Solar Showers

It’s a good idea to take a shower before and after swimming

A shower before getting into the pool is particularly important, because showering will remove sweat, make-up and many sun-creams. All of these substances react with Chlorine in a process similar to combustion and, if they are not sluiced off before swimming, the reactions will take place directly on the skin causing redness and irritation

A shower after swimming is also important as it will rinse chloramines and other chemical residues off the body and swimwear

Many pool showers are only connected to the cold mains-water supply and they can be a bit chilly even on the hottest of days; hence some people are reluctant to use them, or might take a token shower for appearances sake and stay beneath the cold water for only the briefest of times

One solution to a cold-water shower is to connect the unit to the domestic hot-water supply and install a mixer tap to control temperature but there is a better, more economic way to get a comfortably warm shower

Solar Showers, of which there are many models available over a wide price range, heat the water using nothing more than free sunshine


Solar Showers, installed where they will receive full sun for the majority of the day, incorporate a tank or bag which typically holds 20 - 40 litres of water are fitted with a mixer tap for temperature control

The water in the tank is heated by the sun and warm water is ready when it's needed 

Solar showers can be permanently plumbed-in to the mains-water supply or fed from a simple garden hose. If connected to a garden hose, the hose itself becomes a part of the 'tank' thus increasing the amount of hot water available

Note: - when we lived in Qatar, in the middle East, we had to switch our hot and cold water supplies around in the summer because the 'cold' water supplied from a roof tank that got full sun all day, was too hot to touch. We turned our water heaters off and used the 'cold' taps for hot water and the 'hot' taps for cold water during the summer months - solar heating definitely works!


Solar Shower Pros

  • Lots!
  • Inexpensive to purchase - there's one for every budget
  • Free hot water
  • Free-standing or permanently-plumbed models available
  • Free-standing models can be moved around the pool area depending on where the sun is at any given time

Solar Shower Cons

Not many but the principal one is the capacity of the tank

40 litres of water does not go far when there are a lot of people who want to use the shower









Ken Walker - MyPoolGuru©