MyNew RO Reject Reuse Setup

[Red Baron]

I just finished with this setup. Installed a 300 gallon poly pancake tank on a custom-built steel stand that places the tank outlet around 3' above my rinse tank where it's plumbed to with 2" hose all the way to the rinse tank, then down to 1" entering the rinse tank. I tried to use a Jobe float valve and that didn't work so I switched it to one of those round brass-looking valves with a bunch of bolts/nuts around it, which is the same type as is right beside it on the city water line. It works, but my problem is that the gravity flow is very slow, which will cause me to still use mostly city water to keep up with usage. When the float valve is removed, the flow of water is good, but it's too slow going through the float valve.

Does anyone know of a more freely flowing float valve?

 

[raisetheprice]

Adjust your city water valve so that less water comes in as fast...your reject float will stay open longer.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

Are you using up all of your reject water? If you are not sending any down the drain what difference does it make how much city water goes in with it?

 

[Red Baron]

Are you using up all of your reject water? If you are not sending any down the drain what difference does it make how much city water goes in with it?

Yeah good point. I don't know the answer yet as I just got the system up and it's snowy here.

Problem has been solved though, even if it wasn't a problem. I swapped the new float valve to the city water side because the old one was leaking slightly. For reasons I can't explain, when I installed the old one on the reject tank side, the waterflow took off like crazy! Like it's coming out like out of a garden hose. I was worried that I didn't have my tank set high enough to develop pressure, but it works really well. I'll shoot a couple of pics of the setup.

 

[MEP001]

The second valve you had was probably a Watermaster, which would never have worked right. It needs pressure to close, so if your tank wasn't full it would have leaked and overfilled the lower tank. There's a diaphragm that controls flow and was restricting the gravity flow. A plain "ball and cock" valve is the best way to go because it flows freely when it's open and closes mechanically. You may need a new seal on the one you swapped over, but it might not leak with no real pressure behind it.

 

[Red Baron]

The second valve you had was probably a Watermaster, which would never have worked right. It needs pressure to close, so if your tank wasn't full it would have leaked and overfilled the lower tank. There's a diaphragm that controls flow and was restricting the gravity flow. A plain "ball and cock" valve is the best way to go because it flows freely when it's open and closes mechanically. You may need a new seal on the one you swapped over, but it might not leak with no real pressure behind it.

Well I should have known better than to do a Google search for ball and cock valve. Do you have a picture or a mfg/model?

 

[MEP001]

http://www.kleen-ritecorp.com/p-1990-bob-float-valves-1-mip-inlet-1-mip-outlet.aspx

 

[BillClinton]

I'm planning the same project. I have a D&S 5000 as well, but I just have one of them. Will a 165 gallon tank be sufficient? Also, please tell me how you designed and built the steel platform. This will be the hardest part for me. I will have to get someone to build it for me, and I will need to put it way overhead (small equipment room). Clearly, I don't want a steel platform with 165 gallons of water coming down to kill me or crush my equipment. Thanks,

 

[Red Baron]

My new reject setup can be seen at the site below - scroll to the bottom (Bill, I tried numerous times to upload here, to not avail...said my kb were 66 when they were really 34?).

Mine is a 300 gal tank. The stand I'm not 100% happy about, it could have been done better, but the welder only charged me $270. I'll replace the 2" hose with PVC later. I have about $700 in the whole thing. Oh yeah, the legs on the stand are heavy wall pipe.

http://www.redbaroncarwash.com/

 

[Red Baron]

Just an update on my new reject water system. I got my latest water bill in and it looks like I'm saving about $250/mo, which makes for a very quick payback. Just as MEP said, the Watermaster float valves do not work well for this application as the low pressure won't close them dependably. I have ordered a 1" Bob Float Valve from Dultmeier and that should complete this installation. Really glad I did this as it gives me a degree of control over my water costs.

Also, and while it's off topic, I'm going to complain about nameless manufacturers who are militant about insisting that any tech support question go through their distributor. As a manufacturer myself, I fully understand the concept behind this, and I too get annoyed when a customer calls me asking what weight oil the compressor takes when the sticker is on the side of it. However, if I'm dealing with a very unique/intriqate issue and I'm pretty sure my distributor, through no fault of his own, cannot answer my question, I'd like to be able to get a quick answer from the manufacturer. I'm in the car wash business and my first priority is to get back up and washing cars, not to adhere perfectly to the manufacturer's protocol. These are things I remember when it's time to buy new equipment.

 

[BillClinton]

where did you get the 300 gallon tank? I was going to get a 275 gallon tote, but I measured and it wouldn't fit though my door. I have a regular sized door and no other way into the equipment room. My plan was to have 3 55-gallon drums connected together, but I will have to make a huge platform to hold them. One tank would be easier. Any suggestions? Could that 300 gallon tank fit through a regular sized door?
Thanks,

 

[bigleo48]

Also, and while it's off topic, I'm going to complain about nameless manufacturers who are militant about insisting that any tech support question go through their distributor.

It does sound like the manufacturer does not want to be bothered and by extension doesn't really care. But what they are missing are the gold nuggets in all the crap. If the manufacturer had a good ticketing system and trained their CSRs to properly enter the info, they would learn a lot about their customers and their equipment and how to make it better. Your example of the oil weight that's posted on the side of the compressor, might sound dumb, but if they get a lot of calls, the manufacturer might want to make the sticker larger and in a more visible location. With all this info, they can produce reports and then communicate the findings to the dealers (that's what car manufacturers do in bulletins) Hell, they could even try to sell you some oil!

I feel that customer feedback should never be discouraged and I get annoyed when they do. This is usually a bad sign.

BigLeo