Rain water for spot free rinse

[Beddattery]

Has anybody tried to collect rain water and use it....without going thru the RO..... as spot free water

What did you see for TDS....????

What kind of spotting...if any...did you see on customers cars????

 

[mac]

We did one for an indoor boat storage here in south FL. We used three 5,000 gallon tanks to collect the rain from a building that has a 2 acre footprint. They use it to wash the stored boats. The rainwater is spot free water. TDS is always around 10 ppm or less. I suspect the water is even cleaner, but picks up some dust and germs. The somewhat tricky part is sizing the storage tanks, since you don't get the rain the same time every day of the year. And believe it or not, the state government got involved in this. When rain water hits the ground here in FL, the state says they own it. But since we captured it in above ground tanks, they couldn't say anything. I see you're in FL also. We get a little more than four feet of water here each year, and that adds up.If you do it, I recommend green or black holding tanks, since with clear tanks, the UV rays from the sun promote algae growth. And if it is going to be stored for long, you might need some way to keep it clean, say with an ozone system. Good luck.

 

[robert roman]

Has anybody tried to collect rain water and use it....without going thru the RO..... as spot free water

What did you see for TDS....????

What kind of spotting...if any...did you see on customers cars????

If using rain water was commercially viable alternative for RO in commercial carwash, someone in the industry would be selling equipment for it. They are not.

 

[mac]

Well Bob, I respectably disagree. The only equipment you need to do this are some tanks and a pump. The system I designed and installed is still working and saving money 10 years later. My guess for the reason others aren't doing it are:
1. You need a pretty large building footprint to collect enough water.
2. The rain doesn't come on schedule. And when it does, as you know here in FL, it can sometimes be a tropical storm.
3. Human inertia.
Even if you can't collect enough to make a sizeable difference in your water bill, I think the advertising potential is pretty good. I mean the eco freaks would have an orgasm if they saw a wash doing this. And remember, rain water is free spot free water.

 

[robert roman]

I didn’t say it’s wrong rather there is no commercially viable market for it.

If so, someone OEM would be making a specific kit or equipment package that would provide sufficient ROI for developing and selling it.

To my best knowledge, a rain water system for commercial carwashes does not exist.

Yes, you can build one but like reclaim a sufficient return is often dubious at best unless facing egregious water and sewer rates.

Also, environmentalists are quick to shake out bold claims.

They will ask - well that’s great, but how much water do you actually save or reuse?

3,000 SF roof and 60” of rain would capture about 112,000 gallons, if you can manage to capture all of it.

112,000 / 1,000 X $3.00 per gallon = $336

If you are paying $9.00 per 1,000 gallons for water and sewer, you might save $1,000, annually.

 

[loewem]

Well Bob, I respectably disagree. The only equipment you need to do this are some tanks and a pump. The system I designed and installed is still working and saving money 10 years later. My guess for the reason others aren't doing it are:
1. You need a pretty large building footprint to collect enough water.
2. The rain doesn't come on schedule. And when it does, as you know here in FL, it can sometimes be a tropical storm.
3. Human inertia.
Even if you can't collect enough to make a sizeable difference in your water bill, I think the advertising potential is pretty good. I mean the eco freaks would have an orgasm if they saw a wash doing this. And remember, rain water is free spot free water.

This is helpful information to know. I didn't know that rain water could be used for spot free water. I saw this on another thread. This knowledge could make using rain water even more attractive. Knowing what tanks to use, etc. is helpful. I've been thinking about this and have a friend who owns a roofing company. He said that he could put in a simple drain system that would capture 80% or more of the rain water from my roof. If I could make use of 75% of the captured water I'd save approximately $1,100 per year. I wonder if 75% usage of what is captured is a good estimate of what could be used given that the rain doesn't come on schedule? $1,100 doesn't seem like a lot, but if it can be used for spot free when available that could be an additional savings. My town has agreed to let me install a meter on my sewer line just prior to the oil/water separator. These two things together could save me $3 to $4k on my water bill per year. Every savings helps and the idea of advertising the environmental aspect of this isn't something that I had thought of, but makes great sense. During my first couple of months in business my electric bill was over $800. I've gotten my electric bill down to about $300 per month. That is about 60% reduction in electric costs. If I could reduce my water cost by half of that (30% savings) it wouldn't be the eco freaks feeling the pleasure.

 

[carwashireland]

I have to agree with Mac, I have used this and am actually installing a massive storage tank in London UK for a truck wash rinse. It works so well as a final rinse. As you cannot guarantee that you will get rain, a small back up r.o would be needed. Also be sure to add a 5 micron filter before the water reaches the storage tank.

 

[mac]

Hello Bob. One of your statements really is off the mark. You said that environmentalists would quickly call this out as a hoax or something not worthwhile. C'mon. You live in Florida. Do the save the manatee idiots ever question anything concerning beloved sea cows? Most of these people have the basic IQ of a tree stump. And the general public isn't much better. My guess is that if you advertise that you are using rain water, most would love it. And you are right in that most washes don't have enough square footage to make a real difference in their bill.