Reclaim Systems for Car Washes

A reclaim system act as an efficient method of car wash water recycling. Leftover water is collected after your customers use the wash and is treated so it can be reused as fresh water for future washes. Essentially, a car wash water reclaim system restores wastewater back to the quality you’d expect from the city water that enters your plumbing system. You can save significant amounts of money by treating water on your own to reduce water usage and consequently lower your water bill. Stop dumping profit potential into the sewer! Water reclaim is a valuable concept for all types of washes from self-serve to automatics to larger tunnels, but the size (GPM capacity) is different depending on your application. Aside from being good for your wallet, water reclamation systems also minimize your environmental impact.

How Does a Car Wash Reclaim System Work?

Although there are different options for exactly how the process works, most reclaim systems use the same basic process.

Collect Water

Drainage and plumbing are set up to collect water at each point where it's used. All of the water used throughout the wash process, along with the contaminants and chemicals that are picked up along the way, are grabbed and moved into the filtering process.

Separating and Filtering

Collected water from the wash process then moves to tanks and equipment that separate and filter out solids from the water. The exact method depends on the system you choose, and often involves multiple of these common filtering methods:

Gravity Settling Tanks that allow heavier solids to settle at the bottom tank to separate from the water.
Hydrocyclones that use centrifugal force in a spinning chamber that throws solids against the wall of the chamber while water moves through the center of the chamber.
Sand Filtration that traps solids between layers of sand, allowing clean water to pass through.
Activated Carbon that absorbs organic material, chemicals, odor, and some gasses.
Membrane Filters that employ semipermeable materials to separate impurities and water. You might think of it like a very advanced coffee filter.

Treatment

After filtering, further treatment may be done to further clean the remaining water. For example, these methods may be used:

Chemical Coagulation and Flocculation that uses chemicals to either destabilize particulates so they're no longer harmful, or clump them together so they're easier to remove.
UV (Ultraviolet) Disinfection to kill bacteria, microbes, and other harmful microorganisms.
Ozone Gas treatment neutralizes harmful microorganisms and contaminants.

Reclaimed Water Storage and Reuse

Once water has been properly treated, it is sent to a clean tank or reservoir to be held until it's ready for use. At this point, it can go straight to bays for presoak, prerinsing, and other vehicle cleaning functions that don’t necessarily require totally pure water. Recycled water may also discharge to an RO system for purification.

How Much Does a Car Wash Reclaim System Cost?

Like any high-quality car wash equipment, you should prepare to make a significant investment if you choose to add a reclaim system. For most car washes, you should expect to pay between $25,000 and $50,000 for a system. You will also want to account for the time it takes to prepare your infrastructure and install the system. Of course, you will recoup these costs with the savings you'll see on your water bill.

You may find water reclaim systems as inexpensive as $5,000, but they probably aren't intended for the volume and durability required by car washes. Conversely, you may come across water recycling systems with a price north of $100,000. These are probably intended for industrial applications or very high-volume car washes, and it's probably not necessary for you to pay that amount.

Pay careful attention to specifications like GPM (gallons-per-minute) capacity and filtering methods to get exactly what you need without spending more than necessary. Keep quality in mind. Take note of the pumps to the materials that the system is built with - sacrificing some upfront cost may save you on maintenance in the future.

Use Chemicals that are Safe for Reclaim Systems

Even the most effective reclaim systems will have trouble treating water if you're using extremely harsh chemicals. To maximize the effectiveness of your recycling process, the best idea is to use car wash chemicals that are specifically formulated to be safe with reclaim systems. For example, we offer the environmentally friendly, biodegradable NEXCYCLE line of chemicals for this purpose.

What's the Difference Between Reclaim and RO?

It's important to understand that reclaim and reverse osmosis systems serve different purposes at a car wash. Although they are both part of the water treatment process, one is not interchangeable with the other. Reclaiming water is basically continuously recycling water to use again. With each reclaim cycle, the water restores to a similar quality to what you would see from municipal water that you pay to bring into your wash. Of course, there will be some loss each cycle due to things like evaporation.

RO, on the other hand, takes it a step further and purifies water so that there are almost no TDS (totally dissolved solids) remaining in the water. This is the quality of water you need to offer a true spot-free rinse. At a minimum, you need RO for that purpose. Optimally, you also use RO-treated water to get the absolute best performance from soaps and chemicals.

Do You Need Both RO and Reclaim at Your Car Wash?

If your goal is to optimize the efficiency of your car wash and create sustainable success, the answer is: yes. Once you understand the distinct purposes for reclaim and RO, it's easy to see why top-level car washes use both of them. While you can operate a car wash without either of these functions, it's a wasteful approach both from a financial and environmental standpoint. It's highly recommended to invest in both reclaim and RO systems.

Water Odor Control

The reclaim process often does a good job of removing foul odors from water, which is a good sign that water is fresh and creates a more positive customer experience. Some systems even include components specifically intended to get rid of the contaminants that cause bad smells. If you already have a reclaim system but are still experiencing unpleasant water odor, you can purchase separate equipment to pair with your existing system and tackle foul odors.