This is our first outdoor shower. I saw some of the reviews about cheap, plastic parts, and while that is true of some of the parts, overall I'd say the unit is very well made. People are actually surprised at how good it looks when they first see it. We do have a small leak up near the coupling where the shower head connects to the main unit (and that coupling is one of the plastic parts) but it's not really a problem, since it only leaks slightly and only when the shower is actually running. I'm pretty sure I will be able to fix that once I get to it. The thread on the water input is a standard garden hose type thread, but it is a male end, so you can't just connect to it with the free male end of a garden hose. There is a quick connect type nipple (with a female thread end) provided that will screw onto the inlet, but there is no matching coupler provided. Rather than be concerned about finding a matching coupler for the nipple provided, I just picked up a new matching quick connect coupler and nipple set. Alternatively, you could simply get a length of garden hose with two female ends and screw that hose directly onto the inlet (it just would not be as easy to connect/disconnect to the water supply). The instructions are OK, but not very well organized. That said, the unit is very easy to assemble. The instructions recommend two people for the step where you put the upper part of the unit onto the lower part, and that is a very good suggestion. It's not really heavy but it needs to be lined up correctly to make sure the o-ring between the two segments seats properly. The unit needs something solid to be mounted to. Concrete would be ideal. In my case I build a 36"X24" platform out of 2x4's and 2x2's, and that has provided a surface that is plenty secure for us. We have the 5.5 gallon version and it's in a spot that gets sun mainly in the afternoon but not really in the morning. As long as there is sun in the afternoon we get a couple of minutes of hot/warm water, which has been fine for our needs (temperatures have been in the 70's to low 80's). We have very strong water pressure here and do not leave the unit under pressure while it is not in use. In our case, just turning on the water slightly provides plenty of water pressure for the shower. We have only had the unit running for maybe two weeks now, so I can't yet attest to durability and longevity. If anything major develops I'll see if I can update this review.
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