By Charles Borchard
In Part I of this article which appeared in the November 2004 issue of Auto Laundry News, we established that the higher the quality of water you use, the higher the quality wash you will deliver. We further considered the three different types of water that are used in car washing -- fresh water, spot-free water, and reclaim water. This month, we take a closer look at tank systems, the different types of water reclamation systems, and related issues.
When choosing a reclaim system, there are many things to consider. For instance, how much water are you planning to recycle? Will you use it on the undercarriage and first flooder arch? Or, in a friction tunnel application, will you use it on the first mitter and rinse followed with fresh water applications until you get to the spot-free arch? High-pressure automatics or high-pressure side and wheel blasters in exterior tunnels use a lot of water and are good candidates for recycling water. You should discuss with your wash equipment supplier what their equipment requirements are regarding micron sizing that the wash equipment can handle. Typically washes with high pressure pumps require a much higher level of micron filtration.
Tank System
All reclamation or recycling systems use a tank system to capture the water after it is used (for a typical tank layout, see the diagram below). These are often called clarifier tanks or oil water separator tanks. The suspended solids are allowed to settle in these tanks, thereby clarifying the water. If the tank system is properly sized, not only will the solids settle to the bottom, the oils and lighter-than-water contaminants will rise to the top and become trapped out of the reuse stream.