Introduction: SaveAqua Washing Station

About: #camping, #preparedness, #hygiene, #washstation, #outdoors, #disasterrelief, #handhygiene, #water, #waterconservation

Hand washing is important no matter where you are, but it can be difficult to wash your hands when you are camping and there is no water infrastructure around. Using the SaveAqua tap you can make your own water dispenser by reusing containers.

The benefits of using the SaveAqua tap;
1.Operates without electricity, or pressurized water infrastructure.
2. Conserves water - Our tap is 40 to 60% more efficient than any existing tap which meets criteria.
3. Durability.
4. Allows anyone, even people without any technical skills, to create a hand washing station using virtually any container that can hold water.
5. Being light and compact.
6. Simple and convenient to use.
7. Ensures minimum cross contamination of the tap when using it. You don't need to close and open anything with your hands.

In order to properly wash your hands or dirty dishes it is important to use soap and not just water. The water dispenser you will be able to make can be used for different purposes including, washing hands, showering, washing dishes, washing children, and washing objects that need to be cleaned. Because the dispenser is quite small, washing large objects like cars will not work well.

NOTE: Children have a lot of fun playing with this water dispenser, we cannot say the same about dogs or cats because we do not have any to try with. If your pets like this please let us know.

Step 1: Tools You Will Need

- A knife or sharp object that you can use to cut holes in the container

- SaveAqua tap

- rope (provided with the SaveAqua tap)

-Soap

NOTE: Instead of a knife, you can use the built in knife that is in the tap.

Step 2: Find a Container

This can be any plastic container that you don’t mind making a hole in. A water bottle, plastic milk carton, or a juice bottle can be used (as examples). Larger containers are better for a hand washing station because you will need to refill the container less often.

For this instructable I will be using the milk bottle.


Alternatively you can attach the SaveAqua tap to any water container with a Reliance faucet having 1.9 cm (3/4”) inside diameter of the outlet using an adaptor. A different adaptor lets you attach the tap to a sun shower.

Attaching the tap to an aqua-pack container saves water by giving the user control over the release of water from the container instead of letting the water flow constantly.

NOTE: We will talk about using an aqua-pack, and sun shower at the end of the instructable.

Step 3: Making a Hole in the Container

If you are making a hand washing station by reusing a plastic bottle then carefully make a hole on the bottle where the hole will be accessible from both inside and outside of the container. We recommend that you make the hole on the cap of a bottle. Use the SaveAqua tap to do this.

- you want to make sure that the SaveAqua tap is in the closed position. Then unscrew the cap to reveal the built in knife.

-Use the longer part of the knife to allocate the centre of your circle and the shorter knife to carve out a circular hole. Carve out the circle lightly, and then use more pressure to cut out the plastic.
***NOTE: You don't want the hole to be too big because you want to attach the tap to it securely so no water leaks.

Step 4: Attach SaveAqua Tap Onto Your Container

-Once the hole is made, put the cap back onto the tap.

-You can now place the tap into its open/unlocked position and unscrew the crown on the other end of the tap.

-Attach the tap onto the side of the lid that faces the outside of the container making sure to screw the tap in as far as it can go without forcing it in.
-Now to hold the tap in place, screw on the crown. NOTE: When installing the tap on small diameter lids, press your thumb on the ridges of the crown to tighten its grip on the tap and properly seal it.

-Put the lid back onto the container.


- Alternatively you can make the hole on the flat surface of a container following the rule; tap goes outside, crown goes inside. (See the last picture for an example)

Step 5: Suspending Your Water Dispenser

Using a knife cut a slit on each side of the container. You want to be able to suspend the container with water in it so make sure the holes aren't too low or too high. Now you can hang your hand washing station! Last of all make another hole at the top of the container for ventilation, otherwise a vacuum will be created as water is used up, stopping the flow of water.

Don't forget to get some soap for you washing station.

You are done!

Step 6: Optional: Using an Aqua-pack

In order to use the SaveAqua tap on a large water container or sun shower you will need to own an appropriate adapter that allows you to attach the SaveAqua tap onto the container. It is called adapter 1.
NOTE: The canister adaptor can only be attached to a Reliance faucet having 1.9 cm (3/4”) inside diameter of the outlet. Also there are two different adaptors, one for the canister and one for sun showers.

First attach the appropriate adaptor onto the canister or sun shower. Unscrew the crown from the SaveAqua tap, and attach the tap onto the adaptor. Thats it!

Step 7: Examples of Different Containers

Here are a few pictures that were taken of the different containers we turned into a water dispensers.