Renting a Shower Trailer Takes More Planning Than You May Think
One of the biggest misconceptions about renting a portable shower trailer is that you simply order a trailer, have it delivered and start taking showers. In reality, there are several moving parts that have to work together for that shower trailer to provide the experience you have pictured in your mind. You are heating water, moving a significant amount of fresh water through multiple fixtures, collecting or disposing of wastewater, supplying electricity, managing people coming and going and sometimes trying to accomplish all of that in the middle of a field, temporary base camp, construction project or building renovation. A little planning before delivery can make the difference between a temporary shower facility that works extremely well and one that becomes an operational headache.
At Royal Restrooms, these are conversations we believe should happen before a trailer ever leaves the yard. The number of shower stalls is important, but simply asking, “How many showers are in the trailer?” does not tell you whether that trailer is actually appropriate for the project. The better questions are why you need the showers, how many people will use them, how quickly they need to move through the facility, what utilities are available and what will happen to all of the water once those showers start running.
First Ask Yourself: Why Do You Need a Shower Trailer?
The first question sounds obvious, but it affects almost every decision that follows: Why do you need a portable shower trailer in the first place? Are you supplementing permanent showers because an event or temporary workforce has created additional demand? Are you replacing showers that are temporarily inoperable during a locker room, fire station or commercial renovation? Are you building a temporary base camp where there are no permanent facilities at all? Or are you simply trying to make a difficult transition, outdoor event or extended work assignment more comfortable for the people involved?
Those situations may all require shower trailers, but they do not necessarily require the same shower trailer. An overflow application may only need enough additional stalls to take pressure off an existing facility during several busy hours each day. A fire station renovation may need dependable showers available around the clock for a smaller number of people over several months. A festival campground may have hundreds or thousands of people trying to shower during a relatively short morning window, while a disaster response or military base camp may need showers scheduled around multiple shifts throughout the day and night. Understanding the actual reason for the rental allows the provider to begin calculating capacity rather than simply recommending a trailer based on stall count.
You should also consider what experience you are trying to provide. In some applications, the goal is speed and throughput. In others, privacy, changing space, climate control and individual shower rooms may be more important. Some projects may require ADA-accessible shower accommodations, while others could require separate facilities or scheduling for different groups. The right shower trailer starts with understanding the people who will be using it and what you are actually trying to accomplish.
Where Will the Shower Trailer Be Located?
The next major consideration is the location itself because a shower trailer is only as useful as the site supporting it. You need enough physical space for the trailer, stairs or ramps, utility connections and safe access for the people using it. You also have to consider how the trailer will be delivered and removed. A location that appears perfect when looking at an event map may be difficult to access with a tow vehicle, particularly after heavy rain or when temporary fencing, tents, equipment or other infrastructure has already been installed.
Site placement also affects the entire guest or employee experience. If the trailer is supporting a campground, you may want it close enough to the sleeping areas to be convenient but far enough away that lines and activity do not disturb the campground. For a commercial renovation, it may need to be near the building employees are using while still staying outside the construction zone. For a base camp, the shower facility should become part of the larger site plan rather than being placed wherever there happens to be an open space.
A relatively level and stable location is also important for proper operation and safe access. The provider should understand the surface, available space, distance from utilities and any obstacles before delivery. Planning the placement ahead of time becomes especially important when additional equipment such as generators, freshwater tanks or wastewater tanks will also be located around the shower trailer.
Does the Location Have Enough Electrical Power?
Electrical power is one of the most commonly overlooked parts of shower trailer planning. People see a building nearby and naturally assume power will not be a problem, but having an electrical outlet and having the correct electrical capacity are two very different things. Current shower-trailer specifications show how much requirements can vary between models. Some units operate from one or more dedicated 20-amp, 120-volt circuits, while other larger configurations may require 50-amp service or multiple electrical connections.
