Anybody ever use RO/DI filtered water to wash their car?

[1BADTUNDRA]

hmmm I own an RO/DI for my Saltwater Aquarium but man that thing wastes 3 gallons to make 1 gallon. I don't think it is beneficial to use for washing your car. I have been debating what would be the best way to do the final rinse and not having to dry the car. I have read about the CR spotless at Costco and the spotfree that you can regenerate and reuse over an over.



If my tap water TDS is at 260 ppm how long would the CR Spotless last me? Will a water softener make the cartridges last longer?

 

[bobn4burton]

hmmm I own an RO/DI for my Saltwater Aquarium but man that thing wastes 3 gallons to make 1 gallon. I don't think it is beneficial to use for washing your car. I have been debating what would be the best way to do the final rinse and not having to dry the car. I have read about the CR spotless at Costco and the spotfree that you can regenerate and reuse over an over.



If my tap water TDS is at 260 ppm how long would the CR Spotless last me? Will a water softener make the cartridges last longer?

Just a couple quick thoughts. I agree that the waste water is the biggest downside to my future setup. Although there are a few things to consider before dismissing the idea.



1. Which is the lesser evil...wasting the water from your RO/DI or going through a TON more DI beads? Which one has a greater negative impact on being a responsible citizen...??? I have no clue on this one...but something to consider.



2. Can you use the wasted water for something else? Watering the plants, lawn, or other?



3. You'll also want to consider the financial cost/waste. Maintaining a CRspotless system will cost a considerable amount more.



4. If a guy was really worried about not wasting any water and if you had room for several barrels of water like me, you could fill one barrel with RO/DI water and then fill the other 2-3 barrels with the waste water. Then you could put a switch on the input of your pressure pump and wash with the waste water and rinse with the RO/DI water. Now you have a cheaper system, no waste water and considerably less 'wasted' DI beads.



Anyways...just thought I'd throw out some thoughts on the wasted water problem. I might go with option #4 above.

 

[Accumulator]

Different people are gonna have different considerations, and I don't want this to sound all :argue But..



Somehow I'm just missing something here :think: (I bet it's a matter of the situation in question.)



The CRSpotless is a simple little contraption you wheel out, use to rinse the car, and put away. Very quick, easy and simple. The resin lasts quite a while if you run filtered and softened water through it at 40 psi. Once in a blue moon you replace the resin but I haven't had to do it yet.



Maybe I just place a higher premium on ease-of-use and simple, hassle-free solutions in general, and/or maybe my situation is simply *different*. But I just can't imagine replacing the CRSpotless with something that involves multiple barrels, lots of waste water (and/or the hassle of how to put it to use). I don't even like dumping my dehumidifiers that aren't located near floor drains, and the ones that *are* near drains simply dump down them (I'm just not gonna mess around with them even if the water would be of some cost-free use).



For a commercial shop, or where the water quality is really bad, OK, that might be one of those very different situations. But for a "hobbyist" like me the CRSpotless seems like a no-brainer. IF a different solution is similarly no-brainer for a different situation, well, OK, I can see that too. Maybe this is simply a hobbyist/commercial difference :nixweiss

 

[SuperBee364]

Thanks Sb, is there a more cost effective solution to getting the replacement filters/resin from cr directly? I've been following your posts (and rydawg's) regarding jeweling and what not, good stuff. Now if only ryan would respond to my pm! :lol

So far, buying the bags of resin from Costco is the most economical. I can't seem to get anyone to get back to me on bulk pricing.

hmmm I own an RO/DI for my Saltwater Aquarium but man that thing wastes 3 gallons to make 1 gallon. I don't think it is beneficial to use for washing your car. I have been debating what would be the best way to do the final rinse and not having to dry the car. I have read about the CR spotless at Costco and the spotfree that you can regenerate and reuse over an over.



If my tap water TDS is at 260 ppm how long would the CR Spotless last me? Will a water softener make the cartridges last longer?

