Spotless water?

[Mobile detail]

Ok, so in my area my water is rated at a whooping 330ppm for hardness. Its so bad that it rusts silverware and ruins washer and dryers. It makes washing and drying vehicles a tedious task. My question is what is the best option for spotless water? I don't mind spending money on a set up like the CR SPOTLESS system but to only get 300 gals on a best case situation (prob more like 140 gals) seems very cost INeffective. I know that you can get longer life out of it if you use it to only do a final rinse but still, it seems like I would be spending a lot to regenerate it. Are there better options? I've got the inline filter set up and it definitly helps but I'm looking for something more. I don't want to hook my whole house up, just need it for washing cars. Whats the difference between soft water, Deionized, and Reverse ossmossis? I have read that people run a pre filter set up before the CR system, what is the prefilter? Thanks in advance everyone! Hope you had a great 4th

[Setec Astronomy]

Soft water uses an ion exchange process to exchange calcium and magnesium ions with sodium or potassium ions. In this case the TDS (total dissolved solids) will remain the same as you are only exchanging one ion for another, however you will wind up with ions that won't result in permanent spots on your car. A softener uses a regeneration process to replenish the sodium or potassium ions in the resin; this requires you only to periodically refill the salt reservoir.

Deionization is the removal of the hardness ions (primarily calcium and magnesium) to provide zero TDS water (or close to that). The resin must either be replaced, or recharged at a special facility. There are anion beds and cation beds (each of which remove different ions). Systems like CR Spotless (and most DI systems, really) use a mixed-bed of both.

Reverse Osmosis uses filtration and membrane technology to separate molecules therefore removing impurities. In comparison to the methods above, it is slow and uses a lot of water (to flush the filters/membranes), but should also result in zero TDS water...along with removing other impurities.

If you check your yellow pages for water treatment or water softening companies, they will likely be able to set you up with something which has more capacity than a CR system; they would come and swap out the tanks for you on a periodic basis.

[Mobile detail]

Wow, thanks for that info. I really appreciate it. It was what I needed. I will check out local companies and see what I can find!

[WRAPT C5Z06]

My TDS is 398 PPM. I use CR Spotless.

[Mobile detail]

About how long does the filter last Mark? Do you use it just for final rinse or all through out? I have read that you can recharge the filter resin and not have to buy a new kit for a while. Any thoughts?

[SeaJay's]

Soft water uses an ion exchange process to exchange calcium and magnesium ions with sodium or potassium ions. In this case the TDS (total dissolved solids) will remain the same as you are only exchanging one ion for another, however you will wind up with ions that won't result in permanent spots on your car. A softener uses a regeneration process to replenish the sodium or potassium ions in the resin; this requires you only to periodically refill the salt reservoir.

Deionization is the removal of the hardness ions (primarily calcium and magnesium) to provide zero TDS water (or close to that). The resin must either be replaced, or recharged at a special facility. There are anion beds and cation beds (each of which remove different ions). Systems like CR Spotless (and most DI systems, really) use a mixed-bed of both.

Reverse Osmosis uses filtration and membrane technology to separate molecules therefore removing impurities. In comparison to the methods above, it is slow and uses a lot of water (to flush the filters/membranes), but should also result in zero TDS water...along with removing other impurities.

If you check your yellow pages for water treatment or water softening companies, they will likely be able to set you up with something which has more capacity than a CR system; they would come and swap out the tanks for you on a periodic basis.

Having used to work for a water filtration company I couldn't have said that better myself. Great info there.

I'd definitely give a local company a call and have a system put on your home. It will save your appliances and you can use it for washing.

[WRAPT C5Z06]

About how long does the filter last Mark? Do you use it just for final rinse or all through out? I have read that you can recharge the filter resin and not have to buy a new kit for a while. Any thoughts?

I use it throughout, but it's not cost effective. It's really hard to determine how long the filters will last. I use a pressure washers which really helps slow down the process of using up the resin. My pressurewasher flows 1.5 gallons per minute, while my regular garden hose flows 5 gallons per minute. If I used my garden hose all the time, the filters wouldn't last for beans! I'm sure you're detailing a lot more cars than I am. If you used it just for the final rinse, I'm sure it would last a decent amount of time(with a pressure washer). I have no clue how to recharge the filter resin. That would be way cool!

[IID]

I use it throughout, but it's not cost effective. It's really hard to determine how long the filters will last. I use a pressure washers which really helps slow down the process of using up the resin. My pressurewasher flows 1.5 gallons per minute, while my regular garden hose flows 5 gallons per minute. If I used my garden hose all the time, the filters wouldn't last for beans! I'm sure you're detailing a lot more cars than I am. If you used it just for the final rinse, I'm sure it would last a decent amount of time(with a pressure washer). I have no clue how to recharge the filter resin. That would be way cool!

Hey Mark,I use my CR Spotless for rinse only and so far the filters are doing what they are suppose to after 16 uses.I will monitor approximate rinses on my current(original) filters and report back when that time comes.

[oldmodman]

About how long does the filter last Mark? Do you use it just for final rinse or all through out? I have read that you can recharge the filter resin and not have to buy a new kit for a while. Any thoughts?

Unfortunately, not true. The filter media the CR (and every other similar filter) uses is a mixed media. It would be possible to recharge the single media types but to do so requires various acids and washes. It would only be economical in an industrial setting involving thousands of pounds. But, if you want to try to recharge your resin here is an excellent article on how to do it. First you have to use some pretty dangerous chemicals and acids to separate the anion and cation resins before the renewing can take place. read all about it.
How to Recharge DI Resin by David Sanders - Reefkeeping.com

I have been researching a source of the filtration resin in large amounts. 125 pound cardboard drums and larger. It looks like it could be gotten for about 30% of the regular price, but I have to buy four drums or 500 pounds. And I ALREADY don't have space for all my stuff!

But there is one thing you can do to improve the life of your filter media. And that is to use a pre filter and replace it after every second wash. This is the one that I use. It is refilled the same way as the big CR filters and with the exact same stuff.
I can't put a link but you can Google, Pure Water Products, or water filter for washing cars.

[Mobile detail]

Unfortunately, not true. The filter media the CR (and every other similar filter) uses is a mixed media. It would be possible to recharge the single media types but to do so requires various acids and washes. It would only be economical in an industrial setting involving thousands of pounds. But, if you want to try to recharge your resin here is an excellent article on how to do it. First you have to use some pretty dangerous chemicals and acids to separate the anion and cation resins before the renewing can take place. read all about it.
How to Recharge DI Resin by David Sanders - Reefkeeping.com

I have been researching a source of the filtration resin in large amounts. 125 pound cardboard drums and larger. It looks like it could be gotten for about 30% of the regular price, but I have to buy four drums or 500 pounds. And I ALREADY don't have space for all my stuff!

But there is one thing you can do to improve the life of your filter media. And that is to use a pre filter and replace it after every second wash. This is the one that I use. It is refilled the same way as the big CR filters and with the exact same stuff.
I can't put a link but you can Google, Pure Water Products, or water filter for washing cars.

thank you very much for the info. That article is actually way better then the one that I viewed. So to be clear, you are saying that you can NOT use the above process to recharge your resin in the CR system, or that you can? I have heard of the idea of a pre-filter and agree with that very much. From my limited know how on using filters/water for my salt water tank it seems to make sense. I have also found drums of the resin media. It says it is enough resin to do a complete change 3 times. Ill look for the link and PM. Thanks for the info everyone.