I am working on figuring gals of water used per wash. I have used a nozzle chart and timed all passes. Figured in all the different pressures and nozzle count. I have touch free autos and I am coming up with around 115 gals on my top wash. Does this seem high? Can anyone share their numbers so I know if I am in the ball park? Is there a better/more accurate way of calculating this?
Calculating water used per wash
- Thread starter gearhead
- Start date
Buzzie8
Member
What manufacturer is the wash? It sounds like a good number for my Jim Coleman Water Wizard 1.0, on my top wash. Maybe a bit light. Most owners will have some idea but it will vary from mfg and model.
That does seem high. It's a relatively simple thing to read your water meter for an exact count. If you have a lot of passes programmed in that might account for it. I would suggest going down a size in nozzles. You should be abnle to cut usage by 10 to 15% without sacrificing wash quality. 115 gallons is high. At that reclaim might make sense.
Bubbles Galore
Active member
I think a range from 80 to 90 gallons for a touch free wash is probably more in line. 75 is very good. I have seen one use 70 but that is really rare. Mac is right. Nozzling down and making sure you are not using too many passes will help. Some machines use high pressure for chemical application which can really increase water usage.
Thanks Everyone. I am running the recomended nozzles and a little slower arch speed for warmer weather. I plan on changing that up for winter.
To Bubbles: 65 GPW is awesome. That would be 3 passes on a tonka toy for me...
To Bubbles: 65 GPW is awesome. That would be 3 passes on a tonka toy for me...
Greg Pack
Wash Weenie
If the water tank is big enough on your auto you can measure the capacity in it.
Years ago when I was a younger enthusiastic man I built a spreadsheet. I entered all nozzle sizes and pressures, along with the formula to figure flows. I timed the unit on an SUV with a stopwatch. As I suspected, water usage was MUCH higher then the manufacturer of the auto suggested. doing it on a spreadsheet allowed me to play with things such as nozzle size and gauge impact on water usage.
BTW, Don't forget to add spot free reject water to your calculations if you don't reuse it.
Years ago when I was a younger enthusiastic man I built a spreadsheet. I entered all nozzle sizes and pressures, along with the formula to figure flows. I timed the unit on an SUV with a stopwatch. As I suspected, water usage was MUCH higher then the manufacturer of the auto suggested. doing it on a spreadsheet allowed me to play with things such as nozzle size and gauge impact on water usage.
BTW, Don't forget to add spot free reject water to your calculations if you don't reuse it.