It depends on the model of CRSpotless you get. According to DIC-20 Spot Free Wash System - Deionized Water Maker - CRSpotless.com you should get about 300 gallons assuming "average" hardness.

Different people are gonna have different considerations, and I don't want this to sound all :argue But..



Somehow I'm just missing something here :think: (I bet it's a matter of the situation in question.)



The CRSpotless is a simple little contraption you wheel out, use to rinse the car, and put away. Very quick, easy and simple. The resin lasts quite a while if you run filtered and softened water through it at 40 psi. Once in a blue moon you replace the resin but I haven't had to do it yet.



Maybe I just place a higher premium on ease-of-use and simple, hassle-free solutions in general, and/or maybe my situation is simply *different*. But I just can't imagine replacing the CRSpotless with something that involves multiple barrels, lots of waste water (and/or the hassle of how to put it to use). I don't even like dumping my dehumidifiers that aren't located near floor drains, and the ones that *are* near drains simply dump down them (I'm just not gonna mess around with them even if the water would be of some cost-free use).



For a commercial shop, or where the water quality is really bad, OK, that might be one of those very different situations. But for a "hobbyist" like me the CRSpotless seems like a no-brainer. IF a different solution is similarly no-brainer for a different situation, well, OK, I can see that too. Maybe this is simply a hobbyist/commercial difference :nixweiss

I believe that not only is his water system going to be used for washing cars, but also as an emergency supply of water. It is very popular in Utah for people to have emergency water and food. Most people have at least two fifty gallon drums of water, and a year's supply of food. Using the water to wash cars with, and then replenishing that supply, is a good way to make sure your emergency water is always fresh. So I believe that really what he's doing is setting up his emergency water stash... washing cars with it is only secondary.

 

[Accumulator]

SuperBee364- Ah, OK, that makes sense. I was afraid (or rather, just *knew*) my last post would be off-base somehow or otherwise all wet (oops, bad pun...)

 

[jet_m3]

So far, buying the bags of resin from Costco is the most economical. I can't seem to get anyone to get back to me on bulk pricing.

I see, are all the cartridges easy to replace the resin on? Is there any write-up or quick guide to doing this? I have cartridges from 3 years ago not sure if it's different now.

 

[bobn4burton]

I believe that not only is his water system going to be used for washing cars, but also as an emergency supply of water. It is very popular in Utah for people to have emergency water and food. Most people have at least two fifty gallon drums of water, and a year's supply of food. Using the water to wash cars with, and then replenishing that supply, is a good way to make sure your emergency water is always fresh. So I believe that really what he's doing is setting up his emergency water stash... washing cars with it is only secondary.

Exactly... Thanks for the clarification SB

 

[1BADTUNDRA]

Just a couple quick thoughts. I agree that the waste water is the biggest downside to my future setup. Although there are a few things to consider before dismissing the idea.



1. Which is the lesser evil...wasting the water from your RO/DI or going through a TON more DI beads? Which one has a greater negative impact on being a responsible citizen...??? I have no clue on this one...but something to consider.



2. Can you use the wasted water for something else? Watering the plants, lawn, or other?



3. You'll also want to consider the financial cost/waste. Maintaining a CRspotless system will cost a considerable amount more.



4. If a guy was really worried about not wasting any water and if you had room for several barrels of water like me, you could fill one barrel with RO/DI water and then fill the other 2-3 barrels with the waste water. Then you could put a switch on the input of your pressure pump and wash with the waste water and rinse with the RO/DI water. Now you have a cheaper system, no waste water and considerably less 'wasted' DI beads.



Anyways...just thought I'd throw out some thoughts on the wasted water problem. I might go with option #4 above.

1. Lets see 4 gallons to get one good one is ALLOT of wasted water.



2. True you can use the waste water to feed the plants etc..



3. Yes it will but not by far.



4. I have 6 65 gallon barrels for my saltwater aquarium setup. I see it as PITA to do than using a CR spotless or a Spotfree ...



