I just acquired a 10’ by 5’ open trailer and intend to use it for my WFP system. I think I can figure the poles and brushes out but I’d like advice on the DI tank (s). Which is better a 1/2 cubit foot or a 1 cubic foot or maybe 2x 1/2 cubic foot tanks?
The TDS in my area is around 300. What type prefilter system should I use?
Should I use a holding tank?
Any other advice is welcome.
Where can a guy find a reel for less than $500.00?
Of course I’ll purchase the bulk of stuff from WCR!
Portability is important since you’ll no doubt need to move the tanks in fro the winter. I’d go w/ 2 half cube tanks for that reason unless you have a ground floor heated space to maneuver a bigger full cubic tank into.
A holding tank would be useful if you will find yourself in places where access to a tap is limited.
You can find decent hose reels at some home centers. Here’s something I put together that might work in your situation. -
//youtu.be/y7lDUvy770I
The hose reel that you seen, I picked up for 270. I think Alex sells cox reels too. Give him a ring and he can point you in the right direction.
You can also stack them sort of like what Tony has in the video.
What’s your tow vehicle?
If your not using a large tank, a trailer is overkill in my opinion.
With 300 tds I would get a full cube or maybe 2, because you’ll be using
it up pretty quick. The trailer sounds like overkill to me, and a hassle cause
I never got the hang of backing up. If you’re carrying water then
it would be useful I think.
Matthew
Cool hose reel system Tony. I’ll keep that in mind. So if I understand it correctly your DI tanks etc are still on your truck/van but the reels allow you to be closer to the home??
I’ll be prefiltering with an RO system. Do you really think I should bulk up on the DI tanks then?
I saw an RO system at Three Bears Alaska last night for $199.00. It had a 1/2 gallon per minute flow rate. How many gallons do I need about for a system like this?
With an RO prefilter about how many gallons can I get out of a 1/2 or 1 cubic ft DI tank? That might help me determine which to buy.
The trailer [I]may[/I] be overkill but I’m running a Nissan Pathfinder that I also use as our family vehicle. I could fit it all in my rig and monkey it around but I [I]think[/I] I’ll be fine with the trailer. It allows easy access anyhow and provides an “everything in 1 place” ability.
Torey, where did you find a hose reel for $270.00?
The hose reels cost $70 each from the home center.
The real issue here is how will you use your RO. If you use the RO at home to fill a 200-300 gallon holding tank then at the job run that water thru a DI tank you’re going to need a pump to move the water. How are you planning to set this up?
Right about the pump. I don’t see any advantage at this point of having a holding tank except that I wouldn’t have to use the customer’s water and there’d be 1 less hose to drag and setup. Maybe you can enlighten me about why I should consider a holding tank.
My plan at this point is to route the water like this: Source faucette - garden hose - RO unit - DI tank - WFP hose.
Do you run a pump off a 12volt car battery? Does the charge last all day? Do you recharge the battery at night?
I use a R3 RO/DI cart. If you wanted a small compact set up you could go w/ the EZ Pure from RHG products. Ettore Caddy System
That way all you need is a short section of garden hose to connect the system to their tap then a hose reel w/ 200ft of 1/4 air hose and your up and running. It’s only two things to set up and take down and you could carry it in the back of your vehicle.
Instead of a trailer you may want to consider a cargo rack that slips into your receiver hitch. There are many different styles. Some with ramps, some that swing away, etc… If you can’t figure a way to fit everything inside your vehicle, of course. Also depending on the set up you are going to go with. I too think a trailer may be overkill.
I’m leaning toward having a 200 gallon tank. It sounds like a good idea for these reasons:
Thanks for the advice guys. It’s helping.
I’ve found that customers do not mind if I use their water. Ever.
Hooking up a supply hose is quick and easy.
I recommend you find an experienced pure water user to shadow. This will alleviate your fears. My perception is your trying to solve issues that might not exist.
Not sure what RO set up you were looking at but for 199, I doubt its gonna be anything that will be worth keeping, especially if you are gonna be using it all the time. It has GOT to be tiny.
I got the hose reel from a local pressure washing supply house. Brand new 269, which is more expensive than when WCR sold them here but it was an impulse buy cuz I was sick of wraping the hose up every time. I still need to get a stacking bracket and another reel but can’t find the bracket ANYWHERE.
I have never had any problems with using the clients’ water, but it WOULD be nice to not have to use it or even have to unravel my garden hose. There are times when its a pain in the neck.
Check out Tony and Troy Liposec’s and Curt Kemptons van set ups, and trailers. They all have the RHG carts and they have them either mounted in the van/trailer’s or ready to take out and use. Troy has had his a very long time, and the TDS here in California beats yours any day of the week with double that measly 300 TDS. To us, thats good enough to buy bottled!
If Troy’s setup is lasting that long, yours should do better. If I had the dough to spend, I would either get a local expert to build one for me custom for my trailer (already have a price of 5 grand) or second choice would be one of the top of the line RHG carts with the electric pump.
You are going to have to create a charging system for your battery too. You can run the cable from your truck battery and make another plug connection with a 0 gauge wire to your battery in the trailer which will charge while your driving.
I too have found that at most jobs the customers invite me to use their water. Remember, I’m the guy that refuses to use Dawn instead of a chemical designed for cleaning glass. I desire to avoid using source water for the same reason - it gives people less reason to “dink” me for wrongdoing.
I did shadow Tory at a job and seeing his system in use helped tremendously. I’m soooo glad to hear my TDS isn’t super high. I thought my goose was cooked. Tory - does that 1 cubit ft tank get you far enough down the trail with only the carbon filter?
I’m considering an in home RO unit from Culligan. I would fill my holding tank at home.
One thing that I would like to do and I believe Micah of SC is doing it is harvesting rain water into a water tank I already have which I’ll elevate. Then run it through purification and into another tank I buy loaded into my truck or trailer which I hope to buy. Hopefully that’ll happen this year.
I just started using the carbon filter with my DI, but I was changing tanks once a week man…and between 2 sets a week, that gets to be costly. The carbon filter I put before my tanks has worked GREAT, but this is ONLY a quick fix until the money starts to roll in this spring and summer. When it does, I got my eyes set on some RO.
Don’t get the RO from culli-crap. Its meant for drinking water, and not for running all day long. That thing has gotta be tiny. You need one that is gonna work all day long, and every day should you need it. Trust me, I looked into a mini RO unit too, but you will see that it produces x amount per day right? Also, typically your shower head will produce about 1 1/2 gallons per minute- tap pressure. 1/2 a gallon per minute is NO PRESSURE for a waterfed pole. You couldn’t even power a water pick for your teeth at that. You will end up mounting it under the sink.
If you don’t have the coin to go full RO/DI, rent some tanks from a local guy that will regen them for under 100 bucks. That will get you by for now, but you will be hemmoraging money in the long run. You will actually be saving money if you DO YOUR HOMEWORK and get an RO system that is just right for you.
There are a ton of units out there. You know RHG is the top of the line when it comes to mobile carts. They work very well and look great- making you look great too. There are the mini ro/di units out there, you get 2 to choose from here- both work well.
There’s that fear thing steering you wrong again.
It’s not allowing you to make business decisions. It’s a “you” problem, so get rid of it.
I plan to buy/rent DI tanks from my local Culligan guy. I prefer to trade local when possible:)
I’ve been studying WFP all day in the forum and I thought 1/2 gallon per minute flow rate was typical for WFP. If that’s not so then what is a reasonable flow rate.
I’ll probably shy away from the Culligan RO units then. Besides, the guy was talking about installing a 250 gallon storage tank in my house - Puke!
