Thoughts on water charges will impact on our car washing?

Zoney

Just something I thought of today after washing the car thoroughly. Is there much can be done to still get a good wash but minimise water usage? It's about 15-20l atm for me for 2bm, but the hose for rinsing uses so much!

Has anyone else thought about what the impact on washing the car will be next year? Maybe the cost per wash won't be extreme though if you know each time that's what it'll cost?

No doubt water charges in general is a topic people have strong views on, but just sticking to how things will be, do people have ideas about the impact on car washing or minimising it?

Sorry, bit of a downer topic but standing in a big pool of water in the drive earlier, just wondered.

joujoujou

I'm on the other side - paying for water since 2007 (private water scheme) and never bothered - just wash when I want to.

colm_mcm

Flushing a toilet uses 8 litres

bumper234

Zoney wrote: »

Just something I thought of today after washing the car thoroughly. Is there much can be done to still get a good wash but minimise water usage? It's about 15-20l atm for me for 2bm, but the hose for rinsing uses so much!

Has anyone else thought about what the impact on washing the car will be next year? Maybe the cost per wash won't be extreme though if you know each time that's what it'll cost?

No doubt water charges in general is a topic people have strong views on, but just sticking to how things will be, do people have ideas about the impact on car washing or minimising it?

Sorry, bit of a downer topic but standing in a big pool of water in the drive earlier, just wondered.

Have a bath then use a bucket or 4 of that water to wash the car

RandomAccess

Once metering is in place then rain water harvesting will probably become more popular.

Aldi often sell a basic rainwater butt, which takes a feed from a downpipe off the roof.
This is fine for garden use, but if you are going to be cleaning a car you would need to use another settlement tank and a filter to remove any silt from the water. Some guys connect to a small plastic Oil tank to store the filtered water.

Water rates are already in place in the UK, so there is a lot more experience of these setups on UK forums.
http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=101974

The main thing is to filter the water using a series of settlement tanks/butts.
And also I think they maybe add something like a mild bleach to prevent algal growth.

Some guys use a submersible pump to provide pressurised outflow, whereas others have pressure-washers which can feed directly from the tank, so would not need a pump.
I reckon the maintenance would be fairly minor on such a setup. Just cleaning filters occasionally and maybe adding bleach but I don't know so much about that.

Now I don't really know how much the water charges are going to be, but you would need to check that there is a payoff for the initial install cost or it may not be worth the effort. Ideally I would consider diverting some of the water to other uses such as toilet flush if possible.

Anyway, its an interesting project I guess.

CJhaughey

A 240 litre drum full of rainwater will rinse a lot of cars.
Rainwater will be better for the paintwork as well, especially compared to some of the hard water in certain parts of the country.

Busted Flat.

CJhaughey wrote: »

A 240 litre drum full of rainwater will rinse a lot of cars.
Rainwater will be better for the paintwork as well, especially compared to some of the hard water in certain parts of the country.

Rain water is fairly easy to collect and store for gardening and the flushing the jacks, but the question is if you do not use enough water to pay the incomes and the bonuses of the greedy, they will just raise the price.
This is a no win situation.

Chimaera

I'll wait and see how it pans out before I decide anything for sure. The allowance they're giving before unit charges kick is supposedly quite high so it may be that a lot of people won't hit that ceiling and won't need to worry.

I've thought about doing a rainwater collection system and probably will do one. If you want to use settling to clear the collected water, the most you need is three vessels. One to collect the rainwater off the roof, one for settling, and one to collect the purified water. If you put a shut-off valve on the inlet to your rainwater tank and have a diverter on it, you can drop down to two. When the rainwater tank is full, close off the valve and allow it to settle out (should only take a day or two) then siphon it off to the holding tank. Open the valve up again and you're good to go.

My preference would be for a two tank system and a filter between them. There are lots of DIY methods for filtering and we're not after drinking quality water here. I'd use a lift pump to supply water for a pressure washer I think.

CJhaughey

Busted Flat. wrote: »

Rain water is fairly easy to collect and store for gardening and the flushing the jacks, but the question is if you do not use enough water to pay the incomes and the bonuses of the greedy, they will just raise the price.
This is a no win situation.

Don't get me wrong, I am against these charges and do not agree with the way they have been imposed or how the companies involved got the contracts, but this isn't the politics forum and I was just pointing out that rainwater is pretty benign stuff in Ireland.

Busted Flat.

Chimaera wrote: »

I'll wait and see how it pans out before I decide anything for sure. The allowance they're giving before unit charges kick is supposedly quite high so it may be that a lot of people won't hit that ceiling and won't need to worry.

I've thought about doing a rainwater collection system and probably will do one. If you want to use settling to clear the collected water, the most you need is three vessels. One to collect the rainwater off the roof, one for settling, and one to collect the purified water. If you put a shut-off valve on the inlet to your rainwater tank and have a diverter on it, you can drop down to two. When the rainwater tank is full, close off the valve and allow it to settle out (should only take a day or two) then siphon it off to the holding tank. Open the valve up again and you're good to go.

My preference would be for a two tank system and a filter between them. There are lots of DIY methods for filtering and we're not after drinking quality water here. I'd use a lift pump to supply water for a pressure washer I think.

That's the problem if everyone stays within their allowance, who pays for the fat cats. No income = lower the threshold and raise prices. Someone has to pay the 2/3/4 billion.

Chimaera

I'd rather see a small allowance (with a small flat fee) and most of the water being paid on a unit basis - basically the same as how we pay for gas/electricity. It encourages conservation of water but the water that is used is paid for more fairly. Water metering must only be about covering the cost of producing and distributing the water. In practice, introducing the metering and charging will free up the money currently spent by the government on this to be used for other things.

