INstallatIoN
Shower splash and how to drain it
by Barry Schafer
The distance that water splashes
while showering in an unenclosed
shower governs the extent of
waterproofing required. The 2004
edition of as 3740 Waterproofing
of domestic wet areas states in
Clause 3.13.5 Unenclosed showers
in sub clause (b) ‘The water stop
of a Type 2 shower shall be at
a distance of a minimum of
1500mm from the wall connection
of the shower rose’. A Type 2
unenclosed shower (Figure 1)
does not have a screen door.
W
hen the committee debated the distance that
splash water could be expected to travel from the
shower interior to the bathroom floor, it
discovered that there was no available
test data, which would confirm the figure of 1500mm which was established
in the 1994 edition of the standard.
I therefore undertook some testing to
Figure 2 – Shower rose 1 Figure 3 – Shower rose 2
in a spray setting
in a jet setting
68 | Tile Today #82 | www.infotile.com/publications
Figure 1 – A typical Type 2 shower recess
determine the extent to which significant splash could occur from different
shower configurations and types of
shower roses. Two different shower roses were used, one as shown in Figure 2
which had 4 different settings – 2 spray
and 2 jets and the other as shown in
Figure 3 which had 2 different settings
– 1 spray and 1 jet.
With both shower roses being on a
flexible hose they could both be also used
as a non-fixed shower rose. The roses
were tested in two positions. They were
mounted on the side of a shower recess
to encourage spraying on the side panel,
and at the back of the recess which promoted spray which was directed toward
the opening of the shower recess.
While the shower used was constructed as an enclosed shower, it
was rendered unclosed by removal of
the screen door. Measurements of the
splash were made by using 150mm
strips of towel which were placed next
to one another, with the first strip positioned in the shower opening. A test
shower was started to determine how
long each shower could be used before the first strip became saturated.
The test confirmed that it took just 3
minutes, which is a shorter than the
average time taken to shower, but
the committee were satisfied given
that the objective was to measure the
spread of water, not the amount of water used.
The strips of dry towel were
weighed before the start of each shower, and again at the conclusion of each
shower, this allowed us to measure
the weight of the water landing on the
towel. The results are in grams. One
gram is equal to one mill of water. The
results obtained for the side mounted
shower roses are given in Figure 4.
The designation (F) is for female, (M)
is for male. While there is a difference
between the male and female result
in the shorter splash distance there
is little difference at the outer limit.
These results confirm that there is little splash after 1300mm regardless of
the rose or the person showering. The
differences noted at shorter distances
are probably caused by different levels
of rebound from varying body shapes
which become negligible at the outer
distances.
The results obtained with the back
mounted shower rose showed a much
greater splash distance – refer to
Figure 5. Most of the water landing
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INstallatIoN
on the strips of towel generated from
the back mounted shower roses occurred when the person turning in the
shower did not pivot under the water,
but stepped around allowing an unobstructed stream of water to exit the
shower space for a period of time.
The standard committee were
concerned that use of a non – fixed
shower rose would produce a greater
splash distance, however a glance at
Figure 5 will reveal that their concerns were misplaced. Once again
there was a difference in the splash
between the male and female user at
close distances, but little difference at
the extremity of the splash zone.
The committee also examined how
much water drained onto the floor
as users exited the shower. This was
also measured by standing on a towel
without turning off the tap. This test
deposited the maximum volume of water on the towel. In a two minute period 77 grams dripped on to the towel,
while 80 grams remained on the body.
This volume was measured by using a
second towel to dry off.
These results allowed the committee to confidently decide that a distance of 1500mm from the shower rose
was satisfactory, so this figure was
used in the standard for all kinds of
fixed and non-fixed shower roses.
Water deposited at the extremity of
the splash zone has to be drained back
to the drainage area of the shower to
prevent the uncontrolled spread of
water over the bathroom floor. In the
shower shown in Figure 1 the extent
of the splash zone extends to approximately two tiles in front of glass side
screen. Unfortunately the small half
round section actually prevents water
from flowing back to the shower drain,
which in turn places more water on
the general floor area. This could have
been avoided by sloping at least two
courses of tile back toward the drain.
Given that unenclosed showers
require greater drainage it makes
sense to install linear drains which
extend across the entire shower floor
(Figure 7). This enables the creation
of a one directional slope to the drain
and removes the need for complex cutting of tiles, laid to falls, as illustrated
in photo 6. Effective drainage of the
whole splash area of the shower is an
essential part of the waterproofing of
showers. AS 3740 covers the control of
Figure 4 – Results for a side mounted shower rose
Figure 5 – Results for back mounted rose and a non-fixed shower rose
Figure 6 – Complex cutting to enable two directional falls to waste
70 | Tile Today #82 | www.infotile.com/publications
splashing from shower areas, including enclosed showers and those that
are open on one or more sides.
Figure 7 – Linear drains allow one direction fall
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