Filtered water help/info

[Iantype-r]

Hello all,

Just wondered if anyone would possibly offer me some advice/info.

First off I'm not a window cleaner, but came across the forum while looking for filtered water. I am a detailer, for those who do not know what detailing is, its machine polishing of paint and Grp to remove swirls and scratches etc. Also applying coatings to protect paint and Grp.

After correction work has been carried out I then maintain the finish. Which has now seen me looking into di vessels and resin. I'm just in the process of having a water tank, pump and possibly the window cleaners 100ft hose and reel fitted. I'm looking at getting a basic Di vessel and resin put in after the pump. Would this basic setup give me similar results that you guys are getting. If I can clean a car or boat and not have to dry it with a drying towel this is going to reduce greatly the chance of swirls being induced, and will make the job easier for when I do the boats.

Any information or help really would be greatly appreciated,

Regards

Ian

 

[badbusdriver]

Hi Ian, for the most efficient means of purifying your water you need to find out how soft or hard it is. This would mean buying or borrowing (from a local window cleanier?) a tds meter to find out the ppm of your tap water. Also, it depends how much water you are likely to be going through. But ignoring that, from a window cleaners point of view, i would say if your ppm is up to 100, di on its own will be fine. More than that, an r/o system would be advisable. A di system is most commonly used in a mobile location like a van, where it purifies the water in between pump and hose. An r/o system is best set up, if you can, in a static location like a shed or garage, then transfer it in to your van, although if you have a driveway, you can set a small system up in your van, and leave the water hooked up to the system over***ht (a small r/o system might produce 500l in about 7 hours, but depends on your tapwater). If your water is very hard, you may need r/o and di.

Ideally you want to get your water down below 10ppm, but i dont see any reason why it wouldnt work in your application, and i have heard of car valeters using pure water, so it would certainly be worth trying.

I know it is a totally different application, but as an example, i use di only for purification, have a 500l system in my van (i use 350-400 of that per day), and the water i use comes out the tap at about 60ppm. A 25l bag of di resin (about £80) will last me just over 3 months. Hope this helps, but feel free to ask any other questions!.

 

[Iantype-r]

Many thanks for your reply. I'll buy a meter first then and see what the water is like.

At the moment I'm doing, monthly maintainance plans. If I was not going to use my di for a few weeks would it be advisable to remove the water out of the di?

If your using that amount of water then I'd hope to maybe get 6 months + out of a bag of resin then. I'm getting a 175 ltr tank but wouldnt be using the di for all work.

What size di would you recommend and will the resin be dependant on the water in my area,

Regards

Ian

 

[badbusdriver]

I buy resin in 25 litre bags, but you can get smaller bags as it is also used for aquariums. But if you mean what size of vessel, that is really up to you, i use a 7 litre vessel, but you get both bigger and smaller ones. I wouldnt think you would need a bigger one though. Not sure about taking the water out if not being used for a while, as it is a situation which has never cropped up for me, maybe someone else could answer that one.

As for my consumption, i dont think it is too bad for being di only. If i was in a situation that i could have a static r/o setup, i would, but i'm not, so will just have to work away like this for the time being. And how much resin you go through is directly related to the hardness of your water, the lower the ppm, the longer it will last. Incidentally, you can buy tds meters on ebay, or any window cleaning suppliers, i would suggest getting an 'hm digital', which will cost approx £15.

 

[Iantype-r]

I do have a small workshop. So would a r/o system be better than just having a DI on the van then. As for cost I'm guessing a static r/o is more costly,

Regards Ian

 

[badbusdriver]

Like anything else, it depends what kind of r/o system you want/need. Given your relatively small water requirements a small basic unit should be ok, but, if your water is very hard, then a small r/o, on its own, probably wont bring the ppm down far enough. So you may need to use di too, to get the water right down. My mate got a small r/o unit off ebay for around £120 (i think) and has been using it for about 2 years now. His tap water is about 190ppm. You do need to replace the filters and cartridges in an r/o system, but how often will depend on your water hardness.

 

[Iantype-r]

I will look into R/O abit more. Many thanks for your information and help. Much appreciated,

Cheers Ian