Modern showers
The first mechanical shower, operated by a hand pump, was patented in England in 1767 by William Feetham, a stovemaker from Ludgate Hill in London. His shower contraption used a pump to force the water into a vessel above the user’s head and a chain would then be pulled to release the water from the vessel. Although the system dispensed with the servant labour of filling up and pouring out buckets of water, the showers failed to catch on with the rich as a method for piping hot water through the system was not available. The system would also recycle the same dirty water through every cycle.
This early start was greatly improved in the anonymously invented English Regency shower design of circa 1810 (there is some ambiguity among the sources). The original design was over 10 feet (3 m) tall, and was made of several metal pipes painted to look like bamboo. A basin suspended above the pipes fed water into a nozzle that distributed the water over the user’s shoulders. The water on the ground was drained and pumped back through the pipes into the basin, where the cycle would repeat itself. The original prototype was steadily improved upon in the following decades, until it began to approximate the shower of today in its mode of operation. Hand-pumped models became fashionable at one point as well as the use of adjustable sprayers for different water flow. The reinvention of reliable indoor plumbing around 1850 allowed free-standing showers to be connected to a running water supplying a renewable flow of water.
Modern showers were installed in the barracks of the French army in the 1870s as an economic hygiene measure, under the guidance of a French doctor and inventor. As surgeon-general at Bonne Nouvelle prison in Rouen he had previously replaced individual baths with mandatory communal showers for use by prisoners, arguing that they were more economical and hygienic. First six, then eight shower stalls were installed. The water was heated by a steam engine and in less than five minutes, up to eight prisoners could wash simultaneously with only twenty liters of water. The French system of communal showers was adopted by other armies, the first being that of Prussia in 1879, and by prisons in other jurisdictions. They were also adopted by boarding schools, before being installed in public bathhouses. The first shower in a public bathhouse was in 1887 in Vienna Austria. In France, public bathhouses and showers were established by Charles Cazalet, firstly in Bordoux in 1893 and then in Paris in 1899.
Types
Domestic
Domestic showers are most commonly stall showers or showers over a bathtub. A stall shower is a dedicated shower area which uses a glass door to contain water spray. The shower over a bathtub saves bathroom space and enables the area to be used for either a bath or a shower and commonly uses a sliding shower curtain to contain the water spray. Showers may also be in a wet room, in which there is no contained shower area, or in a dedicated shower room, which does not require containment of water spray. Most domestic showers have a single overhead shower head, which may be adjustable.
Public
Many modern athletic and aquatic facilities provide showers for use by patrons. These can be in the form of individual stalls shielded by curtains or a door or communal shower rooms. The latter are generally large open rooms with any number of shower heads installed either directly into the walls or on posts throughout the shower area. Open showers are often provided at public swimming pools and at popular beaches.
Military forces around the world set up showers to enable the washing away of dangerous residue from modern weapons such as caustic chemicals, deadly biological agents, and radioactive materials, which can harm forces on both sides of a conflict.
Wet room
A wet room is a bathroom without internal dedicated or raised areas which has an open shower. Structurally, a wet room requires the bathroom to have a gradient or slope towards a drain hole, and a foul air trap connecting the floor to the waste pipes.
Other
- Electric shower stall device to locally heat shower water with electrical power
- Emergency showers, installed in labs and other facilities that use hazardous chemicals, and are required by law in the United States; designed to deluge continuously at around 30–60 US gallons (110–230 l) per minute for at least 15 minutes and should be located at most 10 seconds away from potential users
- Graham shower, any type of shower taken in limited environment where normal shower facilities do not exist (e.g., under a rain-filled gutter, under a spigot.
Shower usage in the latter half of the 20th century has skyrocketed. Personal hygiene became a primary concern, and bathing every day or multiple times a day is common among Western cultures. Showering is generally faster than bathing and can use less water. Showering, as opposed to taking a bath, is recommended for older people because it reduces the risk of injury related to falling.
When a person takes a shower may indicate their social position. Blue collar workers have been found to be more likely to take a shower in the evening after work, whereas white collar workers have been found to shower in the morning before work. An equal number of reasons can be offered for showering at night as for showering in the morning. Contrary to myth, there are no adverse health affects from showering at night.
Some people take more than one shower each day – in the morning, after working out, and at night. People also shower to cool off in hot weather.
There are systems to save water and energy, called eco-shower.
Used shower water can be employed as gray water
Cultural significance
Showering is mostly part of a daily routine primarily to promote cleanliness and prevent odour, disease and infection. Advances in science and medicine in the 19th century began to realize the benefit of regular bathing to an individual’s health. As a result, most modern cultures encourage a daily personal hygiene regimen. Showering has also developed the reputation as a relaxing and generally therapeutic activity.
Structure and design
Designs for shower facilities vary by location and purpose. There are free-standing showers, but also showers which are integrated into a bathtub. Showers are separated from the surrounding area through watertight curtains shower curtain, sliding doors, or folding doors in order to protect the space from spraying water. Showers with a level entry wetroom are becoming very popular, especially due to improvements in waterproofing systems and prefabricated components.
Places such as a swimming pools, a locker rooms, or a military facility have multiple showers. There may be communal shower rooms without divisions, or shower stalls (typically open at the top.)
Many types of showers are available, including complete shower units which are all encompassing showers that include the pan, walls, and often the shower head, as well as pieced together units in which the pan, shower head, and doors are purchased separately. Each type of shower poses different installation issues.
Installation
Though the installation requirements of each of shower will differ, in general the installation of a shower requires the laying of several water pipes, including a pipe for hot water and for cold water, and a drainage pipe.
It is important that the wet areas of a bathroom be waterproof, and multiple layers of waterproofing can be employed. Grout is used to fill gaps between tiles, but grout and tile setting materials are generally porous. Tiles are generally waterproof. Thus small mosaic tiles offer less of a defense than large format tiles. Sub-tile waterproofing is important when tiles are being used. Best practice requires a waterproofing material to cover the walls and floor of the shower area that are then covered with tile, or in some countries with a sheet material like vinyl.