Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: gaza on August 02, 2005, 06:19:14 pm
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My problem is with storage not that Ive not got room in the back garden ,its the wife, dont think she would be to chuffed.
Thought I would give an ro a try cus going through resin quite quick.
IVE GOT 1250 LITRE STORAGE IN THE VAN problem being Ive only access to the van down an alley.thinking of manf water then pumping it to the 2 tanks in the van{holding tanks}Ive got two di vessels already fitted.
Ro method has to be the better way {cheaper} in my case.
any ideas?
gaza trully stumped
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Hi Gaza,
The Ro is allot cheaper in the long run, I had the same problem with storage. However, my wife gave in the end and I have a 1000lt storage tank in my front garden, this fills over night for me and I pump it into the van in the mornings.
I keep mine covered over by a green plastic sheet and after a few days you get use to it being there.
The only other way you could get around that is by buying a Merlin RO unit, have it mounted in your van and when you finish your day off, you will have to run a hose from your house, down the lane and into the van, it would probably take 6 hours to fill you up. But you do have the risk of it getting damaged or nicked.
Trying persuading your wife, build a wooden frame around the holding tank in the garden, then it wouldn’t be an eye sore.
Andrew
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How about digging a Hole and burying the holding tank???
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WINDOWCLEANER: Should have thought of that before last weekend,just had it block paved DERH DUMBO ME
GAZA
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Build a raised flower bed and bury the tank under it.
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window cleaner :what in the middle of the night,certainly give the neighbours something to talk about ;D
gaza
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what would you do with the discarded water going to waste?
gaza
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Water the hanging baskets
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How about filling smaller holding tanks in the loft and filling the van tank by grafity feed, ??
Put some solar panels on the roof and preston "pure Thermo water"
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24/7 thats the ro Iwas going for told it was built to go under the sink .although w/c are using it to produce pure water ,dOES IT NEED A PRE FILTER ? WHAT RATE DOES IT PRODUCE?
GAZA
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wINDOW CLEANER iWILL IGNORE THAT LAST COMMENT ITS TO DAFT.
GAZA
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If it a merlin? then yes it needs an additional carbon filter if your'r going to produce a lot af water,
And it would fit under the sink although you may have to cut a hole in the shelve to fit the additional filter, then of course you've got to find space for the resin column but that would easly fot into a tall unit side of the sink.
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wINDOW CLEANER iWILL IGNORE THAT LAST COMMENT ITS TO DAFT.
It may be silly but it's got me thinking, with modern solar panels they only need daylight to work. so I'm thinking a couple could be fitted onto the roof of a van and during the cold winter months you would have warm water to wash the windows with no more frozen WFP's
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Hi Gaza,
Bout time I gave you some info - its usually the other way round !!!
As you know I have just purchased a 300 gall RO unit which is now running perfectly. I did loads of ringing round and eventually opted for this one because it makes enough water for one days use (ie 500 litres) and it has the most minimal waste. My local water authority told me that it will only be a couple of years before the whole area is on meters and then waste is a MAJOR consideration. I looked at the Merlin which could be mounted on your van and produce enough water for you to use immediately (after a polish in a DI Tank obviously). However the downfall of the system is its waste. It is 2 parts waste to 1 part good. Just imagine the water rates on that one. Secondly it does not need electricity to run it unlike the RO which needs a pump ran of electricity.
The most frustrating thing for me when ringing round was that every company tried to sell me a unit bigger than I needed.
Firstly we estimated how much we used in a day (for us it was a maximum of 500 litres on a full days residential) and how then looked at what size of RO it took to make that 500 litres in a 24 hour period.
Finally we have a 1000 ltr tank in the van as well as one in the shed but now NEVER carry a full load as we dont need to thus avoiding any addditional wear & tear of the vehicle caused by the extra (not needed) water. Imagine the reduced wear on consumables like tyres !!!
If you still want a Merlin I have sourced one cheaper than the cost of my slower RO unit - just £329 + vat on special offer at
www.ro-man.com/shop
Good luck - its worth the cost and set-up effort
Sarill
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SARILL :329 INC VAT THATS WHO i RANG GAVE ME GOOD ADVICE,not what they are cracked up to be high wastage up to 5/1, so now at a loss which way to go..
caza
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Morning Gaza,
Wastage costs gonna be higher than most retailers admit then (personally would leave it alone then but it does produce water exceptionally quick).
Have to say I am happy with my unit. Bit slow (like its master), pretty quiet and unintrusive (like its Manster) and is producing a reading of 16 before polishing - which I am told is what you should expect in a hard water area.