This is just my opinnion as everyone can chose which is the best for them :rofl.

 

[1BADTUNDRA]

So far, buying the bags of resin from Costco is the most economical. I can't seem to get anyone to get back to me on bulk pricing.







It depends on the model of CRSpotless you get. According to DIC-20 Spot Free Wash System - Deionized Water Maker - CRSpotless.com you should get about 300 gallons assuming "average" hardness.







I believe that not only is his water system going to be used for washing cars, but also as an emergency supply of water. It is very popular in Utah for people to have emergency water and food. Most people have at least two fifty gallon drums of water, and a year's supply of food. Using the water to wash cars with, and then replenishing that supply, is a good way to make sure your emergency water is always fresh. So I believe that really what he's doing is setting up his emergency water stash... washing cars with it is only secondary.

I have 3 cars here to wash/ So how long will those 300 gallons last me? I don't even know how much water I waste to wash my infiniti M..lol

 

[bobn4burton]

4. I have 6 65 gallon barrels for my saltwater aquarium setup. I see it as PITA to do than using a CR spotless or a Spotfree ...

Well...you have to take the whole setup into consideration. How are you filling up all 6 barrels and how are you getting water out of the barrels? If you are doing it all manually...then yes it would be a PITA. However if you had your RO/DI feeding into your first barrel and each subsequent barrel plumbed together (via syphon) and then you had the pressure pump pulling from the last barrel as I proposed in my post, then I bet it wouldn't be a PITA anymore.



All your barrels would stay full from the RO/DI automatically in the background. No pain there. And you'd have pressurized water to fill up your tanks with from the pressure pump...and if you had it plumbed to the location of your tank it'd be link instant filtered water available from the tap. How can that setup be a PITA??



Granted...the whole setup depends on if you can easily plumb everything together and have the room for everything like I do in my garage.





This setup is NOT for everyone...it just works well for me because I need/have the barrels for storage. I have the garage open for easy plumbing. I already have an RO/DI filter. I have a need to change out water every so often for fresh water in my barrels...

 

[jb1]

Well if we can't get bulk pricing, it appears that the 1 cubic ft. of resin at Detailed Image for $195 is the best price on the resin. I'm not sure if shipping is free. I paid $215 directly from CR and the shipping is free. I found this a tad cheaper than buying it directly from Costco.

 

[bobn4burton]

Well if we can't get bulk pricing, it appears that the 1 cubic ft. of resin at Detailed Image for $195 is the best price on the resin. I'm not sure if shipping is free. I paid $215 directly from CR and the shipping is free. I found this a tad cheaper than buying it directly from Costco.

Is $195 the cheapest you have found it? You can get 1 cubic foot from here:



1 cubic foot resin from ResinDepot



for only $175 shipped.



I got some of this exact resin on a group order for a bunch of people that wanted some for reef aquariums.

 

[bobn4burton]

Another little tidbit.



I talked to the guy from ResinDepot about what I am doing. He was VERY helpful and he suggested that for my three-fold purpose of:



1. water storage

2. drinking water

3. car washing



that I DON'T use the final DI stage in my filtration. He said I would get better results by just using the RO water. I would get better tasting water as the DI stage tends to lower the ph of the water. The RO is plenty clean for storage and he said that his boss has tried both RO and RO/DI water for washing his car and he preferred the RO only water.



So I'm thinking of skipping the DI stage altogether and just using the RO water. This eliminates one more maintenance cost.

 

[bobn4burton]

Here's a quick question. Obviously it can vary greatly from person to person...but does anyone have an average estimate of how much water you use to wash a car? Are we talking 10 gallons, 30 gallons, 50 gallons, or more??



Let's just say you soak down the car with a foamaster and then rinse off...

