Washing with collected rain water?

R

rdorman

New member
My garage is a long distance from the closest water source. I was wondering it anyone has tried or is aware of ways to use collected rain water for car washing? I would assume some sort of filtration at least would be required. This area is not known for acid rain but I have not tested the local rain water. Out of the box I am sure and am curious if it has been done with success.
Thanks!
 
I`ve toyed with the idea. Home Depot even has some nice options for water collection, with Rain barrels that blend in with your house. The other thing that has intrigued me is catching my A/C runoff water. It is cleaner and is essentially distilled water.
 
330 gallon food safe containers with fill cap on top and float tap on the bottom are readily available locally for $75 used. A 1.6HP, 845GPH, 66 PSI, 115 volt pump can be had for under $100 new. A large particle filter at the tank inlet fed from the gutters on the garage and a finer one just prior to the pump seems like it would work fine. Add small tank heater (like in an electric hot water heater) for less then $25 to keep the water in the tank from freezing in the winter. Some fittings, hose, etc. Seems to me that for about $300 or so I could have a 330 gallon system running. In the winter I generally just use ONR so that conserves water in those months. $75 more with a few bits and pieces and I have 660 gallons. Probably will never need that much though.

If one really wanted to get crazy a small propane or electric on demand water heater could be had at a reasonable cost. Propane is what is used to heat the garage in the winter so the storage will be already in place. Yes, I have thought about this :o)

Looking for some experience/advise in setting up and using such a system.

Hate to break it to the inner tree huggers in all of us (including me to a point), this is simply so the car is close to the supplies OR don`t have to drag out 175ft of hose, I can wash in the heated garage in the winter and perhaps other uses such as a utility sink. Running pipe from the house would be ideal but we have a 32" frost line and the pipe would have to go under roughly 50 linear feet of concrete and asphalt.
 
rdorman said:
this is simply so the car is close to the supplies OR don`t have to drag out 175ft of hose, I can wash in the heated garage in the winter and perhaps other uses such as a utility sink. Running pipe from the house would be ideal but we have a 32" frost line and the pipe would have to go under roughly 50 linear feet of concrete and asphalt.
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i would move with a plan in hand
 
Poorboy said:
either way .. your next garage needs to be closer to either your house or utilities
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Another good thought except there will not be a next garage! We have lived there for 26 years. Our children can not recall ever living elsewhere until they where off to college. House goes to them in the will and then they can make the choice :D
 
rdorman said:
Another good thought except there will not be a next garage! We have lived there for 26 years. Our children can not recall ever living elsewhere until they where off to college. House goes to them in the will and then they can make the choice :D
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if that`s the case then you need to run the pipes around the structures and make it right for your kids ;)
 
rdorman said:
LOL! Forget them! Or not so little bundles of joy have already accounted for enough of my money :wacko:
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better to put the money into it now so you can enjoy it for a while, rather than just leaving them the funds to do what they want in the future and you get no benefit nor get to see it in use
 
Oh I am going to. I am just not going to run the water lines from the house to the garage.

Now, does anyone have any experience with collecting and using rainwater?
 
rdorman- I`d start by checking the ph of your local rainwater (while noting that it might not be consistent), just to see how it is.

How would you get the water from the collection vessel onto the car? If you have air power, might look into the (siphon-feed) Cleaning Gun that Lonn sells. I got one from Christmas but *still* haven`t found time to play with it :o but I think it`d be good for what you`re considering.
 
Accumulator said:
rdorman- I`d start by checking the ph of your local rainwater (while noting that it might not be consistent), just to see how it is.

How would you get the water from the collection vessel onto the car? If you have air power, might look into the (siphon-feed) Cleaning Gun that Lonn sells. I got one from Christmas but *still* haven`t found time to play with it :o but I think it`d be good for what you`re considering.
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PH I was definitely going to test to see what I may need to do even before I start the project. As for `moving` the water "A 1.6HP, 845GPH, 66 PSI, 115 volt pump can be had for under $100 new". something along these lines https://www.amazon.com/Meditool-Sta...-1&keywords=115v+845+gph+stainless+water+pump

drawing water from the tap on a container such as this 330 Gallon Caged Plastic Tank / IBC Tote
 
rdorman- Ah, yeah...that could work all right. I`d probably still want some kind of sprayer/pressure washer setup with it, but that`s just me and I`m spoiled to where 66psi just wouldn`t do it for me. But hey, you`d be doing this without the whole normal water supply approach!

While this is about as far from my approach as possible, I do find it interesting. I wonder about the water quality (besides just the ph) since IME rainwater isn`t always as "nice and pure!" as some people say it oughta be, but I bet there are ways to deal with that too.
 
The local EPA and University will both test water for free. If the PH isn`t too far out of wack that would probably be my next step. I will have a standard spigot/hose connection after the pump that my pressure water could hook up to and not just my hose.
 
Ah, yeah....that oughta work OK if you like using the pressure washer for rinsing (off the shampoo). I find that I like *volume* over pressure for that, but again, we`re at different ends of the spectrum here!

Wonder what the ph/etc. test will reveal..and whether those results would be constant over time..?is rainwater the same all the time?

Do you get all that much rain in your area? Guess so or you wouldn`t be considering this, but ours is awfully hit/miss.
 
Accumulator said:
Ah, yeah....that oughta work OK if you like using the pressure washer for rinsing (off the shampoo). I find that I like *volume* over pressure for that, but again, we`re at different ends of the spectrum here!

Wonder what the ph/etc. test will reveal..and whether those results would be constant over time..?is rainwater the same all the time?

Do you get all that much rain in your area? Guess so or you wouldn`t be considering this, but ours is awfully hit/miss.
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Very crude calculations on my part but using the rain water from the back and side of the garage in the driest of months I would expect about 410 gallons collected. Tank it only 330 gallons. If I found I needed more capacity for storage the used 330 gallon containers (like the new one in the link) I can get for $75. Washing a car with a hose I would guess is about 20 gallons of water giving 16.5 washes per tank full. Winter that drops big time because it is usually ONR or OWW in the garage. I think I would be fine. Getting the water ready for use is my biggest question mark at this moment. Testing will tell what that entails.
 
Well, when I get around to doing it I will report back. All my searching here and on the internet has only provided bits and pieces of information when for a few hundred bucks I can do a proof of concept. Either way, it won`t be a waste of money for me as I could always use the water for a wash sink, water the lawn, rinse the garage out, etc, etc. First I have to do some electrical wiring, have my garage insulated and interior covered (just going to use OSB and paint it). Then I can get around to this.

Garage working party at my house? ^_^
 
I like your idea of using rainwater. I have a 24’ round pool. When the cover is on it (fall through spring) I use a submersible pump to pump the rainwater off the cover and into 2 50 gallon plastic barrels. That is drinking water for my beagles, chickens and cats. For some reason they like rainwater better than wellwater. When the pool is open and it rains it usually drops the ph. Ideal Ph for pool water is around 7.6 You can check that your own self. Home Depot sells a test kit that I have been using for several years that would work good for you. What should the ph be for washing cars? I use baking soda or borax to raise the ph depending on what the total alkalinity is. You would need a way to circulate the water in your tank so the baking soda or borax would dissolve. I guess you could use your existing pump and pump it straight back in the tank. It wouldn’t take very long
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