RandomAccess

Busted Flat. wrote: »

That's the problem if everyone stays within their allowance, who pays for the fat cats. No income = lower the threshold and raise prices. Someone has to pay the 2/3/4 billion.

They will probably introduce an inspection charge for home water tanks.
Besides, even if you don't use the service they will charge you, I mean thats whats happening with the TV Licence, its being renamed a media charge or something.

The ridiculous spend on consultants by Irish Water is just a taste of whats to come I reckon. Once they get started on various modernisation projects then theres going to be some 'friends' made very wealthy indeed with dodgy contracts. In the USA they have a shady industry described as the Military Industrial Complex, we have our own variant of this, the Semi State.

Still we should all be happy the government let us live in their country.
Steps away from keyboard!!

Busted Flat.

RandomAccess wrote: »

They will probably introduce an inspection charge for home water tanks.
Besides, even if you don't use the service they will charge you, I mean thats whats happening with the TV Licence, its being renamed a media charge or something.

The ridiculous spend on consultants by Irish Water is just a taste of whats to come I reckon. Once they get started on various modernisation projects then theres going to be some 'friends' made very wealthy indeed with dodgy contracts. In the USA they have a shady industry described as the Military Industrial Complex, we have our own variant of this, the Semi State.

Still we should all be happy the government let us live in their country.
Steps away from keyboard!!

It will 12 years before they can get rid of unwanted staff, until then they will lay on their shovels and sit at their computer screens on full pay, just like the overstaffed in the HSE. Welcome to the new beginning of transparency and openess.

Zoney

Was thinking about the rainwater butt alright after I posted - would probably want one for the garden anyway. Good point about there being UK experiences to draw on.

Busted Flat.

Zoney wrote: »

Was thinking about the rainwater butt alright after I posted - would probably want one for the garden anyway. Good point about there being UK experiences to draw on.

Pity Irish water did not follow the UK set up.

corktina

my local Creamery has a butt with built in pump and connections for the down pipe, about €330 I think. That's what I shall get, it would be daft not too with so much rain for free. I shall put a tank in the loft of my garage too and pump the water up to it and use that for my hosepipe

Busted Flat.

corktina wrote: »

my local Creamery has a butt with built in pump and connections for the down pipe, about €330 I think. That's what I shall get, it would be daft not too with so much rain for free. I shall put a tank in the loft of my garage too and pump the water up to it and use that for my hosepipe

Years ago, I put a system in a mobile home we had, a tank on the ground with a pump and pressure vessel it gave good pressure for showers and heating. Not expensive at the time but solved the problem. You could do the same with a container of water.

vectra

Here was me thinking this was a detailing forum and not a politics one.

Anyhow
I had thought of a water butt from McMahons and just put a connector with some sort of filter for my hose to me pressure washer.

OR

Buy a petrol powered washer and find me a nice quiet spot by the river LOL

JAMES VTI S

It takes 100 (+-50) Liters to wash a car thoroughly, washing once a week would one get enough water i wonder.

deandean

I have a rainwater barrel for washing the car. I have a hose onto the tap with a hozelok connector for the pressure washer. I dont use any tap water.
rain water produces far better foam and lather because it is so soft.

corktina

you'd need to filter it I guess

Stallingrad

deandean wrote: »

I have a rainwater barrel for washing the car. I have a hose onto the tap with a hozelok connector for the pressure washer. I dont use any tap water.
rain water produces far better foam and lather because it is so soft.

Does the barrel provide enough pressure for the power washer to work properly? Would have though gravity fed would be to slow for a washer.

Mc Love

Stallingrad wrote: »

Does the barrel provide enough pressure for the power washer to work properly? Would have though gravity fed would be to slow for a washer.

You will probably need a machine for it. Looks like we might all have to get something sorted for this

corktina

my Karcher can be fed from a barrel so, no, a water butt can be used with a pressure washer.

deandean

Stallingrad wrote: »

Does the barrel provide enough pressure for the power washer to work properly? Would have though gravity fed would be to slow for a washer.

Yes it does. The barrel is on the stand that came with it, so the tap is about 8" above ground level. The pressure washer takes all the water it wants, there is no restriction on flow. I have a Karcher washer.

With a foam, rinse, and final rinse I'd get two and maybe three washes from a barrel of rainwater.

I have a coarse filter on the water going into the barrel. Any sediment just sinks to the bottom of the barrel. I've never seen anything caught in the inlet filter of the pressure washer

Markcheese

Busted Flat. wrote: »

Rain water is fairly easy to collect and store for gardening and the flushing the jacks, but the question is if you do not use enough water to pay the incomes and the bonuses of the greedy, they will just raise the price.
This is a no win situation.

Well if it costs 1billion a year to run irish water, the amount they'll charge will be 1 billion ... If everyone uses less the amount will still be 1 billion, but the guy who hasnt saved water will pay a bigger share than he has to ...
Same as gas , electric and phones
Or car tax ...

Noccy_Mondy

Pfft it takes what it takes to wash the car. I ain't going scrimping on the water! Already paying water rates this last five years!

corktina

Noccy_Mondy wrote: »

Pfft it takes what it takes to wash the car. I ain't going scrimping on the water! Already paying water rates this last five years!

absolutely, cut down on showers and drinking instead...let's get our priorities right. You can always drink beer (if you get desperate that is):D

Noccy_Mondy

corktina wrote: »

absolutely, cut down on showers and drinking instead...let's get our priorities right. You can always drink beer (if you get desperate that is):D

Never was a truer word said :pac:

JAMES VTI S

Can't cost that much .... Or can it.