reclaim systems - do they work?

[tw1012]

I have an older (1999) reclaim system that I don't use because my water bill is pretty low anyways.

I am looking at buying a new system for another wash that I just purchased and it looks like the technology has improved. The provider says I will save between 50-70% on my water bill which is huge because for some reason this wash's bill is much higher than my other washes.


The system that he wants to sell me is the Con-Serv Water Recovery System FS Comb Series I 3HP he has installed it in another wash near mine and I have seen it in action but have not talked to the owner yet to see if he likes it and if it performs as promised.

Any advice on this unit?

 

[MikeV]

Over the years I have installed quite a few Con-Serv reclaim systems. None of which are working today. You might want to contact Dean at Catec. He is a member here.

 

[washnvac]

The system that he wants to sell me is the Con-Serv Water Recovery System FS Comb Series I 3HP he has installed it in another wash near mine and I have seen it in action but have not talked to the owner yet to see if he likes it and if it performs as promised.

Any advice on this unit?

I have one of these units. It was installed in 2005. It is working just fine. The most important thing to me is keeping up with ozone & oxygen generator maintenance. Those two items must be in good working order to keep water from smelling. I use the unit on two friction automatics. As far as actual percentage of water saved, I have never figured actual usage by reading the water meter before and after a cycle. But I use reclaim water for about 40% of the cycle.

Maybe some rainy day, I will figure actual gallons saved.

Also, you want to set up a purge timer. I have mine set to run water in the bay for 3 minutes every 30 minutes that wash is not in use. This keeps a customer from getting that bad smell from reclaim sitting in the lines.

 

[mac]

Of all the things associated with car washing, water reclaim systems have the worst record. And it is a well deserved record. Just from the systems that I have seen in person in Florida, I would guess that 90% are no longer working. They are there only because they were required by the city to get a building permit, or they were sold by a salesman to increase his profit on a sale. I have been selling and installing Catec systems for about 10 years, and they have been mostly working as claimed. When there has been a problem, they have fixed it. I believe they also offer the best warranty in the business. This is especially important because the ozone system that they use is pricey if you need to replace it. A lot of other systems, including ConServe I believe, only offer a one year on their ozone unit. Catec uses filtration, ozone, and settling to clean the water. That still seems to be the best methods for our usage. Be very wary of systems that use bacteria or some odd or special method for cleaning the water. With all of the systems out there, you will save the most money by using the reclaim water for your automatics. You can use it for self serve high pressure soap, if you monitor it EVERY day. If this is a retrofit, which it sounds like, it can be costly to install. Ideally you want the holding tanks in ground, with connections to the equipment room. Hope this helps.

 

[robert roman]

Of course, reclaim systems work. They all work.

A better question is; what will it take to keep it working.

Unlike a mitter and other catalogue items you can plug in and out, reclaim is a subsystem that affects the entire operation.

So, a good decision requires a lot of upfront planning (i.e. research, design, bids/quotes and site inspections).

This means getting qualified people (more than one) on site to properly evaluate your needs.

 

[Boogie]

ConServe systems also use filtration, ozone, and settling. I've got one that is over 10 years old down here in Florida and it's working just fine. Just like any other piece of equipment, it needs to be maintained. For the most part, the systems that aren't working have been neglected.

 

[mac]

Ah Robert, there's the rub. "This means getting qualified people (more than one) on site to properly evaluate your needs" I wish there was some sure fire way of qualifying salesmen to ascertain which ones are so. Boogie, my hat's off to you. If you have managed to operate this for 10 years, you are also probably doing everything else mostly right. There are many others who have not enjoyed your success. With ANY reclaim system you had better ask a lot of questions. Go to sites that are several years old. Ask how many operators know the real savings from their system. Many don't. It's like owning an airplane. Sometimes you don't want to know the real numbers.

 

[robert roman]

“I wish there was some sure fire way of qualifying salesmen to ascertain which ones are so”

A sure fire way to discern a sales engineer from someone who is not is to know what questions to ask.

A sales engineer relies heavily on technical information and problem-solving to convince buyers that they should spend money on the seller's products or services.

For example, it you ask the salesperson to explain how coronal discharge or deflocculation works or discuss the pros and cons of using continuous tubing versus piecing PVC sections together and the sales person’s jaw drops open or eyes roll back or says I’ll get back to you on that, you are dealing with someone that would be more comfortable selling used cars.

A carwash is like a car race team. If you want to compete and win, you have to be an expert and/or surround yourself with experts.

If you form a team with mechanics from Ice Cold Air (lowest prices on the planet) your prospects will be pretty dim.

 

[rph9168]

From my experience I would have to ask you two questions. How much are you willing to spend and are you willing to do the necessary maintenance or pay to have regular maintenance done? I have found that the less expensive units do not do an adequate job and really and provide only minimal results at best. The more expensive units will perform well under normal conditions but you probably need to weigh the cost in relation to possible savings. In cases where units are purchased just to satisfy local authorities and the realization is that they are really not that effective it is fine to go to the lower cost. If the more expensive unit actually pays for itself in the long run it might be the best way to go. In either case you will need to make sure regular maintenance is done to keep a reclaim system in optimum working condition.

 

[mac]

rph, you bring up a good point. Regular maintenance is required, but it is almost impossible to do field tests to see if an ozone system is working, which many systems use. Mostly it's done by guess and by golly. BTW, the last time I said the word deflocculation to a woman, I got my face slapped.