Resp Water Use - Chiller Users Only

[Screwtop]

Firstly this subject has not been raised to debate the benefits of chill/no chill methods, I simply want to raise the subject of responsible water usage for those who do prefer to use some sort of water cooled heat transfer device for chilling their hot wort.

For those using chillers: Have you been able to reduce water usage using your chiller? If so how have you done this, or are you contemplating using some means of reducing water usage.

I know some are using a bucket and bilge pump, recirculating back to the bucket, refilling when the water gets too warm for the pump. My swimming pool is only metres from the shed/brewery and I have wanted to use some type of pump to utilise the pool water via the chiller and returning to the pool. Not keen on 240V submersibles, or any submersibles for that matter. The small 12V pressure pumps used for caravan water distribution would be good but they retail for $110.00. Thought about an old washing machine pump or dishwasher pump, irrigation pumps are far too expensive. Also considered putting a 3 way valve in the pool filtration system return line and fitting a half inch outlet to one valve outlet, this would then flow via the chiller and return to the pool via length of hose. Some of the flow could be diverted by the position of the valve control via the chiller, returning to the pool via a length of hose, the rest returning to the pool via the other valve outlet (via the normal return piping).

What are you using or what do you think would work?

 

[Jye]

I have 2 30L cubes that I chuck in the fridge and chill down, these then get run through the IM chiller and the last 10L gets recirculated with about 20L of ice I keep in the freezer of my kegerator. I have zero water wastage and very fast chilling.

Why dont you want to use a submersible pump? Ive been using a small bilge pump for a while now and it works great.

I like the idea of using the pool pump

Edit - Using chilled water I am able to chill to below 40C in about 5 min but it take another 25 min to get below the 20C mark. I can continue to chill to 10C and regular chill my ales to 15C and cold pitch the yeast. The this particularly useful when pitching onto a yeast cake.

 

[Screwtop]

I have 2 30L cubes that I chuck in the fridge and chill down, these then get run through the IM chiller and the last 10L gets recirculated with about 20L of ice I keep in the freezer of my kegerator. I have zero water wastage and very fast chilling.

Why dont you want to use a submersible pump? Ive been using a small bilge pump for a while now and it works great.

I like the idea of using the pool pump

How long does the first cube last before you have to change it over Jye, and what LPH is the Bilge pump. Only paranoid about submersible high voltage things in the swimming pool really :unsure:

 

[bugwan]

Nothing to fear from using a bilge/submersible pump in a pool - certainly the best way to move liquids around, and they're designed to be used underwater, so no risk of electrocution...

They can be had on eBay for less than $20! 200W is probably overkill too - see below...

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/250W-Submersible-Wa...1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Jye]

How long does the first cube last before you have to change it over Jye, and what LPH is the Bilge pump. Only paranoid about submersible high voltage things in the swimming pool really :unsure:

Its 500 LPH, probably less than that since it has to pump through the IM. I think it takes about 4-5 min to pump the first 30L. No problems here with high voltage since its 12V.

 

[Tony M]

My immersion chiller cost me about 250 litre of water every time I used it. It would have been a lot more efficient had I used some sort of stirrer to agitate the wort. I changed to a counterflow chiller which dropped the water usage to under 150 litre and since I incorporated a post chiller which contains 2Kg. of ice in a slurry, I have been able to drop the water flow rate significantly further and in the winter when the tapwater is around 18C my lager wort comes out at 14C so I can pitch immediately.

 

[Jye]

My immersion chiller cost me about 250 litre of water every time I used it. It would have been a lot more efficient had I used some sort of stirrer to agitate the wort.

Yes this helps a lot. I pump continuously from the tap into a return at the top of the wort level.

 

[Screwtop]

Nothing to fear from using a bilge/submersible pump in a pool - certainly the best way to move liquids around, and they're designed to be used underwater, so no risk of electrocution...

