Ok, got delayed working on the distilled water “problem”. More specifically since we have 6 tanks each capable of holding more than 20gal… and even if you factor out the gallons of chemicals and what-not… we’re still talking about needing nearly 100gal of distilled water. This is a whole lot to buy from Walmart all at once.
So I’ve decided to setup a more sustainable approach to solving this problem.
Added a 4-stage water filtration system to our mop sink. This will allow us to get all the water we need beyond just filling up the tanks. There’s also the spray bottles of distilled water required during actual production of parts to consider as well.
One catch with a system like this.. the filtered water essentially drips out. This means it’ll take a while to get all the water we need to get going. Meanwhile we’ll need someplace to hold it…
Scott, on our in-house team, happen to have containers he was about to throw away which would be perfect. Rinsing them out will give us plenty of holding capacity for filtered water we need. Initially and into the future which is just awesome.
Hope to have good news next week when we’re mixing chemicals and hopefully… finally be anodizing parts!
Ok… Just like everything else… anytime you want to do something yourself you end up diving in far more than you ever thought possible.
Now i’m trying to figure out why it’s giving me basically a 1:5 ration… 1gal of RODI water to 5gal of “waste” water.
Turns out… it is what’s expected: ro/di waste water problem insanely to much - General Discussion - WAMAS Forums
I’m getting roughly 55psi out of the tap on this mop sink. That’s actually on the low-end… but not terrible. The 4-stage filter can take up to 80psi and still function properly.
It would be better to be closer to 80… but it’s not end of world if it isn’t.
The waste water is literally that… water carrying the waste from the filters.
Running some calculations…
Cost of 1 gal of water in our area is $0.0046
This means for every gallon of RODI ultra pure water it costs me $0.0276
That ain’t bad actually.
It sucks that so much water is going down the drain… but considering the anodization line needs pure water as to not introduce minor defects which could affect the surface of our finished parts. That’s a cost well worth it.
Last time i bought distilled water from walmart, it was 99cents/gallon. Thus… while it may take a while to get the hundred gallons we need, it is cheaper to produce RODI water ourselves.
I am capturing the waste-water. I haven’t figured out what to do with it just yet. Maybe it’s time to buy a hot tub… LOL.
Looks like I’m getting a 1:7 ratio out of this filter. That isn’t great but isn’t bad compared to some folks who’ve complained on other forums.
I have ordered a “booster pump” which should increase the water pressure going into the filter. Boosting it from 55-ish up to the 80psi limit for this filter.
That, i’m reading, should reduce the amount of waste water since there is an optimum PSI for these filtering systems and 55 ain’t it.
I am surprised that there is not a commercial source of distilled water available for you locally where you can but it in 55 gal drums. I know that here in south eastern Virginia it is available for industrial uses in 55 gal drums. But I am in a very populated area. Several Navy bases, an Air force base, an Army Base. A lot of industry to support it.
It helps knowing such a thing exists… LOL.
Although I went looking and it seems in this area it’s still cheaper to make it ourselves at 3cents/gallon or buy it for just under $2/gal at a store.
It’s looking like i can get 5gal every 4 or so hours… i’ll do a mixture of making it and buying it.
I suspect the industrial supply companies also would want you to pay for the drum, and iffy on refunding full cost for returning an empty drum.
When i deep dive… i really deep dive into something
I think this is the best part of any maker business. The opportunity to deep dive into almost any topic you want to in order to accomplish your goal.
It is also awesome to engage with folks like you who have have different knowledge and always help kick the can down the road a little bit further.
The tanks are finally full. It took a week but i’ve been able to get all of the tanks appropriately filled with RODI water. I’m producing another 10gal just to fill up spray bottles since that’s required between tanks.
If all goes well, i will be anodizing tomorrow!!! finally!!!
