OUTDOOR HAND WASHING STATION

by Ijensen

We've all been there...we are outside and need to wash our hands and hate to make a run for the house.

This is pretty self explanatory....and an easy and practical project. I ordered a 10 gallon galvanized pail with a wire handle and lid (Amazon). I also purchased a regular sized galvanized large trash to use as the base. I poured a small pad of concrete just large enough to support the lid of the large trash can and put the lid in upside down (on the ground). Do this before the concrete sits up and use a level on the top rim of the can to make sure it is level. Let it sit at least 24 hours to make sure it is cured. Place the large trash can in the lid. This is your base for the water can. We added a soap dish to the one side by drilling holes and screwing through the trash can and secured the soap dish with a bolt, nut and washer on the inside.

The 10 gallon pail isn't water proof, so I sealed the inside seams with clear silicone. We then drilled a hole large enough to add a tap to the lower bottom of the can. We chose the screw handle type so we could have a steady stream of water without having to hold the handle. The tap can be purchased at any hardware store. We did add an extra gasket on the back side of the tap to make sure it didn't leak.

Once the silicone caulking set up good, we filled the bucket with water. The heat from the sun on the metal bucket will heat up the water to a nice warm temperature just perfect for washing your hands after gardening, adding meat to the grill or just playing.

We added a rock base to catch and drain the used water so that a puddle didn't form. I just used a piece of extra composite decking material as a fence along the front to keep the rock material in place.

I did vinyl lettering on the bucket to identify it for hand washing only, so people wouldn't use it for drinking water. We just fill it as needed to keep a supply of warm water handy for hand washing and sanitary use.

**NOTE***See the little galvanized bucket to the right side of it? It had small ravel in it and we use it to put our hot marshmallow/hotdog sticks in it. You can push the sticks in and out several times to clean off the remaining food. The sticks just stand upright until they are cool enough to put away.

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1 question

Joan on Jan 24, 2017
the rocks would get awfully dirty around the pails from grease, mud being washed off etc. people would step on the grease and track it all over

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2 comments

Pam Lewandowski on Jan 24, 2017
Oh my word ---- SUPER CREATIVE! Seriously, I'm borrowing this idea!!! Thanks for sharing!

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Nicolette Spargo on Jan 24, 2017
This is absolutely adorable!!

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