# Nilfisk Linked to Water Butt



## ddave05 (May 23, 2010)

Afternoon All,

I will be soon moving to a new house which has a garage D) and some room for me to fit a water butt rainwater harvesting system.

I have an idea of the butts I want to fit (x2 in line):
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Harcostar-litre-******-Raintrap-Diverter/dp/B005S0EW5Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1447586816&sr=8-1&keywords=350l+water+butt

What I was wondering was, would I be able to link this to my Nilfisk C110? My searches on the internet so far have been inconclusive. I also wanted to know what the best level of filtration would be prior to any harvested water entering the butt (without too much flow restriction).

I've had a look at this thread but I'm unsure whether the connectors will fit the Nilfisk:
http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=369407


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## TonyH38 (Apr 7, 2013)

Best to have the water butts raised of the ground by at least a foot.


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## camerashy (Feb 9, 2014)

I too have been wondering about using water for my shed water butt for washing the car but am concerned that it may have suspended debris both from the atmosphere, dirt in the eaves spout and roofing felt and my own conclusion is that tap water will be safer leaving the butt water for the garden.
Others may have a different view 
Dave


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## ddave05 (May 23, 2010)

TonyH38 said:


> Best to have the water butts raised of the ground by at least a foot.


Indeed they will be raised - I have bricks and paving slabs which will ensure this.

I will have 2 butts together in series which will hopefully remove the risk of debris as much as possible. I will also put gauze between the water inlets from the drain, and between the butts to limit the amount of debris and grit as much as possible.

I was just wondering what kit I would need to create a filter in-line with the hose that ties the butt to the Nilfisk.

Also wondering what bits I'd need to ensure the flow is restricted as little as possible.


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## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

How far away from the water butts do you want to use the power washer? Is that location level with / below where the butts are?

My post gives all the detail you need on what bits to use - it gives a very unrestricted flow and includes the addition of an inline filter (kit list is at the very end). I'm assuming your Nilfisk has a standard ¾" BSP inlet thread? I gave this a lot of thought and came to the conclusion if you "only" have room for two butts (as I do) then your best bet is to use gravity filtration (ie rain goes into first butt, any heavy debris falls to bottom) then link the two butts about a quarter of the way up, which avoids stirring up any settled sludge but maximises the usable capacity.
Finally, install the large outlet for the PW at the same level as you linked the butts. Again, this avoids feeding settled matter into the machine but also maximises the head (and hence pressure) you get from the second butt. As a final safeguard, an in line filter will catch anything that might harm the PW before it reaches it.

Having been using rainwater through the Kränzle since I installed the feed, I've checked the filter after every use and never found anything. The bonus is the minimal water spotting if you don't dry the car off :thumb:


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## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

Just looked at the butts you linked to, the that money you could get a 1000 litre IBC tank delivered.... Just a thought. Also, what are you collecting water from? If it's much bigger than a garage roof, that diverter may struggle in heavy rain.


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## ddave05 (May 23, 2010)

steelghost said:


> How far away from the water butts do you want to use the power washer? Is that location level with / below where the butts are?
> 
> My post gives all the detail you need on what bits to use - it gives a very unrestricted flow and includes the addition of an inline filter (kit list is at the very end). I'm assuming your Nilfisk has a standard ¾" BSP inlet thread? I gave this a lot of thought and came to the conclusion if you "only" have room for two butts (as I do) then your best bet is to use gravity filtration (ie rain goes into first butt, any heavy debris falls to bottom) then link the two butts about a quarter of the way up, which avoids stirring up any settled sludge but maximises the usable capacity.
> Finally, install the large outlet for the PW at the same level as you linked the butts. Again, this avoids feeding settled matter into the machine but also maximises the head (and hence pressure) you get from the second butt. As a final safeguard, an in line filter will catch anything that might harm the PW before it reaches it.
> ...


Cheers Steelghost. I thought about an IBC but the space I have available will only just be able to fit the butts I highlighted. The washer will be about 1-2 meters max from the butt - I bought a 15m high pressure hose for the Nilfisk meaning I can keep the unit close to the butt. I will raise the butts on breeze blocks and paving slabs - they will be a good level higher than the pressure washer inlet

Interesting point about having the outlet on the same level as where the butts are linked - I was going to link them at the top.

I am unsure about the connectors for the hosing - I have had a look at your post but need to make sure the connectors will fit on my Nilfisk.

I think gravity filtration is the way, I just dont want to be going back and forth changing/cleaning the filters constantly


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## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

For 1-2m you probably don't *need* anything more than ¾" / 19mm tubing, to be honest. But since it's such a short run of pipe, I'd still go with 1" / 25mm to make sure of enough flow even if the butt is less full (or in case you ever get a bigger PW!)


From what I can tell the inlet on your Nilfisk (as on the majority of machines) is a ¾" BSP thread, which as standard accepts a Hozelock type quick connect adapter. This is just the same as on my Kränzle so you would need the female to female 1" to ¾" adaptor - this screws onto the PW inlet, giving a 1" thread that you can then screw the male camlock fitting to. 

