Installing an outdoor shower can be as simple as a solar shower standing on a paving slab, or as complete as a freestanding shower with hot water and a proper drain. For a basic cold water shower teed off your outside tap, you’re usually looking at an afternoon’s work and somewhere between 100 and 300 euros. Want hot water, a mixer tap and a fixed drain, and you’re heading for 500 to 1500 euros, often with a plumber involved.
Two things really decide how an outdoor shower turns out: where the water goes (drainage) and how you stop it freezing in winter. Get those two right and you’ll enjoy it for years. Do them sloppily and you’ll either be standing in mud or digging up a burst pipe in March.
In this guide we’ll cover it all: the types, water supply and drainage, hot water, winterising, costs and a step-by-step plan. Plus the mistakes we see people make again and again.
What types of outdoor shower are there?
Roughly four flavours, from cheap and simple to fixed and luxurious.
The solar shower. A post with a black storage tank (usually 20 to 40 litres) that the sun heats up. You connect it to the garden hose and that’s it. No pipework, no digging. Ideal by the pool or for rinsing off sand. Downside: the temperature is a gamble and the water sits still (more on that under legionella).
The wall-mounted shower. A tap or shower set you fit to an outside wall or fence. Often with a mixer tap so you can blend hot and cold. Needs a fixed or isolatable water supply and a properly thought-out drain.
The freestanding shower. A post or frame in the middle of the garden, away from any wall. Gives you the most freedom over position, but you have to sort out stability yourself (a foundation) and the pipe run comes from further away.
The shower enclosure or shower corner. A properly built space with walls, often in hardwood or rendered cement board, sometimes with hot water and a floor gully. This is the most work and starts to look like a small structure.
Not sure which suits you? Choose based on how often and what for you’ll use it. Just rinsing sand off the kids after the pool? Solar shower. A fresh shower every summer morning? Then you want hot water and a fixed setup.
Cold or hot water: what are your options?
Cold water is simplest: tee off the outside tap or run a fixed pipe from the house. Hot water can be done three ways.
Solar heating (solar shower or a black hose/tank). Free and simple, but dependent on the sun and the water sits still. Fine for occasional use, not for a regular morning shower.
Teeing off your boiler or hot water system. You run a separate hot water pipe outside and fit a mixer tap, just like indoors. This gives the most comfort but is also the most work, and it almost always calls for a plumber. Note: a hot water pipe running outside means extra attention to insulation and draining down in winter.
A separate instant heater or electric water heater at the shower. Possible, but electricity and water in the garden need care. Have this done by a qualified electrician and make sure there’s an RCD.
Rule of thumb: a mixer tap (cold plus hot) gives by far the nicest showering experience, but doubles the pipework and the complexity. For most gardens a solar shower or a cold water shower in summer is more than enough.
How do you connect the water supply?
Two routes: flexible or fixed.
Flexible (garden hose / outside tap). The easiest option. You connect the shower to your outside tap with a quick coupling. No digging, and in autumn you simply disconnect it. Downside: a hose lying in the sun is a breeding ground for bacteria (see legionella) and water pressure can disappoint over a long hose.
Fixed (buried pipe). You run a PE or copper pipe underground to the shower. More comfortable and much tidier, but then the pipe has to sit below the frost line or be easy to drain down. Count on at least 60 cm deep to stay below the frost line, and even then a drain-down point is a smart move. We work to 60 to 80 cm to be safe.
Practical tips for the supply:
- Keep the pipe run as short as possible. That saves pressure loss and drain-down time.
- Use PTFE tape or compression fittings on joints. Work neatly so you don’t end up with a leak underground.
- Always fit an isolating valve somewhere you can reach, ideally indoors or right by the wall, so you can drain everything down in winter.
- Pressure drops off on a long or narrow pipe. In that case go for at least half an inch (12 to 16 mm) pipe.
Where can the waste water go? (this is the important bit)
This is the point most garden blogs brush off with “just let it soak away into a bed of gravel”. That isn’t always true, and it’s exactly where you need to be careful.
The moment you use soap, shampoo or shower gel, your waste water is greywater. And you can’t simply let greywater soak into the ground. The basic principle: if there’s a sewer connection available, domestic waste water belongs in the foul drain, not in the soil. In the Netherlands it’s even set out concretely: if there’s a sewer within 40 metres, that’s where the waste water has to go. Where you live, what counts is your local authority’s rules, so those are the ones to follow.
What does that mean in practice?
- Only rinsing off with clean water, no soap (sand or chlorine after the pool, say)? Then it’s effectively near-clean water and letting it soak away via a gravel soakaway is usually no problem. If in doubt, ring your local authority.
- Using soap and shampoo? Then the proper solution is a drain with a trap connected to your foul water drain, just like your indoor shower. A gravel bed under the shower isn’t enough under the rules.
