Ha Ha!! Check this recovery idea Out!!

I use to work out of Costco Distribution, and they use a scrubber that scrubs and recovers at the same time. A large, driven unit, about the size of a Honda civic.

The concept is the water/solution is dropped and then the scrubbers scrub the floor and then as it is being driven, at the tail end is a squeegee that pulls the water along the back, which has a suction hose that recovers the water.

Well... Here is my idea...

I am going to attempt to attach a bar on the back of my Big Guy that will be in a u-shape angle so that when I push it along it will capture the water and have a vacuum hose that will reclaim the waste water that will deposit the water into my recovery tank.

Should be very elementary and save thousands of dollars over the $10K alternative.

What do you guys think?

I will post the pics of the finished product.

The auto scrubber uses much less water, and is fairly well controlled as it only spins at 175 rpm within a rubber skirt.
Does the brush skirt on the Big Guy keep the water in and allow it to only come out the back, as it spins at 2000 rpm?
It will still cost you a few good dollars as you will need a vacuum that can use alot of hose, or else you will be stopping to move the vacuum quite often.
Did you get a new trailer or just add another tank, as the pic that you posted awhile back only had one tank. So unless you plan to mix the water you will need two.
Another handy feature will be a good quality filter system, as you will run out of tank space fast, if you can not reuse the water.

Hey Alan...

Long time no hear...

Isn't 175 kind of slow? Even at the 2,000+ rpm, I get swirls if I attempt to go to fast.

75 feet is normally all I need for hose. That is from the street to the back of the garage.

Also, if you get a shop vac with a pump, it will pump the water into the extra tank: the extra tank that I will be purchasing.

I will be adding the second tank in front of the existing tank and a deep tool box towards the tongue of the trailer. Tool Box on the tongue, fill tank in front (behind tool box), reclaimed water in the middle, P/W on the tail.

I can easily modify the skirt to a rubber skirt...

The builder I work with made me their only P/W to do all their current and future projects. Not exactly sure why, perhaps it is because I am the only one who prevents debris from going into the gutters.

The diverter I created simply redirects all the debris and water from the garages into the adjacent dirt/grass, that filters out all nails, dirt and sort and leaves clear water that flows into the gutters and leaves the gutters crud free.

Had some of the pickiest city and county officials standing right there (everyday) talking with the super with no comments what-so-ever about how my water was entering the gutters.

All the supers are pretty impressed how well it works. They say I blow away all the other P/W they have ever had. (I know... I am patting myself on the back, LOL!!)

The reason I want the other device is to do some dumpster areas for restaurants. I know this will attract unwanted attention if I attempt to do it and not reclaim the wastewater.

Take care...

Robert

Check this site out:
http://www.alto-online.com/

Orangecrest,

It sounds like a good idea, however, from what I have discovered (at least in Riverside) our folks at the water quality district seem to have "issues" with any residues left behind (by the scrubbing machine in particular). I would be very interested in what you come up with. Currently I'm in the process of having a closed loop system with an on board recycling system built.


Good Luck.....

Here is one of our wash / capture & recycle rigs.

We have several models to choose from and we
custom build to specification.

Hey Mark,

You always have the cool things, LOL!!

Maybe one day I will be able to hit you up on a real rig...

Originally posted by RobertMid
Orangecrest,

It sounds like a good idea, however, from what I have discovered (at least in Riverside) our folks at the water quality district seem to have "issues" with any residues left behind (by the scrubbing machine in particular). I would be very interested in what you come up with. Currently I'm in the process of having a closed loop system with an on board recycling system built.


Good Luck.....

Click to expand...

My next door neighbor is a code enforcement officer from the city of Temecula and I had him check it out. He said that he wouldn't have any problems with this and said it would meet their needs. Temecula is really hot on this issue.

I will post a pic... A really inexpense fix... I wouldn't suggest anyone using chemicals using it, unless they kept the waste from leaving the property. I don't need to use chemicals, so my waste is normally clean water with dirt that gets filtered out by running through the grass or gravel.

Orange Crest and RobertMid have you met up with Jon from Oasis?
He has a very good trailer set up for capture and recycle and he is in your neck of the woods (Redlands)

Can't say I have, perhaps I have passed him on the 215 or 10 freeways, on my way to Victorville or Beaumont.

I have passed a lot of others, mostly the detailers with their 100-gal tanks and 5.5 HP lawn mower engines, LOL!!

Jons rig is considerably better than that!

Robert,
The floor scrubber is just that a floor scrubber and 175 rpm with the aggitation of the brush or scrub pad is sufficient on most surfaces as chemicals are usually used. The pad is in contact with the surface so their is no stripes. Surfacers leave stripes as they rely on pressure with no aggitation and as you discovered walking to fast will do the trick.
If the water can not escape from under the surface cleaner fast enough, it will slow down the bar and make you move much slower. It will be important to direct the water from under the surfacer at a adequate rate.
Jon from Oasis posted on another bbs that you go to that he would buy you lunch and let you test his Steel Eagle but you never replied. Contact him at opclean@earthlink.net and I am sure the offer will still stand, just not this week as we have much work to do.
What type of vacuum do you use, And have you used it with 75 feet of hose yet?
I know the vacuum will have a pump out in it or you will be there dumping it all day. My point was on the tank and that you will need to filter the water so that you can reuse it, or else you will run out of space real quick.
Maybe you can make the roundtable next time and see what others are doing.

Won't need the recycler for the new construction, but when I use the chems and detergents I will reclaim. Don't need any $10K fines.

My wife’s boss paid a guy $300 to wash out the rest. dumpster, because of a health dept. violation. The guy washed it out with a Home Depot cold-water squirt gun and let the grease run across the parking lot.

It stank so badly in that area, it would make you puke. The health dept. came out and told him to do it again: he couldn’t find the guy!

My wife was pretty upset that he used a fly-by-night scam artist, instead of asking for me to do the job. If he would have used me, I would have had the heat to do the job right, and I would have reclaimed the water.

Sucks that these scam artists get these kinds of jobs when someone legit would have done it right the first time and stood behind their work.

Well… It came back and bit him on the ass. May be next time he will get someone that is qualified.

be careful with Alto, they just filed for bankruptcy to my understanding.

I could be wrong but I thought I saw an ad in the cleaner times for a surface cleaner that has a reclaim hose attached on top.

I have a surface cleaner with a vacuum port, it works great and recovers about 99% of the water.

What size surfacer Grant?

Rodney, You did and they do, but that cost $$$$!

Grant,
would it be possible for you to post some pics. I want to convert my 30" Steel Eagle in to vac recovery.

Jason

I'll take some pictures this week and try to post them. I have not tried to post a picture yet, but it's about time I learn how.