High Velocity reusing reject water

[wash4me]

Is it ok to use reject water for high pressure wax? If I read correctly guys are just enlarging their tanks and putting reject water with city water when it's available. Also I have heard of people plumbing the reject water in right after the softener but I haven't seen that on the forum. I don't quite understand what happens when the ro is running but there's no business.

 

[MEP001]

You need a place to store the reject water so the RO system can run and make water when needed. The most common method is to add a tank and either use a float valve in your highest-use gravity tank or a pump to get it where it will be used.

Ideally the reject should be used where the high TDS doesn't matter like high-pressure rinse pass or undercarriage, but if it's still soft it can be mixed with any low-foaming chemical.

 

[pgrzes]

i store my reject water in 2-55 gal drums up in the attic. I have a 3/4 line down to my fresh water tank with a Jobe valve set a little higher then my city water valve. The 55 gal drums are connected with a crossover tube and have an overflow into the fresh tank also, when they overflow everything goes into my reclaim pit.

 

[whitescout]

It appears as though you have several questions here, and I believe that a few questions need to be answered first.

I will attempt to answer a couple of the questions I believe you are asking, and I will ask a few questions, and answer guessing your reply.

To answer your first, obvious question, in my opninion, you should not use RO reject water to apply a high pressure wax. It will be VERY high TDS, and would be the same as applying with hard water.I would only use the RO reject water for a high pressure rinse assuming it was followed with a spot free rinse.

To answer the statement(question?) about guys mixing the RO reject with city water, I would think this would be fine for rinse water, but again, I would not run this RO reject water with any type of sealant, or wax.

To answer the third statement,( question?), I would not plumb RO reject water inline after the water softener to feed anything that would be applying a sealant, or that would be supplying water to the RO system, ( that would be after the water softener )

I am all for saving money where I can, but there are (in my opinion), and there are ways to cut corners to save money. I would rather offer a better product( no RO reject water with wax), and charge a little more, and get the repeat business. Remember, you only have one chance to make a first impression.

To reply to your last statement,( question), The RO system should not be running if you don't have business. I would think of trying to use the RO reject water, if available, but do not "count" on it being there. I would make plans for " what happens if I run out of RO reject water" when you are making plans for your equipment.

I would simply use the RO reject water for HP rinse if it is there, otherwise it would pull from the main tank.

HTH

 

[JMMUSTANG]

I would plumb my reject water into a tank (that also has a valve for city water) that is used only for your weep system.
As stated above I would not use the reject water for any function in the wash, wax or rinse cycle for fear of contamination due to the high TDS.

 

[wash4me]

Sounds like you all agree with the installer. He thinks the rinse water and the high pressure wax need to be separate. I do have a lot of respect for his opinion but I'm also skeptical by nature. This requires a pump, solenoid valve and a check valve. I was hoping to avoid the extra items and future maintenance but it's looking like I need them

 

[soapy]

I keep all my ro reject water in a tank that I place next to the regular HP rinse water holding tank for my IBA. I then connect the 2 tanks together with at least a 3 inch hose. Then lower your float that fills the original holding tank to about the half way mark. You will still have the same amount of water for your automatic to draw on from the 2 tanks. The top half of each tank can be filled with ro reject water then. Gravity will take the place of added pumps, valves etc.

 

[wash4me]

Soapy do you use high pressure wax? They are saying the higher tds may cause problems. So I'm doubling the tds with one gallon to reject and one gallon to drain then mixing it back with half city water in the tank so it would be effectively 25 percent higher tds than just city water. They are saying this could present a problem on high pressure wax. I asked if they had actually seen this be a problem and they said no.

 

[soapy]

In most IBA the high pressure rinse is hard water. Soap and wax applications use soft water. Does your system use soft water for its high pressure rinse and wax?

 

[wash4me]

All of our water is soft.

 

[wash4me]

In most IBA the high pressure rinse is hard water. Soap and wax applications use soft water. Does your system use soft water for its high pressure rinse and wax?

This brings up a good point. Should I switch the rinse to hard water? I guess it rinses better? In this case I would need to separate out the high pressure wax and rinse water.

 

[wash4me]

what percentage of people rinse with hard water?

 

[MEP001]

I'd probably run the rinse hard water if the machine allowed it.

 

[wash4me]

I'd probably run the rinse hard water if the machine allowed it.

For the salt savings or a better rinse?

 

[soapy]

I would guess that at least 75% + of IBA use hard water for the HP rinse. Depending on how hard your water is will determine if you use all soft water. For me at 20 grains of hardness in the water it would be cost prohibitive to use soft water for everything. Using soft water and RO for the final passes will eliminate any spotting issues you might have with hard water HP rinse.

 

[MEP001]

For the salt savings or a better rinse?

Salt and water savings. The "better rinse" comes from the hard water breaking the foam. I don't believe it actually rinses better, it just appears to.