Pool sand filter for the shop drain?

[ZooCity]

Who has a pool that could enlighten me on how these work?  If you use a sand trap like this Hayward Pro model-
http://www.hayward-pool.com/prd/In-Ground-Pool-Sand-Filters-Pro-Series-Top-Mount_10201_10551_13503_-1_17009_15516_I.htm

-could you run your washout drain into it by using a catch and sump pump? 

I guess I'm just not clear on how the back flushing works or if this would be even vaguely appropriate.  I can pick one up for practically free at the moment. 

[Screened Gear]

zoo,

That's a good idea but I don't think it would work. You have to use alot of water to back wash a sand filter. My pool takes about 2 mins to back wash with about 200 gallons of water or more. You will also have problems because alot of the inks and emulsion will get stuck in the sand making the sand locked tight. Another thing that would make it not work is a sand filter is pressurized by the pool pump. You can't just drain water into it and expect the water to drain out. You need the pump to push the water thru the filter.

Sorry to be so negative...

[ZooCity]

Ahhh, I see.  I could get a pump for it too but now this sounds like a major operation.  That's a lot of wasted water in the back flushing as well.  I think a cart system like the ones blackline sells would be a better solution for us.  I believe the cart's filter to finer particle size anyhow and we pre-filter everything through screen mesh. 

Thanks for the input.

I'm going to start a follow up thread on filtration now that I'm thinking about it.

[Screened Gear]

Zoo,

The filters out on the market are just large particle filters (like screen mesh or fabric pads "cooler pads") and then a sump pump that pumps the gravity filtered water from the bottom of the container thru a reverse osmosis filter to your drain. I looked at getting one but I use all drain safe chemicals and I filter out all the larger particles in my wash out booth. I may build one this next year to be more green here. You can build one for next to nothing if you get the parts used.

Jon

[ZooCity]

Yeah, we use drain safe and filter the solids here.  I think, combined with good cleanup habits, this is perfectly safe for plastisol shops.  WB is another story.  From what I've read city sewer systems, unless they are more state of the art, don't likely have the ability to filter this stuff out of the water supply. 

I think I'm going to build one that's a combo of the blackline and the cci one.  I'd like to use a coarse filter of old screen mesh as the first filtration to catch the tape and the big chunks.  Then have a pump system like the blackline one but use more and possibly finer carts. 

Last off, and this is a little ambitious perhaps, I think it would be cool to filter the water so thoroughly that it's actually cleaner than the stuff coming in from the city main and recycle it for washing out the screens.  How rad would that be?  Super clean water (less water spots and contamination) and re-using it over and over (lower water bill).  Done right it could almost close the loop of water consumption in the shop, though you'd maybe need to replenish from time to time. 

This isn't my own idea, I believe hydrobooth makes a model like this.

[Screened Gear]

re-using it over and over (lower water bill).

I am no expert on this but I would guess you would not save any money. You would need to use some sort of pump so your pressure washer gets water. I don't think they can pump their own water supply from like a bucket. The power the pump uses would cost more then the savings in water, if there is any. We water our yard in the summer more than we do in the winter. (Arizona green grass year round) we cut the water usage by about 40% in the winter and the water bill is almost not even effected.

Sorry for shooting down your savings but the greener and cleaner water part may be true.

[ZooCity]

re-using it over and over (lower water bill).

I am no expert on this but I would guess you would not save any money. You would need to use some sort of pump so your pressure washer gets water. I don't think they can pump their own water supply from like a bucket. The power the pump uses would cost more then the savings in water, if there is any. We water our yard in the summer more than we do in the winter. (Arizona green grass year round) we cut the water usage by about 40% in the winter and the water bill is almost not even effected.

Sorry for shooting down your savings but the greener and cleaner water part may be true.

That makes sense as far as the bills go.  From a conservation viewpoint it's a real wash (har har) i guess- either use more water or use more electricity to recycle the water.

[sweetts]

I have been think of two  way to handle this. One would be a setup like a large aquarium filter, catch drain water and pump it through a multi stage filter in one big container or use two sediment filter packs and pump the water through with a sump pump.