Anyone save rainwater for washing their car?

J

jdbillin

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I want to start saving some rain water to wash vehicles that way I don't have to worry about water spots. I've got a clear tote that i'm going to be keeping it in. When it gets filled up its going to have to be outside but once its full my plan is to move in inside to keep the sun from getting to it. My question is what is the best thing to put in the water to keep it clean? I was just gonna dump some bleach in there but figured id ask and see what other people are using first.

Thanks
Jordan
 
First, is the perceived prevention of water spots the sole purpose of collecting rain water?

My thoughts: I would pick tap water over acid rain any day. Rain where I am at causes water spots, if my car is perfectly clean and it rains, I still see the effects.

If you do give this a try, I would never add anything to the water,especially bleach to clean it. To me it seems like using hose water is less of a hassle.


Sent from my iPhone using AGOnline
 
Not sure where you live but rain where I live in NorCal is pretty impure and contains a lot of minerals and spots horribly on a car.
 
Algae loves Sunlight.

Accordingly...
As to your "Clear Tote":
Paint it black!



Bob
 
I collect rain water, but I use it for my orchids.

Dark barrels don't grow algae, so I'd do what Fun suggested.
 
Dmb5450 said:
First, is the perceived prevention of water spots the sole purpose of collecting rain water?

My thoughts: I would pick tap water over acid rain any day. Rain where I am at causes water spots, if my car is perfectly clean and it rains, I still see the effects.

If you do give this a try, I would never add anything to the water,especially bleach to clean it. To me it seems like using hose water is less of a hassle.


Sent from my iPhone using AGOnline
Click to expand...

The reason i'm wanting to collect it is because the only other water source at the location is just straight well water. I don't plan on washing any customers vehicles with it mostly just my pick-up and farm equipment.

Route246 said:
Not sure where you live but rain where I live in NorCal is pretty impure and contains a lot of minerals and spots horribly on a car.
Click to expand...

I'm in central Ohio I've never noticed any problems with water spots from the rain water, I know one other guy that does it and it works great for him but he's able to keep his tank inside all the time.

FUNX650 said:
Algae loves Sunlight.

Accordingly...
As to your "Clear Tote":
Paint it black!



Bob
Click to expand...

Haha the thought has crossed my mind I know its not gonna hurt anything I also debated on just making a small plywood box to cover the tank.

I know our city water here has a strong chlorine smell to it so that why I was thinking about putting something in the water to help keep it clean, I just need to figure out what is best as how much to put in.
 
Either way I'm going to put a filter in the system to catch any big particles, I know there are many different types of water filters out there i'm curious as to what other guys are running. I doubt i'm the only one thats doing this to wash there vehicles
 
I wouldn't add bleach to it myself. My buddy does this for his tractors and dump trucks but he isn't worried about a spotless finish either with them. Like mentioned before acid rain would be a terrible thing. I would paint it black as well. Also leave the top loose they suck in big time during temp changes
 
Maybe I won't put anything in it and see how long it takes for me to go though it or how long it takes for algae to start growing in it. As of now this is the only option I have besides bucket washing and that's not very practical when everything is covered in mud.
 
Why would washing your car with acid rain be any more harmful than driving around all day in acid rain? I'd be more worried about particulates in the rain water - roof debris, etc, you wouldn't want scraping on your car. The big stuff would settle to the bottom, maybe make sure you give it a day or two to settle after a rain, then draw from the top? A crude filter would be even better. The rain water would be softer than hard well water, less chance of spotting. Maybe wash your car with the well water, then rinse with rain water? I'd be interested in what you figure out.
 
10,000 liter rain water tank with duel filters. Dont have acid rain in Tasmania due to zero smog, etc,etc
 
chet31 said:
Why would washing your car with acid rain be any more harmful than driving around all day in acid rain? I'd be more worried about particulates in the rain water - roof debris, etc, you wouldn't want scraping on your car. The big stuff would settle to the bottom, maybe make sure you give it a day or two to settle after a rain, then draw from the top? A crude filter would be even better. The rain water would be softer than hard well water, less chance of spotting. Maybe wash your car with the well water, then rinse with rain water? I'd be interested in what you figure out.
Click to expand...

I'll keep you posted, The tank it all filled up and I have one screen mesh filter installed. I was kinda worried about stuff getting into the tank as well thinking that if we were going to get a lot of rain ill let it rinse off the roof first then start filling up the tank but I don't know how practical that will be.

Tasmania said:
10,000 liter rain water tank with duel filters. Dont have acid rain in Tasmania due to zero smog, etc,etc
Click to expand...

Do you have any problems with anything growing in the tank?
 
I would go for Tap Water rather than acid rain for my car.
 
jdbillin said:
I'll keep you posted, The tank it all filled up and I have one screen mesh filter installed. I was kinda worried about stuff getting into the tank as well thinking that if we were going to get a lot of rain ill let it rinse off the roof first then start filling up the tank but I don't know how practical that will be.



Do you have any problems with anything growing in the tank?
Click to expand...

No not at all it has a 3rd filter to keep birds/mice out but we are clean people with no mess around
for anything like that to happen.

plus we keep a good eye on things. if you store water for to long it can get a bit of sludge at the bottom
but that is to be expected from any water source.

2x filters from the down pipes and 1x on the tank that only water can pass through, plus 1x at the tap end.

use it to drink or wash the cars, if you can drink it, you can wash cars with it. IMO =)
 
Figured i'd post an update, so far the rain water is working great. I got the tank moved inside and haven't had any problems with anything growing in it yet. I put a couple cap fulls of bleach in the water just as a precaution. I haven't done any black vehicles yet but so far I haven't had any problems with water spots which was the whole reason for doing this.
 
Thanks for the update. Do you do any filtering? Also, do you pump the water out of the barrel, gravity feed, or just dip a bucket in it?
 
I've been pumping the water out of the bottom with a small 110v water pump that I use to feed the power-washer.
I have one screen filter in-line before the pump.
 
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