The filter that is inline with the pipe will never need changing - it's a stainless steel mesh (essentially, cloth made out of very fine steel wire). To clean it all you have to do is unscrew the housing and run the tap for a few seconds - the whole process takes 30 seconds, max. But that's something you'd only need to do every once in a while, after you'd satisfied yourself that you weren't getting loads of debris coming through (and with two butts, I'd be very surprised if that were the case).


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## ddave05 (May 23, 2010)

steelghost said:


> For 1-2m you probably don't *need* anything more than ¾" / 19mm tubing, to be honest. But since it's such a short run of pipe, I'd still go with 1" / 25mm to make sure of enough flow even if the butt is less full (or in case you ever get a bigger PW!)
> 
> From what I can tell the inlet on your Nilfisk (as on the majority of machines) is a ¾" BSP thread, which as standard accepts a Hozelock type quick connect adapter. This is just the same as on my Kränzle so you would need the female to female 1" to ¾" adaptor - this screws onto the PW inlet, giving a 1" thread that you can then screw the male camlock fitting to.
> 
> The filter that is inline with the pipe will never need changing - it's a stainless steel mesh (essentially, cloth made out of very fine steel wire). To clean it all you have to do is unscrew the housing and run the tap for a few seconds - the whole process takes 30 seconds, max. But that's something you'd only need to do every once in a while, after you'd satisfied yourself that you weren't getting loads of debris coming through (and with two butts, I'd be very surprised if that were the case).


Perfect - thanks bud :thumb: Now, time for me to get ordering!


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## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

Welcome  Just a couple of extra points from me; make sure you get, or have to hand when assembling, a roll of plumbers PTFE tape, since a lot of these joints won't be properly watertight without (also the PTFE really helps when screwing them together as it lowers the friction, helps you get the joints done up properly).

Although your PW is only a short distance from the butts, I'd go with a bit more pipe than you think you'll need, maybe 3m - 1" pipe is a lot stiffer and less cooperative than your average garden hose, and if you force it through too tight a curve, it will start to 'flatten' and you'll create a flow restriction, defeating the object of going with a big diameter pipe in the first place :doublesho

Also - if you're worried about muck in the water, you can specify a finer mesh in the filter than I used - given you're using 1" pipe and only a short run, you can afford to sacrifice a little bit of flow to improve the filtering.


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## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

ddave05 said:


> Indeed they will be raised - I have bricks and paving slabs which will ensure this.
> 
> I will have 2 butts together in series which will hopefully remove the risk of debris as much as possible. I will also put gauze between the water inlets from the drain, and between the butts to limit the amount of debris and grit as much as possible.
> 
> ...


Just re-read this post and if it were me, I'm not sure I'd bother with any of this other than a coarse wire mesh to stop things like leaves and dead birds (no, really - don't ask me how I have come to know this) entering the first water butt. Anything remotely heavy in the water entering the butt will drop out to the bottom. The pipe joining the two water butts (assuming 1/4 the way up) would be well clear of the bottom so no sludge makes it into the second water butt, and the outlet in the second butt is again higher than the sludge, but well below anything that might be floating on the surface.

If you want you can swap the 50 mesh filter I listed in my other thread, to an 80 mesh one then you're taking out everything above 177 microns ie 0.177mm! From what I've seen (or rather, not seen!) in that filter, I'm not even sure it's completely necessary but it's a good safety net to have.


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

Having run my PW from water tanks for years and years, I have found absolutely no need to have a filter for a couple of reasons:

1. dirt either floats on the surface of your butt/tank or sinks. As long as your exit from the tank is a couple of inches above the base then nothing will come out

2. nothing gets through the PW anyway as they have an inline filter 99% of the time

I would also look carefully at the flow rate of your Nilfisk and read the manual about how well it draws from a tank. The chances are it will need more water in than it can pull down a thin hose from a tank and you will quickly knacker it if you dont have a pumped water feed.

Mine is designed specifically to draw from a static tank but still benefits from a small pump in the tank that feeds sufficient L/min to feed the PW. If I run it without the pump operating the motor really labours.

Good luck - its well worth it as water spots become a thing of the past!


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## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

https://parts.nilfisk-advance.com/Includes/Includer.aspx?download=true&id=24631637449579

Page 11:

"The machine can also operate in suction mode, meaning that you can connect the machine to e.g. rainwater vessels, rivers, lakes and cisterns etc. When taking in water from non drinking water mains the backflow preventer is not needed.

When connecting the machine to operate from pressure less water supplies - always use additional filtering to secure that impurities are not sucked in. Hose length should be max. 3 metre and of minimum ½"."


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## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

Bigpikle said:


> Having run my PW from water tanks for years and years, I have found absolutely no need to have a filter for a couple of reasons:
> 
> 1. dirt either floats on the surface of your butt/tank or sinks. As long as your exit from the tank is a couple of inches above the base then nothing will come out
> 
> ...


I've only been using my PW off the water butt for a short while (six weeks or so) but I tend to agree with you; the filter I put in the hose just isn't catching anything, because it isn't there to catch.

Hopefully my assessment won't change when we get to the summer months


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## Uncle Winnet (May 10, 2006)

been using my Nilfisk on my rain water harvesting ive got a 100 lt rain but linked to 2 1000 litre ibc ive never found anything in the filter after 2 years of use


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