They can be had on eBay for less than $20! 200W is probably overkill too - see below...

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/250W-Submersible-Wa...1QQcmdZViewItem

Thanks Bug, I know all that but

Its 500 LPH, probably less than that since it has to pump through the IM. I think it takes about 4-5 min to pump the first 30L. No problems here with high voltage since its 12V.

Jye, Do you recirc back to the cube? and how do you fit a submersible in through the cube opening? Sorry more questions than Tony Barber I know

 

[Jye]

My freezer is stuffed with 2L milk bottles cut in half with water and I fill my HLT with these huge ice blocks. The chilled water is the then poured into the HLT with the ice blocks and pumped through the chiller and back into the cube. The last 10L from the second cube is redirected back to the HLT and recirculated through the ice.

 

[Darren]

Screwtop,

Simply use the first water out of your chiller for clean-up and divert the rest into the pool for top-up. After all your pool will need topping up anyhow.

cheers

Darren

 

[stillscottish]

Nothing to fear from using a bilge/submersible pump in a pool - certainly the best way to move liquids around, and they're designed to be used underwater, so no risk of electrocution...

They can be had on eBay for less than $20! 200W is probably overkill too - see below...

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/250W-Submersible-Wa...1QQcmdZViewItem

I see that all these pumps state that they are not to be used for constant circulation, this use will shorten their life.
Does anyone have any experience of this?
Would half an hour or so for wort chilling count as constant use?

I was thinking about getting one for use with my "water purifier" but I'm not sure how it would go for 8 hours at a time. Another thing to consider is the effect of corrosion to the copper from salty chlorinated pool water.

All in all though, I think it's time I did my bit for the water shortage and got one.

Campbell

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

It seems to me that if you have a swimming pool and don't manage to use it for chilling, you are breaking a law that I would introduce if I was elected to... oh...

There seems to be heaps of people who use March pumps for moving liquids around their brewery - if you have or want/need/desire one of these, would you not be able to also use it to shift pool water through your chiller?

I bought a submersible bilge pump about 16 years ago for *mumble* and it ran off 12volts (a car battery I carried in a backpack) - it was a little ripper. Bunnings sells cheap water-feature pumps that are submersible and run off 12 volts - no chance of anything bad happening there. One of them and some garden hose and you're away!

 

[Tony]

Not keen on 240V submersibles, or any submersibles for that matter.

Why not..... if they wernt safe... they wouldnt sell them. I have seen these thinds sit in some horrid sump situations for years, pumping god knows what and they were fine. Im talking so bad that people wouldnt put their arms in if they blocked up, we would get a suck truck in to clear it so it could be fixed.

Mine came out of industrial aircons. Davey submersables.

I can sit it on the pool step, turn it on and let it run for hours if i want without using a drop of water. I finish brewing, turn on the chiller pump in the pool and we go out for the arvo. I come home, turn it off and usually find the brew is at like 15 deg c. I cant get it that cool with tap water.

I always flush the coil out with fresh water after i am done. As to what damage it does internally, i dont know..... i guess i will find out one day.

I will be using the same thing for my water purifier as well

linky to my previous post on the subject:

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...l=pool&st=0

cheers

 

[Screwtop]

Screwtop,

Simply use the first water out of your chiller for clean-up and divert the rest into the pool for top-up. After all your pool will need topping up anyhow.

cheers

Darren

Darren, that was what I used to do, however due to constant rain here from april to June, I haven't put water in the pool since the last rain. Only 2 inches of freeboard at present so no need for topping up. Maybe if I had a tank I could run the waste to it and use it during dry spells for the garden. We are not on restrictions here but soon our dams will be connected to others in the South Eastern corner, then we will have restrictions. Still the responsible thing to do is to figure out some way of better utilising the resource when it comes to chilling beer.

 

[Sammus]

I see that all these pumps state that they are not to be used for constant circulation, this use will shorten their life.
Does anyone have any experience of this?
Would half an hour or so for wort chilling count as constant use?