The word dedicated is particularly important. Two outlets sitting ten feet apart may still be connected to the same circuit breaker. Plugging separate trailer systems into those outlets does not suddenly give you two independent 20-amp circuits. The next available circuit may be on another side of the building or in another electrical panel entirely, which can create a much more complicated setup than anyone anticipated. Air conditioning, heating, lighting, pumps and other equipment can all contribute to the trailer’s electrical requirements, and those requirements can change depending on the trailer design and even the season.
If adequate building power is not available, a generator may be the appropriate solution, but the generator must be sized for the actual load of that particular trailer. This is another reason the electrical conversation needs to take place before delivery rather than after the trailer has already arrived. A generator that is too small does not solve the problem simply because it has enough outlets on the front of it. The rental provider should be able to tell you the power requirements for the specific model being proposed and help determine whether your existing power or temporary generator setup is sufficient.
Where Is the Fresh Water Coming From?
Once you have power figured out, the next question is water, and this is where the numbers can become significant very quickly. Some shower trailers connect directly to a pressurized potable water source, while others can operate using onboard or auxiliary freshwater storage. Rental specifications vary widely by model. For example, one current three-stall configuration lists a 300-gallon self-contained freshwater option, while other trailers rely on a hose connection or larger external water-storage systems.
The amount of water available matters just as much as the connection itself. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a conventional showerhead can use as much as 2.5 gallons per minute, while WaterSense-labeled showerheads are limited to 2.0 gallons per minute. (US EPA) Actual shower-trailer fixtures vary, but those numbers illustrate why water planning matters. A five-minute shower at 2.0 gallons per minute represents approximately 10 gallons of water, while the same five-minute shower at 2.5 gallons per minute represents approximately 12.5 gallons. Multiply that by dozens or hundreds of people and a seemingly large tank can disappear surprisingly quickly.
If there is a dependable water connection on site, this may be relatively simple. If there is no water connection, however, somebody has to bring that water to the trailer. At a remote campground, disaster site, military exercise or temporary base camp, freshwater delivery can become an ongoing part of the operation rather than a one-time setup item. The farther the site is from a dependable water source and the more people using the showers, the more important water logistics become.
Don’t Forget About the Grey Water
Every gallon going into a shower has to go somewhere when the shower is finished. Depending on the trailer and location, wastewater may be collected in an onboard holding tank, transferred into an external holding tank or connected to an approved sewer or wastewater system. United Rentals, for example, notes that its shower trailers require wastewater storage that must be emptied, while other current shower-trailer designs list holding capacities ranging from a few hundred gallons to more than 1,000 gallons.
This is where a shower trailer rental can sometimes surprise a customer financially. If fresh water has to be hauled to a remote site and grey water has to be pumped out and transported away, those service trips can add up very quickly. On high-use or remote projects, the cost associated with bringing in water and removing wastewater can sometimes rival or even exceed the base cost of renting the shower trailer itself. That does not mean a shower trailer is the wrong solution, but it does mean those expenses should be understood before the project begins rather than discovered after several days of operation.
Water and wastewater planning should therefore be considered together. If you increase the number of people showering or allow longer showers, you are not simply increasing freshwater consumption. You are also increasing wastewater volume and potentially increasing the frequency of service calls. When we look at a shower project, we are not only thinking about how many stalls we can deliver. We are thinking about how many gallons are going to move through those stalls every day and how those gallons are getting onto and back off the property.
Set a Reasonable Time Limit for Each Shower
A portable shower trailer is still a temporary facility, and one of the best ways to make it work efficiently is to establish a reasonable shower time. For larger groups, we generally recommend having some type of time limit rather than allowing everyone to treat the trailer like their bathroom at home. A five-minute shower can be perfectly adequate for many temporary applications and gives planners a predictable number to use when estimating water consumption and throughput.
