nearhomeless
Advanced Member
I'm trying to do a full time four season school bus conversion for the cheapest possible outlay of up front cash, with the hope that after crises pass I can either progressively upgrade it for full time living, or 'retire' it to a travel only RV. I'm also trying to avoid large outlays of cash investing into one chassis if I later find mechanical gremlins that cost me more than I can fix and am forced to move everything into a different bus dumping the original project. So i'm trying to figure out the best way to make a "portable" shower since this seems to be the most demanding part of the plumbing equation.
I'm hoping to haul water into the bus using those 7 gallon blue cubes you may have seen for camping use, even if I buy or improvise a large fresh water tank I wont have any RV style hookups I expect to be able to use for free (do truckstops have free RV hookups? I'm thinking no but I never asked) so I need something I can fill from indoor taps at gas stations or rest stations and such and then throw in the back of my car carried by hand. I'm hoping I wont have to live this way any longer than necessary. 7 gallons should be enough for a naval type shower. Underfilled i'm less worried about frozen bursted tanks or pipes in winter too.
I'm hoping to have a raised floor with some kind of portable drainage tank under it that I can slide out after a shower or just use some small pump to put into another marked blue cube for used water. Maybe something like that is even made, but too high is a problem in typically short roofed school busses so i'm not sure there. If I don't use any kind of nasty detergents or non-camp safe soap I should be able to dump the greywater outside without hurting anything AFAIK. Any suggestions on a nice inexpensive sturdy homemade tank I could make maybe out of something common or used for other things?
I'm trying to figure out a way to deal with all my plumbing/water needs for about $200-300 out of pocket max.
I already have the water cubes I need.
I'm hoping to haul water into the bus using those 7 gallon blue cubes you may have seen for camping use, even if I buy or improvise a large fresh water tank I wont have any RV style hookups I expect to be able to use for free (do truckstops have free RV hookups? I'm thinking no but I never asked) so I need something I can fill from indoor taps at gas stations or rest stations and such and then throw in the back of my car carried by hand. I'm hoping I wont have to live this way any longer than necessary. 7 gallons should be enough for a naval type shower. Underfilled i'm less worried about frozen bursted tanks or pipes in winter too.
I'm hoping to have a raised floor with some kind of portable drainage tank under it that I can slide out after a shower or just use some small pump to put into another marked blue cube for used water. Maybe something like that is even made, but too high is a problem in typically short roofed school busses so i'm not sure there. If I don't use any kind of nasty detergents or non-camp safe soap I should be able to dump the greywater outside without hurting anything AFAIK. Any suggestions on a nice inexpensive sturdy homemade tank I could make maybe out of something common or used for other things?
I'm trying to figure out a way to deal with all my plumbing/water needs for about $200-300 out of pocket max.