- Still want to soak away because connecting is awkward? Then use only biodegradable, environmentally friendly soap, keep the volume small and check with your local authority. Protecting soil and groundwater is the point here.
A soakaway or drainage pit (a hole filled with gravel or drainage stone where the water sinks in) is fine for rinse water and rainwater, but not automatically for soapy water. This isn’t a detail you can skip.
How do you winterise an outdoor shower (frost-proof)?
Crucial in our climate. Water that freezes in a pipe expands and splits your fitting or your pipe. You only notice in spring, and then you’re facing a job you could have prevented in ten minutes back in autumn.
Here’s how to do it properly:
- Shut off the water supply using the isolating valve indoors or by the wall.
- Drain the pipe completely. Open the shower tap and let all the water run out. If water is sitting in a low point, use a drain-down point or blow the pipe through.
- Disconnect loose parts and store them somewhere frost-free: the garden hose, the shower head, the solar shower tank.
- Remove the tap if you can, or turn it to its lowest setting so nothing is left standing in it.
For a solar shower: empty the storage tank completely. A full tank that freezes will split.
Rule of thumb: anything that can hold water and isn’t sitting 60 cm underground goes into winter empty. Not sure whether a pipe is really empty? Assume it isn’t and drain it down again.
Freestanding outdoor shower: foundation and stability
A freestanding shower has to stand firm, because you’ll hang off it and push against it. Just sticking it in the ground is asking for a leaning mess.
Two proven methods:
- Concrete footing or rapid-set concrete. Dig a hole around 40 to 60 cm deep, set the post plumb and pour rapid-set concrete around it. This is the sturdiest option for a wooden or steel post.
- Heavy base or slab. For lighter solar showers a heavy concrete base is often enough, or bolting it to a solid slab or decking. Do check it can’t tip over if you pull on it.
Always set the post plumb and use stainless steel fixings, because everything here is permanently out in the weather. Two posts side by side for a shower wall? Drive them in, set them plumb and level with each other, and fix them with rapid-set concrete for stability.
Which materials should you choose?
Outdoors is hard on materials: rain, sun, frost. So choose deliberately.
| Component | Best choices | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Tap/shower head | Stainless steel or brass | Won’t rust, last for years |
| Frame/posts | Hardwood, thermally modified timber or powder-coated steel | Weatherproof, stable |
| Walls | Hardwood, cladding boards or rendered cement board | Slow to rot, easy to finish nicely |
| Floor/duckboard | Hardwood decking or plastic grating | Keeps mud away, lets water through |
| Pipe | PE or copper | Handles pressure and (handled carefully) frost |
Avoid cheap galvanised steel or indoor taps: they rust or freeze and split. A stainless steel or brass outdoor tap costs a bit more, but you get that back in lifespan.
Always put something under the shower that keeps you out of the wet: a wooden duckboard, decking boards, or slabs with gravel underneath. Without one you’ll be standing in sludge within two weeks.
Privacy and finishing touches
An outdoor shower is lovely, but not with the neighbours watching. Think about the finish:
- A fence, reed screen or hardwood panel where you get undressed.
- Planting around it (bamboo, tall grasses) gives you shelter as well as privacy.
- A hook for your towel and a small shelf for the soap sound like nothing, but that’s what makes it usable.
Site the shower out of the wind and, if you’re showering cold, right in the sun. With hot water the orientation matters less.
What does installing an outdoor shower cost?
Costs depend mainly on: cold or hot water, flexible or fixed connection, and whether you need a drain into the sewer. The ranges below are indicative for materials. Bringing in a plumber comes on top.
| Type | Indicative materials cost | Plumber needed? |
|---|---|---|
| Solar shower (post + tank) | 60 – 250 euros | No |
| Wall-mounted cold water, teed off outside tap | 100 – 300 euros | Usually not |
| Wall or freestanding with mixer tap (cold + hot) | 300 – 800 euros | Often yes |
| Freestanding with hot water + fixed drain to sewer | 700 – 1500+ euros | Yes |
Doing it yourself mainly saves on labour. Teeing off an outside tap and setting up a solar shower is within reach of anyone reasonably handy. Teeing hot water off your boiler and making a sewer connection is skilled work: you want a plumber for that, for the guarantee and the safety as much as anything.
With a plumber, get the hourly rate confirmed up front, and always ask for a quote for the whole job rather than open-ended hourly billing.
Do you need planning permission?
For most simple outdoor showers: no. A standalone solar shower or a shower tap on the wall isn’t a structure and doesn’t need permission.
It changes once you’re building something: an enclosed shower space with walls and a roof can count as an outbuilding, and then your local planning rules apply. Discharging waste water can also come with a notification requirement or an obligation to connect (see the drainage chapter).
The safe route: if you’re only building a shower with no structure around it, you’re almost always fine. If you’re going to lay bricks, render, build a cubicle, or connect to the sewer, have a quick word with your local authority. One phone call saves hassle later.
