Regen Water In Tunnel?

[washworks installations]

I am doing a wash site for a customer that is replacing his existing tunnel and also adding an IBA. The IBA will have spot free. We are discussing using the "waste water" from the R.O. unit for some tunnel applications. We would gravity feed the holding tanks and still have "city" water as a back-up if it were to run over capacity. Any suggestions on what applications we should consider. right now it's Prep, underspray, ???? Any suggestions would be helpful. Has anyone else tried this?

 

[JustClean]

I am doing a wash site for a customer that is replacing his existing tunnel and also adding an IBA. The IBA will have spot free. We are discussing using the "waste water" from the R.O. unit for some tunnel applications. We would gravity feed the holding tanks and still have "city" water as a back-up if it were to run over capacity. Any suggestions on what applications we should consider. right now it's Prep, underspray, ???? Any suggestions would be helpful. Has anyone else tried this?

We've run the RO "waste" into our rainwater collection tank. Since you need a tank for this anyway why not "Go Green", collect rainwater and advertise it?
You customer will certainly understand: "We even collect rainwater" but saying "We re-use the waste of our R/O water" is too complicated without going into details.

 

[JGinther]

So long as you have soft water feeding the RO system, your reject water could be used for any application except spot free.

 

[JimmyJaffa]

We've run the RO "waste" into our rainwater collection tank. Since you need a tank for this anyway why not "Go Green", collect rainwater and advertise it?
You customer will certainly understand: "We even collect rainwater" but saying "We re-use the waste of our R/O water" is too complicated without going into details.

Mr. Clean, you must have a septic tank, else how are you charged for sewer? My cities would "find out" and charge me for all the "free" rain water we used.

The reject water may be used for just about anything chemical or spray application in the wash.

 

[JustClean]

Mr. Clean, you must have a septic tank, else how are you charged for sewer? My cities would "find out" and charge me for all the "free" rain water we used.

No septic! But the idea is to save water and collecting rainwater is been seen as a good thing by Council.

 

[MEP001]

RO reject should be reserved for applications such as a high-pressure arch or rocker blasters. The water is much higher in TDS and won't clean as well with presoak as your regular softened water, but it will work the same as any other plain water spray.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Could be used for wheel Blasters. In Snowy climate an as needed HP Blast to help clear off snow.

 

[washworks installations]

Gentlemen you've been most helpful. as we figureed it shouldn't be a problem. My chemical guy doesn't want us mix with any "rinses" because of the high TDS but the others are fair game. Thanks!

 

[DivineSuccess]

TDS not that high.

RO reject should be reserved for applications such as a high-pressure arch or rocker blasters. The water is much higher in TDS and won't clean as well with presoak as your regular softened water, but it will work the same as any other plain water spray.

According to the manufacturer of my spot free system (and my TDS measurements) reject water is only 140% your fresh water TDS. I have exceptionally clean fresh water so we use our reject on rinses, all hydrominders, prep guns, and High pressure rinse. All with no spotting at all.

 

[MEP001]

According to the manufacturer of my spot free system (and my TDS measurements) reject water is only 140% your fresh water TDS.

Some RO units reject at 1:1, which would double the TDS in the water, and some areas have high TDS. Our incoming water is at 1400 TDS, which makes the reject unusable for chemical mixing.

 

[JGinther]

This may surprise you, but hard water is actually ideal for use with most waxes and drying agents. The cationic surfactants in the wax work with the cations in the water to help bond to the negative charged car which seals the immersion to the vehicle - yielding a better bead. I would use the reject water there, assuming that it is not soft water that feeds the system (as it sounds from previous posts).

I do not understand how TDS will affect the detergent if the water is actually soft. It seems to me that the higher that the TDS is in the wash process, the higher the volume of RO required to rinse completely. The detergents, since they are pre-rinse, should not be affected by the dissolved solids unless they are hardness contributors.

 

[rph9168]

Do not use the Regen water to mix your chemicals. Use it in your rinses. Hard water actually rinses better than soft because it increases the surface tension. Just make sure your last rinse is fresh water or RO water.