 

[SuperBee364]

Is $195 the cheapest you have found it? You can get 1 cubic foot from here:



1 cubic foot resin from ResinDepot



for only $175 shipped.



I got some of this exact resin on a group order for a bunch of people that wanted some for reef aquariums.

I can't believe that after all the searching and searching I've done, I never came across Resin Depot before. That's the best price I've seen yet.

Here's a quick question. Obviously it can vary greatly from person to person...but does anyone have an average estimate of how much water you use to wash a car? Are we talking 10 gallons, 30 gallons, 50 gallons, or more??



Let's just say you soak down the car with a foamaster and then rinse off...

My pressure washer uses 2.8 GPM. I would guess that I'm actually spraying for about ten minutes (max), so around 28 gallons or so.

 

[jb1]

Here's a quick question. Obviously it can vary greatly from person to person...but does anyone have an average estimate of how much water you use to wash a car? Are we talking 10 gallons, 30 gallons, 50 gallons, or more??



Let's just say you soak down the car with a foamaster and then rinse off...

I've actually wondered this myself since I used to use the CR for washing and rinsing but I blew through the resin quicker than I thought I would so now I only use it for the final rinse. I'd like to get an idea of how long my resin *should* last. I guess I need to test my water as well to determine my TDS level.



My electric Karcher uses either 1.7 or 1.8 GPM so I'm going to try and "time" my final rinse next time I wash. I'm guessing 3 minutes? I know I probably use more during my pre-rinse and rinse during each panel that I probably should, but I'd rather over rinse than leave soap.



During my routine I do:

Pre-rinse with pressure washer

Pre-soak with a foam gun, dwell, then rinse without the attachment

Flood each panel with the foam gun, then rinse

Final rinse with CR and pressure washer.



I don't really know how to measure my usage when I'm not using the PW. Is there some type of meter that would attach to the hose bib?

 

[SuperBee364]

I've actually wondered this myself since I used to use the CR for washing and rinsing but I blew through the resin quicker than I thought I would so now I only use it for the final rinse. I'd like to get an idea of how long my resin *should* last. I guess I need to test my water as well to determine my TDS level.



My electric Karcher uses either 1.7 or 1.8 GPM so I'm going to try and "time" my final rinse next time I wash. I'm guessing 3 minutes? I know I probably use more during my pre-rinse and rinse during each panel that I probably should, but I'd rather over rinse than leave soap.



During my routine I do:

Pre-rinse with pressure washer

Pre-soak with a foam gun, dwell, then rinse without the attachment

Flood each panel with the foam gun, then rinse

Final rinse with CR and pressure washer.



I don't really know how to measure my usage when I'm not using the PW. Is there some type of meter that would attach to the hose bib?

The easiest way is to run your hose at the flow rate you use for your car, then time how long it takes to fill up a one gallon container. Do the math to get your gallons per minute, then time how long you are actually using the hose during the car wash.



But rather than doing all that annoying math stuff, I just use my pressure washer for the entire process. It ends up saving water in the long run.

 

[Accumulator]

Another little tidbit... he said that his boss has tried both RO and RO/DI water for washing his car and he preferred the RO only water..

Huh, that's interesting.



I agree that RO is a better choice for drinking, but my RO water doesn't dry as spotless as my DI water. It's not bad, and it's better than regular (softened) water, but it's not 100% spotless.

 

[bobn4burton]

Huh, that's interesting.



I agree that RO is a better choice for drinking, but my RO water doesn't dry as spotless as my DI water. It's not bad, and it's better than regular (softened) water, but it's not 100% spotless.

Hmmm...good to know. I'll have to try both and see which works better for me.

 

[citizen arcane]

Here is my line of thinking on the subject concerning a DI unit and water usage: wouldn't it be better to go with a lower flow rate (maybe 1gal./min.) to a storage vessel then boost the stored water to a pressure washer? It seems the lower flow (and longer contact time) would prolong the usefulness of the resin and it wouldn't crack as quickly.