I was thinking about getting one for use with my "water purifier" but I'm not sure how it would go for 8 hours at a time. Another thing to consider is the effect of corrosion to the copper from salty chlorinated pool water.

All in all though, I think it's time I did my bit for the water shortage and got one.

Campbell

Get a pond pump, I think most them are rated for continuous use...

ed: they are submersible too

 

[SJW]

My freezer is stuffed with 2L milk bottles cut in half with water and I fill my HLT with these huge ice blocks. The chilled water is the then poured into the HLT with the ice blocks and pumped through the chiller and back into the cube. The last 10L from the second cube is redirected back to the HLT and recirculated through the ice.

Jye your a legend. What a great idea. After going to all the trouble of not cutting a hole in the top of my HLT and just slipping the element through the spear hole, I think I might just ease that hole out a bit now, just big enough to drop a few 1.25l frozen pet ice blocks in.
The only problem I can see is that there would still be a fair bit of heat in the s/s keg, but I guess you would have the hour or so during the boil to let it cool down and flush with tap water................just thinking out loud........................... I love it though.
Otherwise I just run the chiller water into the pool to top it up. I need to do it every week or so in summer anyway, so there is not wasted water in that case. That is of course when I use the N* C*%$#@r M&%$*d

Steve

 

[Tony]

I no chilled a beer a while back..... when it all started and it wasnt the best beer i have ever made. I put it down to a poor brew and left it at that.

I always felt deep down it was the whole No Chill thing that had something to do with it.

So i did 2 more. one was a single brew day. I no chilled it, let it sit for a week and firmented it.

The next was on a double brew day. one got chilled, one got No Chilled.

The chilled beer (an english bitter) is great. It holds a creamy head that laces down the glass.

The two no chill beers (a porter and a rauchbier) were great tasting beers as well, clear, but wouldnt hold a head. The porter still wont and its been in rthe keg for a couple of months now.

Its probably me that stuffed it up but the method doesnt work for me.

So im happy to chill from the pool to save water and in summer when the pool needs topping up i will top it up through the chiller.

cheers

 

[SJW]

I no chilled a beer a while back..... when it all started and it wasnt the best beer i have ever made. I put it down to a poor brew and left it at that.

I always felt deep down it was the whole No Chill thing that had something to do with it.

So i did 2 more. one was a single brew day. I no chilled it, let it sit for a week and firmented it.

The next was on a double brew day. one got chilled, one got No Chilled.

The chilled beer (an english bitter) is great. It holds a creamy head that laces down the glass.

The two no chill beers (a porter and a rauchbier) were great tasting beers as well, clear, but wouldnt hold a head. The porter still wont and its been in rthe keg for a couple of months now.

Its probably me that stuffed it up but the method doesnt work for me.

So im happy to chill from the pool to save water and in summer when the pool needs topping up i will top it up through the chiller.

cheers

Hey Tony,
You would be drawing a long bow to blame No Chiller Method those 2 beers not being up to scratch would'nt you <_< I must say that I cant find any difference. I am not doubting you at all though. I only no chiller so I can do double brew days and would chill the second. But thats enough No Chiller Talk. We might get flamed :angry:

Steve

 

[Tony]

Its probably me that stuffed it up but the method doesnt work for me.

I dont knock.... just coment on what happens to me.

isnt that all we can do

Its a great idea and method..... saves time and water.

I just dont like it from """MY""" experiences

cheers

 

[Screwtop]

Hey Tony,
You would be drawing a long bow to blame No Chiller Method those 2 beers not being up to scratch would'nt you <_< I must say that I cant find any difference. I am not doubting you at all though. I only no chiller so I can do double brew days and would chill the second. But thats enough No Chiller Talk. We might get flamed :angry:

Steve

Geez, thought it was all gonna start again there for a while, knew I was taking a risk. Thanks Steve