The shower itself, however, is only part of the turnaround time. If a person takes a five-minute shower and then needs approximately another five minutes to dry off, dress, collect their belongings and leave the stall or changing area, you are already looking at roughly a 10-minute total cycle. In a perfect operating environment, that means one shower position could theoretically serve about six people per hour. A four-stall shower trailer might therefore have a theoretical capacity of approximately 24 users per hour, while an eight-stall trailer could theoretically handle approximately 48 users per hour if every stall remained occupied and each person stayed exactly on schedule.
Real-world operation is rarely that perfect. Someone will take longer to change, somebody will forget their towel, one person may take an eight-minute shower rather than five, and there will be natural gaps between users. The trailer may also require cleaning, water replenishment, wastewater service or other maintenance during the day. For that reason, the theoretical six-users-per-hour-per-stall calculation should be treated as a planning ceiling rather than a guarantee. Building some breathing room into the schedule can make the entire experience much more comfortable.
Shower Time Directly Affects Water and Wastewater Capacity
Time limits are not only about getting people through the door faster. They have a direct relationship to freshwater use, hot-water demand and grey-water generation. Using the EPA’s 2.0-gallon-per-minute WaterSense rate simply as an example, six five-minute showers could use approximately 60 gallons of water through a single shower stall in one hour. At a 2.5-gallon-per-minute rate, that same hour could represent approximately 75 gallons. (US EPA)
Now multiply that by several shower stalls operating simultaneously and you can understand why an event with several hundred campers requires a very different infrastructure plan than a small fire station renovation. It is possible to have a beautiful eight-stall shower trailer sitting on a property and still have a poor shower operation if the water supply, wastewater capacity or servicing schedule cannot keep up with the number of people using it. The trailer is only one component of the complete shower system.
This is also why scheduling can sometimes be more important than simply adding another trailer. Military operations, construction crews, athletic teams and base camps may be able to divide users into shifts rather than sending everyone to the showers at the same time. A festival campground may create morning and evening peaks that require substantially greater capacity. Understanding when people will shower is almost as important as knowing how many people will shower.
Which Shower Trailer Model Actually Works for Your Project?
Once the provider understands why you need the shower trailer, where it will be placed, what power is available, where the water is coming from, how wastewater will be handled and how many people need to use it, selecting the correct model becomes much easier. There are small shower trailers designed for modest crews and renovations, larger multi-stall trailers built for festivals and base camps, restroom-and-shower combination trailers and ADA-accessible configurations. The biggest trailer is not automatically the best trailer if the property’s utilities cannot support it or if the customer does not need that much capacity.
The goal should be to create an entire temporary shower operation rather than simply rent a piece of equipment. Sometimes that means using a smaller trailer with continuous water and sewer connections. In another location, it may mean a larger shower trailer combined with a generator, freshwater storage and substantial wastewater holding capacity. The right answer depends on the conditions at the site and the experience you are trying to create for the people using it.
Your Shower Trailer Company Should Be Asking These Questions
These are only a few of the questions to keep in mind when considering a portable shower trailer rental, but they are some of the most important. Regardless of which company you ultimately choose, the rental provider should be asking you why you need the showers, how many people will use them, where the trailer is going, what electrical service is available, where the fresh water will come from and how the wastewater will be handled. They should also be talking with you about anticipated shower times, peak usage periods and whether the trailer being proposed can realistically meet that demand.
You do not want a company to simply show up, drop a shower trailer on the property and leave you to figure everything else out. Unfortunately, in our experience, we have seen that happen many times. The trailer itself may be perfectly good equipment, but without the proper supporting infrastructure it cannot perform the way the customer expected. The better approach is to work through these questions before delivery so the trailer, utilities, servicing plan and number of users all work together.
At Royal Restrooms, we believe a successful shower trailer rental starts long before the first person turns on the water. Understanding the purpose, location, electrical requirements, freshwater needs, wastewater requirements and expected number of users allows us to help create a temporary shower facility that functions the way it was intended. A little additional planning on the front end can prevent a lot of problems later and ultimately provide a much better experience for everyone who needs to use the showers.
And, if you need help with a shower trailer question or rental, just ask, we are here to help.
