The Bucket List

…well, in this case, the list of stuff you need to make a bucket-portable-handwashing station!

So The Food Project sent us a request for a portable hand-washing station.  Seems they need them for their farms and markets, and you can’t get them at the moment from rental sources or elsewhere.  Can we help?  Of course we can!

Here’s what you need to put one of these simple stations together:

The pump is a simple 10mm diameter bulb-type siphoning pump.  We added some tubing we had around for the intake, so it would stay at the bottom of the water jug – that white tube.  Next to that is the 3D printed bracket, the thumbscrew and the spigot.  Finally a piece of plywood to hold the bulb.

The bulb pump and hose is available on eBay.

We’ve updated the design of this, but this is the older version of the bracket.  It clamps on the side of the bucket and holds the spigot.  It has a 10mm hole running vertically.  Here’s the updated bracket:

This is the spigot – bendable copper 3/8″ OD tubing, cut to 17″ long, available from any hardware store or Home Depot or the like, but we just ordered it from McMaster Carr.  It needs a little shoulder to keep it in place, so we soldered some copper wire, shown here:

The thumbscrew is a 1/4-20 thread standard issue, also from McMaster Carr, if memory serves.  We had them kicking around the parts bin.

Finally, a slab of scrap wood with some holes for strapping down the bulb foot pump.

Let’s start the assembly.

First, strap the bulb on to your plywood and slide the extension tube on your intake.  You’ll see an arrow on the bulb showing the direction of flow:

Next, assemble the thumbscrew for the bracket:

The gooseneck slides into the 10mm hole in the bracket:

…and the hose attaches to the gooseneck with a hose clamp:

It seems like propping it up on a milk crate puts it at about the perfect height, but of course whatever works for you:

Here is the STL file on Thingiverse: Bracket for Portable Hand Washing Station.

Stay clean and wash those mitts!