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Need educated on reclaim systems

S

sparkey

Active member
I am looking for some input on building a reclaim system to reclaim my automatic carwash water. I envision a tank in the ground connected to the pit in the automatic bay which will collect the water and will also collect rain water from the roof. After I collect the water what does it take to clean it up for use again? I will probably just pump it back into the rinse cycle of the automatic. What kind of filtration system is normally used for this and what micron are the filters? Is this reclaimed water going to cause excessive wear on my cat pump?
 
That's a whole lotta questions. You will need to filter the water and do something to control odor. Yes you can build something yourself, just like you can build an airplane, car or boat. You should carefully check to see if it's legal to collect the rainwater in a inground tank. I wish I was making that up. I've done rainwater collection and reuse systems in Florida, and it was enlightening to talk to the state water management agency. They said to collect it before it hits the ground is fine, but when it hits the ground, it belongs to them. One even moderate rain would easily overflow the tank. If money is tight, look for a used system from a closed wash.
 
“I am looking for some input on building a reclaim system to reclaim my automatic carwash water.”

Here are some of the basics.

If you want to design, begin with recovery system. In-bay automatic is slope of wash-bay floor and the collection pit.

Waste from pit is normally routed to oil/water separator then sanitary sewer. If you want to use waste-water to wash cars, it must be collected at or after separator but before sewer. How you do this depends on design/size.

Regardless, waste-water must be drawn-up from underground with sump pump. Once it has been pumped up to surface, it must be processed into product water.

Generally, first stage of is a re-pressurization pump to force water through the system, basket filter to trap debris and cyclonic separator that creates centrifugal force that whirls water and forces particles out of the flow – about 80 percent of particles 70 microns and larger.

Filtration is used to further reduce particle size in water. This can include granular media, bag and paper filters, polypropylene filters and ultra and self-cleaning filtration to remove solids in waste-water down to 5 microns or “product water” that is sufficiently “clean” to wash vehicles.

Many reclaim system inject a stream of artificially generated ozone (usually corona discharge).

Ozone is a highly reactive form of oxygen that “de-germs” waste and prevents pit odor. Ozone aids in flocculation - improves clarity and reduces total suspended solids by causing particles to bind together and then precipitate down in water.

It is suggested reclaim water for in-bay carwash is best used for high-pressure like wheels, side blasters and touch-less wash pass or lubricating brushes in a friction wash.

For specifics, I would seek out experts like Dean Taylor and others.
 
Thanks for all the good info.

Buzzie8 - I couldn't get either of your links to work. Maybe its their website. I will try again later.
 
Sparkey,
The website was acting weird for me as well earlier. Try using a different browser (i.e. Chrome, Firefox) It might work with one of these. If you still have problems let me know and I'll email you a copy of both articles.
Buzzie
 
You know, this got me to thinking about reclaims in general. I sell one that is considered pretty good, but there is still a long ways to go before they reach a level of reliability, independent operation (not having to monitor it), quality of product water, and most importantly - price. Usually the reclaim has to be looked at every time you go into a room with one. Here's my dream: a machine that costs around $20K for a self serve with auto, automatic waste disposal (the dirt goes into a drum that is hauled off), close to rinse water quality, and the size of a refrigerator.
 
Several years ago when I was a General Manager of a chain of washes a large international company that dealt with water purification system visited our washes to study how to effectively treat reclaim water. After several days they said that to effectively do the job the equipment that would be needed would cost almost as much as the wash itself and would need almost as much space as the wash equipment. The basic problem they said was to remove the solids and chemicals while treating the amount of water in the time frame to be able to reuse it. At the time they said filtration methods were available but were cost prohibitive making it more cost effective to simply use fresh water.
 
On rethinking my dream reclaim system, I realized it should retail for $30K instead of 20. Forgot about the most important thing - keeping momma happy.
 
mac said:
You know, this got me to thinking about reclaims in general. I sell one that is considered pretty good, but there is still a long ways to go before they reach a level of reliability, independent operation (not having to monitor it), quality of product water, and most importantly - price. Usually the reclaim has to be looked at every time you go into a room with one. Here's my dream: a machine that costs around $20K for a self serve with auto, automatic waste disposal (the dirt goes into a drum that is hauled off), close to rinse water quality, and the size of a refrigerator.
Click to expand...
you still selling reclaim systems
 
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