Legionella: how does that work with an outdoor shower?
Short and level-headed: legionella bacteria grow best in standing water between 25 and 60 degrees, with an optimum around 37 degrees. A black garden hose or a solar shower tank in the sun sits right in that band. You don’t get ill from drinking it, but from inhaling the mist under the shower.
The risk is small, and with a few simple habits it’s negligible:
- Let the water run out after use. Empty the hose and the tank, don’t leave warm water standing for days.
- Flush it through before use. Let the first thirty seconds to a minute run away, especially if the shower hasn’t been used for a week.
- Keep the hose out of full sun, or use a hose that isn’t sitting at temperature for days on end.
- Occasionally heat through above 60 degrees if you have a fixed hot water system. The bacteria don’t survive that.
Do this and you’ve nothing to worry about. It goes wrong for the people who leave the solar shower full for a month and then switch it on without flushing.
Step-by-step: installing an outdoor shower
Below is the fixed setup with cold water (and hot as an option). For a solar shower you skip steps 3 to 5.
- Choose the spot. Out of the wind, with privacy, close to water and (with hot water) near a wall. Work out straight away where the water can go.
- Sort the drainage first. Decide whether you’re connecting to the sewer (if you’ll use soap) or soaking away (rinse water only). This determines the whole setup, so do it before you start digging.
- Run the water supply. Tee off the outside tap (flexible) or dig in a fixed pipe at least 60 cm deep, with an isolating valve indoors. For hot water: a separate hot water pipe and a mixer tap (plumber).
- Build the structure. Posts in rapid-set concrete (freestanding) or brackets on the wall. Everything plumb and level, stainless steel fixings.
- Fit the tap and shower head. Stainless steel or brass, joints sealed with PTFE tape.
- Lay the floor. Duckboard or decking over gravel or over the gully, so you stand dry and the water drains away.
- Test everything. Check for leaks, check the water pressure and see whether the water drains away cleanly without puddling.
- Finish it off. Screen, hooks, shelf, planting. Done.
Common mistakes
- Treating drainage as an afterthought. Letting soapy water soak into the ground often isn’t allowed. Sort this first and properly.
- Forgetting to winterise. One night of frost in a full pipe and you’re digging it all up in spring. Drain down, every time.
- Using indoor taps outside. They rust or freeze and split. Choose stainless steel or brass made for outdoor use.
- No isolating valve indoors. Without a shut-off point you can’t drain down and you’re stuck with the outside tap.
- No duckboard or decking. Without a dry place to stand you’ll be in the mud in no time.
- Pipe too narrow or too long. Then the water pressure disappoints and your shower dribbles instead of flowing.
- Leaving the solar shower full. Standing warm water plus no flushing is the classic legionella recipe.
Frequently asked questions
Can I let the water from my outdoor shower drain away into the garden?
Only clean rinse water without soap can usually be soaked away via a gravel soakaway. If you use soap or shampoo, that’s greywater and you’ll almost always need to connect to the foul water drain, certainly if there’s a sewer within reach. The rules come from your local authority, so check there if in doubt.
Do I need permission for an outdoor shower?
Not for a simple shower with no structure (a solar shower or a tap on the wall). If you build an enclosed shower space or connect to the sewer, rules or a notification may apply. Check this with your local authority.
How do I get hot water at my outdoor shower?
Three ways: a solar shower with a black storage tank (free but dependent on the sun), a tee off your boiler or hot water system with a mixer tap (the most comfort, plumber needed), or a separate instant heater or water heater at the shower (have the electrics done by a professional).
How do I stop my outdoor shower freezing up in winter?
Shut off the supply, drain the pipe completely and store loose parts (hose, shower head, solar tank) somewhere frost-free. Make sure a fixed pipe is buried at least 60 cm deep or can be fully drained down. Water that’s left standing and freezes will split pipes and fittings.
What does it cost to install an outdoor shower?
A solar shower costs around 60 to 250 euros in materials. A wall-mounted one with cold water, 100 to 300 euros. A fixed setup with hot water, a mixer tap and a sewer connection runs to 700 to 1500 euros or more, plus the plumber. Doing it yourself mainly saves on labour costs.
Is an outdoor shower dangerous because of legionella?
The risk is small as long as you don’t leave water standing for days. Let the hose and tank empty after use, flush through briefly before showering and keep the hose out of full sun. That keeps the risk negligible.
Get started on your garden project
An outdoor shower is a lovely addition, and with the right preparation (drainage and frost protection above all) it’s a job that pays you back for years. If you’re building something bigger, a shower corner, a deck or a complete garden layout with the shower built into it, you want to get it right first time.
Looking for a properly thought-out plan for your garden project? Have a look at Fred’s DIY Plans. Then you’re building to a plan that works, instead of discovering as you go what doesn’t fit. Good luck with the build.