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Reclaim Systems????

toddmullens

Active member
I am in the process of starting to think about installing a reclaim system at all my locations. Does anybody have any unbiased opinions about any particular brand of equipment. Keep in mind, it is going to be a retrofit application. Any new locations we build will have reclaim systems installed, but the water and sewer on the exsisting locations have become insanely expensive. Reclaim is my only option.....
 
I just ordered a Purwater by Purclean. I can't vouch for it yet but it had many merits from my investigation. I think biological systems might be a bit better but seemed like they had a lot of maintenance issues. I ordered the purwater with an ozone option. I will keep you informed.
 
I have a 6 year old Con-Serv system with self-cleaning filter, and I have a 2 year old Pur-Clean system. I like both systems, as they have been virtually maintenance free. I would steer towards the Pur-Clean as it filters to 5 microns. The Con-Serv is 25 microns. (Their newer systems may filter down smaller-I don't know). No smell from either unit--both have ozone injection. The footprint on the Pur-Clean is a good bit smaller, which is nice.

Just remember, reclaim water is gray from all manufacturers. It does require more diligence if you want to keep your bays looking clean and fresh.
 
I selected a Freylit EKOlit 200 for my almost closed loop touchless IBA.

It works great. It's been online for 2 years now in a HOT environment. Very low maintenance, rugged, great support and most important - reclaim water that doesn't smell.

Highly recommended.

Good luck.
 
You may also want to consider adding Catec to your list of prospects.

Considering some of the junk that I had to contend with when I operated carwash facilities over 11 years ago, odor control and the quality of the product water from most of the reclaim systems available today is quite impressive.

However, unlike most carwash subsystems that you can plug and play, reclaim requires more thought and upfront planning.

How well a system controls odor and maintains quality of the product water is a function of the demands on the system, quality of installation, chemistry involved and how well you take care of the reclaim system and your carwash equipment.
 
I belive that Catec offers a five year warranty on its ozone unit. That says a lot.
 
Yes Mac, that is true and also very important. Many ozone generators fail within 12-24 months. A good one will run you about $5K to replace. Just food for thought.
 
Thanks for all the input! Does anybody have any hands on experience with equipment made by Hydrosystems Engineering or maybe its called Hydro Blaster. I am not exactly sure of the name of the company now....Its too hot to think straight!
 
Pur Clean

We had used a reclaim company out of Minnesota at our first two washes and they were maintenance nightmares. Switched to Pur Clean for the next 3 and virtually no problems.
 
I’d love to hear if anyone has an update on this thread with their experience on specific reclaim systems. I’v heard stay away from ozone systems and also have heard people saying it’s the way to go.

I have a two-bay automatic (Coleman Hanna WW2’s) and am looking to conserve water. I’m paying $15.86/1000 gal all in ($3.33/1000 gal water + $12.53/1000 gal sewer) - no break for carryout or having lower BOD / TSS versus other customers. What should I expect to pay for this. I expect that I’ll have to do below ground tanks.

Thank you
 
I’d love to hear if anyone has an update on this thread with their experience on specific reclaim systems. I’v heard stay away from ozone systems and also have heard people saying it’s the way to go.

I have a two-bay automatic (Coleman Hanna WW2’s) and am looking to conserve water. I’m paying $15.86/1000 gal all in ($3.33/1000 gal water + $12.53/1000 gal sewer) - no break for carryout or having lower BOD / TSS versus other customers. What should I expect to pay for this. I expect that I’ll have to do below ground tanks.

Thank you

I feel your pain. I had Coleman WW 1.0's and 2.0's and later installed a reclaim system. Here are two links for articles I wrote for Auto Laundry News that talks about the savings and the process involved in the new install. Let me know if you need any additional information.

http://www.carwashmag.com/issues/jan-2013/reclaim.cfm
http://www.carwashmag.com/issues/feb-2013/water-treatment.cfm
 
For a high pressure piston pump you need a 5 micron system. Reclaim units rely heavily on good pit design. Having enough settlement time is crucial. Most of the work cleaning the water is done by the pits so you need to ensure these are large enough before pulling the trigger on a reclaim. Have you fitted the blast tech pro nozzles to your water wizards? This would see 30-40% less water usage versus the standard zero degree nozzles and give much better cleaning!
 
This is the one area in our so called industry that really stinks. No pun intended. I am not a degreed engineer. I have only played one on TV. I have however dealt with many of these systems in the field. Let me point out just one fact about the Pur Clean. They claim filtration down to 5 microns. For filtration on their units they use the gravity settling in the tanks, a basket strainer before the pump (which will keep out dead rats and such), and cyclonic filters. Everything I have read about cyclonic filters is that they can get out particles 50 microns and larger. And again, if I am wrong on this, please give me facts that will support a different spec. This is an area that seems like it is 30 to 40 years behind the times. With ANY reclaim system you had better be prepared to monitor it almost daily to avoid any issues.
 
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