Portable Camping Bathroom

In spring 2020 I wanted to figure out how to be as safe as possible when camping. For the most part social distancing, while camping, is really easy with one notable exception and that is using the public bathrooms and showers! My small pop-up camper does not have a shower nor is there much room for a portable toilet, not to mention I would prefer not to have something like that inside the camper. I also avoid having too much water in the camper as to avoid water damage.

After using this for one season I found I loved the connivance of having this and plan to use it every summer now!

First I gathered up some of the materials from storage. This was two polyurethane disc jockey racks that were both slightly damaged and I had not used for years. Were ideal as they are relatively strong, light, and certainly made to be portable. I also had a small sink which I had removed from the pop-up the year before as I never used it due to space limitations and the plumbing was no longer usable.

I cut a hole in the smaller rack so that the sink would fit in.

I purchased a 12 volt DC water pump that could be powered using a marine battery and attached it to a shelf

The water pump was then put into the smaller, top rack, and I bolted the sink in. I also sealed the gaps with silicone to keep water out of the top rack.

Next step was to attach hoses, I also put a filter on the input to keep debris out of the pump. The idea is to get water from a hydrant with five gallon pails and would be impossible to keep leaves, dust, etc. from falling into the pails.

Next step was to test the system which was successful!

On our first camping trip we did not have a shower tent so I just set everything up next to the camper along with a tankless water heater (just hooks up to a 20 pound propane tank and uses two D cell batteries to ignite the propane). I realized right away that water heater would set too low, will cover later on how I resolved this.

Also, I wanted to be able to store the marine battery in the bottom rack. The shelves are metal and I did not want to risk any chance of the battery shorting should both posts touch the shelf. I simply glued a thin sheet of particle board to the shelf's bottom.

Was then a simple matter of putting up a larger shower tent and both the sink, shower, and portable toilet were put into it. I also put a bolt, at the top of the top rack, to hang the water heater from.

I quickly found another huge advantage is that I could quickly produce hot water for washing the dishes. Here is just another photo of the sink and water heater sitting next to a picnic table.

Finally, I was able to use the racks to efficiently pack everything up during our travels! Important note, if you put the battery and all this gear into the rack it will be nearly impossible to lift. I simply pack and unpack the racks in the van!