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Rain water harvesting and pumps.

ECLM
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Hello all. New here, after some advice. 

I’m an enthusiast car washer and I want to start using rain water with for washing our cars. I’m currently using mains water with a TDS of about 480ppm through a DI vessel. My resin doesn’t last that long hence why I want to start using rain water. 

I’ve added this to the setup. 

Downpipe > filter/diverter > water butt 1 > water butt 2 > submersible pump > 3 stage filter (not RO) > IBC > DI vessel > pressure washer.

My pressure washer will draw from a water tank and currently works perfectly using the mains water/Di vessel. But if I go IBC, Di vessel, pressure washer I have the problem. 

Now I could put the DI vessel before the IBC  then store the clean water in the IBC, but that cuts the amount of water I can store or I need to add another tank for the clean water which is less than ideal (as the Mrs isn’t happy already) lol. 

I think i need to add another pump between the IBC and Di vessel, just struggling to find one that’s suitable. I don’t want to cut the tank ideally so inline would be better. But I’ve also just been reading that running the water through the Di vessel slower would be better although I’ve never had a problem with it at mains pressure/flow. 

Any ideas?

E342917D-B728-453C-B4C1-61DDFF54C4E7.jpeg

 
Are you saying you are just going to clean your OWN cars with pure water or is this for a business venture? I have 5 IBC tanks which I draw from to transfer into my van tank. I use my spare booster pump as an in-line transfer pump - it’s a PITA when the water level is low as it won’t prime itself. Clarke sell some decent pumps that have flow switches in-line, they are worth a look. If you want to draw from a static tank I’d advise you get a Kranzle pump, they are designed for this specific purpose and will act as a pressure washer pump as well. They do come up on eBay but they are still expensive. What’s the TDS of the water from your roof? Mine is around 15ppm. All I have is a debris downpipe filter (to remove larger debris) an in-line sediment filter, transfer pump then DI (11ltr). My advice would be ditch the two water butts and replace with another IBC tank - they will take up a similar area. You also only need to rinse with pure (if your not already) as washing down a vehicle will waste a great deal of pure water when it’s only really required in the rinse. I had a similar conversation with a mate of mine who valets cars. As I use a 4040 RO, when I wash my van and the wife’s car I use the waste to clean it with and then pure on demand for the final rinse.

 
AGlassAct said:
Are you saying you are just going to clean your OWN cars with pure water or is this for a business venture? I have 5 IBC tanks which I draw from to transfer into my van tank. I use my spare booster pump as an in-line transfer pump - it’s a PITA when the water level is low as it won’t prime itself. Clarke sell some decent pumps that have flow switches in-line, they are worth a look. If you want to draw from a static tank I’d advise you get a Kranzle pump, they are designed for this specific purpose and will act as a pressure washer pump as well. They do come up on eBay but they are still expensive. What’s the TDS of the water from your roof? Mine is around 15ppm. All I have is a debris downpipe filter (to remove larger debris) an in-line sediment filter, transfer pump then DI (11ltr). My advice would be ditch the two water butts and replace with another IBC tank - they will take up a similar area. You also only need to rinse with pure (if your not already) as washing down a vehicle will waste a great deal of pure water when it’s only really required in the rinse. I had a similar conversation with a mate of mine who valets cars. As I use a 4040 RO, when I wash my van and the wife’s car I use the waste to clean it with and then pure on demand for the final rinse.
Click to expand...


Thanks. 

Washing my own cars, we have three. I’m very particular about cleaning my cars, I don’t like to call myself a detailer, but I have “detailed” my car to professional standards, hence why I want pure water. I want to use the water throughout the wash process as I can. I’ve been doing this for many years with mains water but until now, I’ve not had the option for water harvesting. 

My Nilfisk pressure washer will pull from a tank no problem, it’s only when the Di vessel inline that I have the issue. 

I haven’t measured the TDS off the roof actually, but it’s a lot less than 480 that’s for sure. I’ll measure it tomorrow. 

The three stage filter probably is overkill but it was cheap and every little

helps. 

Looking to spend about £50-70 on a pump if I can, mains voltage. 

BB002D59-D4A9-43BB-8B03-A9CA2477EF6B.jpeg

 
I think you’ll struggle to get a pump for that price. The only thing I can think may help is having the feed to the pressure washer out the bottom of the IBC tank with the DI vessel in between the IBC tank and the pressure washer. Alternatively the DI vessel and pre-filters could be pre IBC tank so the water in the IBC is pure. This should help with any pressure loss . Having the extra ‘head’  (with the hose out the bottom) may be enough to spur it on through the pressure washer.

This is similar to the booster pump I use to transfer my water, they are usually £250 + vat so this one was a decent price. Clarke do similar ones and they tend to sell cheaper second hand

114E6194-C305-481A-89C0-09FFBE953C2B.png

 
AGlassAct said:
I think you’ll struggle to get a pump for that price. The only thing I can think may help is having the feed to the pressure washer out the bottom of the IBC tank with the DI vessel in between the IBC tank and the pressure washer. Alternatively the DI vessel and pre-filters could be pre IBC tank so the water in the IBC is pure. This should help with any pressure loss . Having the extra ‘head’  (with the hose out the bottom) may be enough to spur it on through the pressure washer.

This is similar to the booster pump I use to transfer my water, they are usually £250 + vat so this one was a decent price. Clarke do similar ones and they tend to sell cheaper second hand

View attachment 16516
Click to expand...


I do use the bottom outlet of the IBC, it’s not connected in the photo. The top hose is the feed in from the water butts/3 stage filter. 

I did try the pressure washer / Di vessel vessel off the submersible pump in the water but before and that seemed to work and that’s just a relatively cheap pump from Aldi. As said, I don’t really want to store pure water in the IBC and I don’t want to cut a hole in it either as the top is too small or most of the submersible pumps I’ve seen. 

 

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