Good luck with your choice Gaza - its a minefield choosing but well worth it. Mine will be paid for in just4 months cos I was being well and truly ripped off buying my water in a £50 a tank (some window cleaners arn't as honest as the majority of us eh - but on reflection I should have checked it out before buying !!!!!
Sarill
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Mmm, interesting topic...I'm afraid I don't know the name of the R/O, but Roy Harding uses one that can produce water at a rapid rate, it also brings the TFS down very low, far, far lower than the Merlin.
Cost is somewhere around the £400 mark, he has adjusted the waste ratio to 1:1
Hopefully Roy will view this thread and respond as I can only be vague on the details :-\
Though you would have to also source the pre-filters.
Sarill: You only need a pump for an R/O if you have low water pressure.
You will also need a pump if you have a holding tank and have to transfer to your van tank.
Omnipole can supply you with a pump that will deliver 235 litres a minute for a price that is around the £120 mark, or at least it was a few months ago.
You would also need reinforced 1" hose, I would need 30m myself and that would set me back another £57.
At the end of the day, how deep is your pocket?
When I eventually get the van I've been promising myself for the last 10 months I will be cribbing of Roy, the R/O isn't cheap, buts it's d a m n efficient.
Regards,
Ian
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Hi Gaza
I have a 4"x40" Pentair R/o, as Ian said 1,000ltr in 3 hours at 70psi. However it can go up to 400psi. So if you fitted a boster pump you would get a 1,000ltrs in one and a half hours.
I have a 20ltr resin colum and and filled this 1st of jan and it still reads 0.0tds
This is a super bit of kit, you would not be dissapointed.
Roy :)
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ROY :THAT SOUNDS A WICKED PIECE OF KIT: can you give me more info please were from and price yhanks ROY
GAZA
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Yeah come on Roy, where did you get this bit of kit?
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champ housing only operate up to 250 psi , they are low presure membranes .
thats what most main suppliers use any one will sell you one gaps , essentially pure , ionic , brodex . they boost well depends if static or van mount then you have to think where your power comes from for the boost
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Hi guys
I got it from stream, but you can get pentair R/o from other companys.
http://www.streamsupplies.net/detail.asp?which=666&cat=58
Price has gone up since I purchased mine. Do a search on pentair.
Roy :)
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I have just taken tds readings they are as follows.
Tap water 234 tds
After r/o 0.02
Thats why resin last such a long time.
Roy :)
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Roy- How many litres a week do you use a week?
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Mike
I use about 3,000 a week.
Roy :)
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ROY:SOUNDS GREAT,EXPENSIVE YES BUT IN THE LONG RUN CHEAP. tds reading is unbelieviable low from imput tds reading.
just compare resin prices to ro prices no comparison in the long run even if you messed up the membrane and bought a new one it would still be cheaper than resin per year. ITS A WIN WIN SITUATION.
THANKS ROY FOR YOUR INFORMATION. IF THEIR WAS AN AWARD FOR THE BEST ANSWER YOUVE WON IT ;D [now ive creeped my way into your xmas card list could you give us some more information on this impressive piece of kit. like how are you going to protect it in winter with having it mounted in your van, cus it will be xmas before could afford it.
gaza
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Gaza
I purchased from Argos a Glen fan heater, this has a frost protection seting that starts the heater if tempeture drops.
I normally set it a bit higher on seting 2. They are very cheap to run, and you want notice the differnce on your bill.
This was about £15.
In the van are all hose trollys and brushes and these are all protected, plus you never have to de-ice your van.
Roy :)
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Roy Do you use a pre filter and have you had to replace 40'' membrane, if not how long have you had it?
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Mike
I use a 20" particulate fillter and a 20" carbon fillter these are changed every six months.
I have been using the R/o since first of Jan. Life span of the membraine is between 31/2yrs - 5yrs.
I back flush this every week for 1 hour.
Roy :)
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ROY: IS THIS FAN HEATER 12V OR MAINS? [DAFT AS IT MAY SEEM }
GAZA
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Gaza
Its mains, of corse you could use a small portable gas heater.
Roy
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roy thought of that one already,but thinking of using alchol{hic} in water for winter use.
gaza
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JUST WONDERING?:could I claim back my morgage extra payments to move to premises that are more suitable to my needs ? to house my newly aquired ro unit? eg my house is were I work from
gaza
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JUST WONDERING?:could I claim back my morgage extra payments to move to premises that are more suitable to my needs ? to house my newly aquired ro unit? eg my house is were I work from
gaza
You can book the portion of the house that is used for your business but it's not a good idea IMO.
1) It becomes subject to Capital Gains Tax when you resell.
2) The local authority might get on your case for running a business from a residential property (unlikely if there are no complaints).