Recovery Unit Setups

Jerry makes something similar in plastic tubes.

The concept is simple.

Runoff feeds into the top of bin 1. Bin 1 has a 2 inch or so slot in the bottom so that water rises up through bin 2

It then overflows into bin 3 and goes out the bottom of bin 3. Pretty standard 3 part filtration.

I think the most important thing is the media and the layout of the media. That is why I like these open top units so it's easy to test different media layers.


What it doesn't show here is NOW, where that water comes out we've added a pool pump that forces that clean looking water through a final polishing filter (the Diatomaceous Earth (DE) filter)

We use this one: https://www.hayward-pool.com/prd/Ab...-Cycle_10201_10551_15013_-1_24003_14018_A.htm

It cleans down to one micron which is good enough to reuse the water if you have to as long as you remain on the same property.

The nice thing about this type of filter is there are no cartridges to keep buying and it is recharged by hand with the lever.

Now the pool pump is not the right solution. It pumps way too fast at 40 gpm.

We may switch that with a very small gas powered pump like thishttp://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/kingpumps/Pacer-PAC25-Bulletin.pdf

Ideally we would get away from everything electric and I'd much rather have a gas PEV1 vacuum, but I don't think Jerry makes that.


You still have to deal with the smell issue. Recycled water STINKS. The only thing I found to deal with that over a whole day is with Chlorine tabs in the third bin and the reuse tank.

The recycle tank on this trailer is only 225 gallons. That way it is way under any normal 1000 gallon max and can be drained into the landscaping at the end of it's use. Or alternatively it can go in the sewer.

Travelling around with gray water is just asking for trouble. The Highway patrol won't care that it's already been filtered if you are in an accident and they will call a cleanup crew for $20k out of your pocket if you get in an accident.

Now, on the other end of the filtration, you have to deal with the thick stuff that makes it into the first bin once you are done. It really takes a long time to fill that bin up if you have pre-cleaned using dry methods like Jerry teaches. But at the end of the day you are left with a decent amount of gluck on the bottom of that first tank.

I have a way to deal with this that I learned from cleaning evaporator coils. I'm trying to decide if I want to put that information out on the web or not at this point. I probably will soon. It is legal, safe, and makes it where you don't have to leave the property with ANYTHING you have to dispose of.
 
Great info Tony, Thanks.
 
IMG-20130911-00354.jpg

Vac in the front, pressure washer in the back. Front tank was fresh, back tank was reclaim. I used the pressure washer a few times for parkades and a few other jobs. Used the vac setup twice on here, its now in the big truck with a bigger reclaim tank and probably 500 hours more wear.

In the big truck, everything is all over the place. The truck was not originally designed for the vac and until I decide to buy all new tanks and equipment I plan on keeping it this way.

Keep in mind one thing that I have learned, the debris tanks when filled with mud are a couple hundred pounds atleast. Make sure you have access to the tanks to easily dump or you will be shoveling mud for a bit if you ever fill it.

Transfer pump underneath was used to water the lawn from the big truck, water restrictions and new sod, glad for 1500g water tank.
 
Johnson said:
Tony, is the DE filter the only one you use?
Click to expand...

After going through a number of different cartridge polishing filters with the ultrasonic machine setup I switched to straight DE because it doesn't clog as often and the only thing we ever have to replace is the DE and that's pretty cheap, a lot cheaper than cartridge filters.
 
I could be mistaken but the last chamber had the fins at the bottom, if they are plastic they would be oil coalescing plates. Basically they work like a magnet to attract the emulsified oil and coalesce it into droplets that will rise to the surface to be skimmed off.
 
Paul that is exactly what it looks like to me. What a coalescing plate(filter) does is speed up the time it takes for the oil to attract to each other and rise to the surface. That way you can have a smaller chamber and save space but still get a certain gpm flow through. But you know that.
 
Juan Juarez said:
A few interesting coalescing plate designs.

http://www.oil-water-separators.com/Blog/?Tag=plastic+corrugated+coalescers

http://www.oil-water-separators.com/coalescing-oil-water-separators/Flat-Plate-Herring-Bone-Design/

I'm sure you do not run into this problem tony I was just researching because I'm interested in building a water filter similar to yours and came across this for anyone who is interested in coalescing plates.
Click to expand...


The reason this isn't a problem on our setup is because the runoff has already gone through 1) polypropylene filter 2)sponge like material 3) oil socks 4) natural fiber 5) gutter critter - before even getting to the plates. There are little to no solids left at that point.

After three levels of oil filtration there is little oil and little solids left.

The final DE filter after the plates takes care of the rest.

The DE filter wasn't shown in the video. It wasn't hooked up at that time. The clean water coming out is what just came off the plates and would go into the DE filter.
 
Tony, you should definitely build me one and ship it to Houston. I'll pay you in gum.

LOL.

On a serious note though, how large are your bins?
 
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