your setup, provides about five feet of head to the faucet. I had planned on using an on-demand pump but found that the flow, just using gravity by itself, was adequate enough for washing hands, pots and pans, etc. Not city water pressure by any means, but good enough for cabin use.

Now, I do have a 12-volt on-demand water pump for my shower but if I had to do it again I'd probably just go simple and use one of those USB-rechargeable camping shower pumps like this: https://www.amazon.com/EasyGoProducts-Rechargeable-Indoor-Outdoor-Battery/dp/B078XNN5 NK/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1533659724&sr=8-8&keywords=usb+shower

WY_mark
Member
# Posted: 9 Aug 2018 09:31
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Questions on rv pumps - on demand, i assume that means it turns on when the faucet goes on and that means i need a special faucet?

How far can they pump? If i wanted to pipe one into a 50gal drum that was 9-12ft from my sink on the same level?

They look to be about 7-8 amps, so on my 12v solar system thats 84-96 watts of an available 300 in the system, since its on demand i would assume that the total battery drain is very small given the short use for things like washing hands?

FishHog
Member
# Posted: 9 Aug 2018 09:40
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no special faucet required. They (or many like the surflow) hold a pressure in the system. When you open the faucet, the pressure drops and they turn on. When you close it, the pump will keep pumping for a few seconds until the pressure is built back up and then shut off. Since they don't run very long, the overall power draw is pretty small.

WY_mark
Member
# Posted: 9 Aug 2018 09:54
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So if it wants to pressurize the system i cant just drop a hose in a barrel....or does it only hold pressure "downstream" that is, between the pump and faucet?

ICC
Member
# Posted: 9 Aug 2018 10:16
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Quoting: WY_mark
between the pump and faucet


yes. they have limited lift capacity.

razmichael
Member
# Posted: 9 Aug 2018 12:17
Reply 


Quoting: WY_mark
So if it wants to pressurize the system i cant just drop a hose in a barrel....or does it only hold pressure "downstream" that is, between the pump and faucet?


Most of them can operate 2+ ways -

1. Pressure switch only - so open the tap, pressure drops and pump comes on (with or without any sort of pressure tank - as you ask, the hose pressure will act as a pressure "tank"

2 . Bypass the pressure switch and so on demand (either with a micro switch integrated nto the faucet or a separate on/off switch.

I guess a third way is combining the two (which is how ours is hooked up. You need to turn on a faucet to provide power to the pump but, if you just open the faucet (so really only the switch is activated) the pump will briefly come on and then turn off due to the pressure.

My source is a rain barrel (filled from the lake) through the pump and split into hot (through L5) and cold line - each further split to an indoor sink, deck sink and external shower. All faucets have micro switches (marine faucets). to make this work I actually have the pump connected through a 12V, low draw, relay to handle the power and keep the main power leads short and suitable size while all the faucet wiring can be very thin gauge.

Realize this is way more than you want but might help with ideas.

tverga
Member
# Posted: 9 Aug 2018 15:01
Reply 


https://www.hodgesmarine.com/Whale-Gusher-Foot-Operated-Galley-Pump-Right-Han-p/whagp 0550.htm?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIrsH9ztPg3AIVzbjACh3MfQZsEAQYAiABEgLLCPD_BwE&ppcstrkid=1565 162769&click=19&ppcsclkid=TDmFk2QUdY1j&ppcsu=xhg7f5djqeniramsegdoh

buckybuck
Member
# Posted: 13 Aug 2018 17:14
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Here's a short video of my cabin's water system. (I realize my setup isn't for everyone; on a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being Ted Kaczynski's cabin and 10 being Oprah's glamping yurt, my cabin is maybe a 4 or 5).

As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm just gravity-feeding the sink, and the video shows the speed at which that setup fills a 16-ounce bottle. The shower uses a 12-volt on-demand pump. I went cheap and used a $20 eBay pump, but it operates pretty much the same as a Shurflo. These on-demand pumps are slick, and yeah, all you have to do is drop the intake hose into a water source and it'll work.

https://youtu.be/qKOXYgcvxM0

ILFE
Member
# Posted: 14 Aug 2018 21:33
Reply 


Quoting: ILFE
In 2013, I purchased a Shurflo Water Pump from a company on eBay and had it shipped here to Cambodia. It is still running fine, today.


I just noticed, I screwed the pooch on that post.

offgrididaho
Member
# Posted: 15 Aug 2018 09:23
Reply 


I would vote for 12v RV pump, would be the most convenient. Don't be too terrified of the amp rating of the pump, it obviously runs pretty infrequently.

That said, another option is a hand pump weed sprayer (obviously not one you've used weed killer in before). Put warm or cold water in there, pump it up and you can use it to clean things, clean yourself, not a bad alternative.

I give DaveBell the prize for ingenuity though, the schrader air pressurizing plan is killer!

-- Bass

buckybuck
Member
# Posted: 28 Aug 2018 20:40
Reply 


A couple of us mentioned these USB-powered portable showers. This one is $9 (right now, won't last more than a day or two at that price), if you use the promo code YM8LMD2A at checkout:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MTV3I9H?smid=A16KSVEEBWLM5G&_encoding=UTF8&tag=edealinfo com-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325

NorthwoodsGuy
Member
# Posted: 29 Aug 2018 10:45
Reply 


It may not be the solution you need, but for $9, this little sprayer has given us a lot of value:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-1-Gal-Sprayer-1501HDX/207202420

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