Water filtration

[jonjon_u]

While surfing the net, I have discovered that some detailing enthusiasts use a water filtration system as part of their car washing routine. If I have understood correctly, the water passing through a sediment filter and a water softening filter is rid of impurities that cause micromarring, and helps achieve a water spot-free paint.

I thus got curious. Does a use of such a water filtration system really reduce the chances of micromarring? Does it really eliminate water spots?

Thanks.

[grabby]

jonjon_u,

Here at my house we use water purifiers for our drinking water supply. It's a set of filters, probably what you've seen on the net, that connects from our regular water supply (Nawasa for us Filipinos) to a faucet. So generally, we rely on those filters to remove all the impurities from the regular water line to our glasses on the table. These filters have an order. From one filter that filters the largest particles to the last filter that filters the smallest particle. How many filters would be up to you but there's a minimum on how many filters you should have to effectively filter the water for drinking.

I've tried experimenting on that once. I sprayed my hood with water straight from the water line and left it to dry. The next morning, I had yellow water spots on the car. When I came in to inspect closer, it was something like fine sand. I gave the car a wash and did the same thing just before going to bed but this time I used water that was filtered by my purifier. I woke up and there was nothing on the hood. No water marks whatsoever.

I wanted to wash my car with this but the filters can be expensive to put in my garage (my filters are beside the kitchen window and on the second floor of my house) and since the water goes through so many filters, water pressure is reduced significantly.

What I just do is that I use purified water in my car wash solution. It gives off more suds since the water is softer.

As for the micromarring, it would probably be significantly reduced as well if pure water was used. Like I said, when I performed my experiment, the water spots left fine sand like sediments. Imagine all those sediments being splashed on to the surface of the car with a pressure washer or even a hose with ample pressure.

As far as this goes, that's mostly what I know about this.

Grabby

[TonyfromOz]

Gentlemen.
I suppose it sounds like a good idea.
It could be further enhanced with the use of Evian.
I'm only joking really, but I would think that the two bucket method would really be enough to do the job correctly, and you could make use of a grit guard in the bottom of the second bucket to be really certain, and I feel sure that the grit guard would be a lot cheaper than a water filtration unit.

To try and answer the question though, I feel sure that correct washing, sheeting during the final rinse, and then pat drying, all completed in sequence would not lead to water spots.
My perception of water spots might be if the car was parked out in the rain, the rain had some impurities in it, and the rain spots then dried, leaving the impurities to form a circular spot on the paint.

Tony.

[grabby]

Originally Posted by TonyfromOz

Gentlemen.
I suppose it sounds like a good idea.
It could be further enhanced with the use of Evian.
I'm only joking really, but I would think that the two bucket method would really be enough to do the job correctly, and you could make use of a grit guard in the bottom of the second bucket to be really certain, and I feel sure that the grit guard would be a lot cheaper than a water filtration unit.

To try and answer the question though, I feel sure that correct washing, sheeting during the final rinse, and then pat drying, all completed in sequence would not lead to water spots.
My perception of water spots might be if the car was parked out in the rain, the rain had some impurities in it, and the rain spots then dried, leaving the impurities to form a circular spot on the paint.

Tony.

Tony,

To clarify this, this situation would purely depend on the quality of water that is provided. A semester ago, I took a class in Environmental Science and a field trip to our major water reservoir and treatment plant in Metro Manila was required. When we were there, I found out just how polluted our water from the faucet was.

The explanation was this. We are a "developing" country, third world as its definite status with Metro Manila, being the most congested city in the country having six million people as its population. Being so congested and busy, pipe reparation takes "time." About a year is taken just to repair about 10 kilometers of pipes. The major problem of the old pipes is that they're made out of concrete. Cylindrical concrete pipes bunched together and sealed to make way for water. These pipes aren't buried too deep underground and are usually laid under roads. Our roads, being notorious as one of the worst roads in the world, crack easily as tons of cars and ten-wheelers traverse them. In turn, the pipes underground start to crack as well. You can just start to imagine what happens next. All the contaminants, be it grease, gasoline, carbon, toxic wastes, etc seep into these cracks and thus contaminates the water supply.

It has only been lately that MWSS, the department that manages the water supply, has started to modernize and repair the pipes. Even still, three years have gone and not even a tenth of the city's pipes have been replaced and repaired.

Even if our water is filtered and processed at the treatment plant, it still arrives at our homes contaminated.

A lot of times, even if the car is dried down accordingly, a small film of water still remains on the surface. With our water supply, that leads to water spots.

Sometimes, even the right procedure is insufficient if things that are used are of poor quality. Here in the Philippines, one of them is water.

Grabby

[jonjon_u]

Originally Posted by TonyfromOz

I suppose it sounds like a good idea.
It could be further enhanced with the use of Evian.

... similar to my initial reaction when I discovered it in the net. But when I read the reasons for the use of water filtration, I just had to ask here.

Thanks grabby for the feedback.

[TonyfromOz]

Yikes!
How easily we take for granted something as everyday as water out of the tap/faucet.

No wonder something as simple as water is becoming topical, not only in perceived 'Third World' countries, but in developed countries as well.
Remember as children what fun it was to play in the rain.
Now you wouldn't be all that happy seeing your children or grandchildren doing the same.

Grabby. Thank you for the insight.

Tony.

[admin]

In areas where poor water quality affects your car washing routine, the use of filtered water during the rinsing process can provide some good benefits.

[jonjon_u]

Thank you for the reply admin.

[jonjon_u]

Hi. Just to give an update.

Last Saturday morning, I tried to use filtered water for my car washing routine.

Fortunately for me, I woke up a bit late, so I had no choice but to proceed to wash my car along with the gradually rising sun.

I just went on with the wash routine. But in order to satisfy my curiosity, I deliberately did not use my waffle weave to dry the car just yet. Anyway, I'm armed with the knowledge from the forum for removing water spots just in case my experiment fails. The vinegar, the clay, up to the power polish were in stand by.

Well, to make this story shorter than originally intended, I was surprised that no spots could be seen on the paint even though the water evaporated. Water filtration does help avoid water spots in the car washing routine. I recommend it.

[grabby]

jonjon_u,

May I ask how you obtained the filtered water?

Grabby

[jonjon_u]

Originally Posted by grabby

jonjon_u,

May I ask how you obtained the filtered water?

Grabby

I installed a simple set-up where the water I used for car washing has previously passed through a 5 micron sediment filter and a softening filter.

[Wild Hare]

I had my house plumbed so I had a HOT & COLD Faucet in my garage (it's come straight off the house main water supply).
I had worked for a Water Softnr Company and did R.O. (drinking systems) and Water Softing systems as well as Iron filtration systems.

I plumbed my main water supply with the Water Softnr and it runs to the garage faucet. Makes a BIG difference especailly if you can NOT avoid washing in the sun.

Some companies have systems that you can place inline with your hose to wash the car (you have to change the filters often and they don't work as well as the home system does).

By the way... Whirpool makes an inexpensive (R.O.)Reverse Osmosis drinking water system that is sold at most LOWES's for $180 and is a serious cost effective savings vs the so called pure bottled water that you buy incases!!!