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Building a RO system.

S

sailorlee15

New member
Hi Everyone,
I bought a rundown 4 bay carwash last year, it only does about 25k a year gross and I'm trying to change that. After fixing everything, adding CC I'm not looking to add more features. One constant comment I receive is spotting on the cars. I'd like to add spotfree to the wash.

I'm a sailor and have built a RO system for my boat that takes seawater and turns into RO, little more complicated because you're dealing with seawater and all the critters that live it in. A city water system that runs at 150psi seem much more straight forward. Point is I understand how they work and am not afraid of building one for this application.

Here's a breakdown as i see it: Booster pump from 60 to 150 psi - prefilters - RO membrane - storage tank - waste to SS tank and the booster pump controlled by float switch to relay. From there the product water would be sent out with a separate distribution system like my other bay features, except it will need to be built to run at 250psi.

So is putting one together a folly? Are there things associated with operating one I am not foreseeing?


Been lurking on the forum for a while, learned a ton and this is my first post!

thanks!

Lee Cumberland, Maryland.
 
A lot of the older RO systems were as simple as you described. One is still made that way, it doesn't follow electrical code but it works. You can get a float switch that can handle 20 amps, so you don't even need a relay, just turn on the motor and solenoid directly with the switch.

One thing you missed is a charcoal prefilter. Chlorine in the municipal water will ruin a membrane pretty quickly. If your water is really hard, you also need a properly working water softener.
 
No, not folly. some of us build a lot of our own equipment, most of us maintain/rebuild.
One thing to consider real hard is the cost. I've done a few builds from scratch, and yes it saves me $. But sometimes only in the short term - repairs and improvements often eat away the savings. Also as I'm sure youve considered, opportunity cost + value of your time, which is never zero even when I think it is.
 
Paul good point. I guess I get a kick out of learning how a new system operates and satisfaction from building it. It's a disease I tell you!

Thanks for the wisdom everyone.
 
sailorlee15 said:
Hi Everyone,
I bought a rundown 4 bay carwash last year, it only does about 25k a year gross and I'm trying to change that. After fixing everything, adding CC I'm not looking to add more features. One constant comment I receive is spotting on the cars. I'd like to add spotfree to the wash.

I'm a sailor and have built a RO system for my boat that takes seawater and turns into RO, little more complicated because you're dealing with seawater and all the critters that live it in. A city water system that runs at 150psi seem much more straight forward. Point is I understand how they work and am not afraid of building one for this application.

Here's a breakdown as i see it: Booster pump from 60 to 150 psi - prefilters - RO membrane - storage tank - waste to SS tank and the booster pump controlled by float switch to relay. From there the product water would be sent out with a separate distribution system like my other bay features, except it will need to be built to run at 250psi.

So is putting one together a folly? Are there things associated with operating one I am not foreseeing?


Been lurking on the forum for a while, learned a ton and this is my first post!

thanks!

Lee Cumberland, Maryland.
Click to expand...
Yes - you've missed a number of important components!
Russ
 
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