Wort chiller - runoff water

What do you guys do with the water that runs through your wort chiller? We are short on water in this part of the country and I am thinking of ways to recycle or re-use it.

Right now I use it to water the garden, but I get way too much water. I see Don Osborn from the youtube videos runs it into his laundry machine.

I was just wondering if there are any other creative uses out there??

I use it when I clean up nice hot water. As the outlet water gets down in temp I water the lawn with it .

I set up a recirculator with a pond pump from Lowe's. I recirculate the water from the chiller back into the ice water tub with the pump in it.

How big a boil do you need to cool?

Just 5 gallons, but it is a good 15-20 minutes worth of water flowing out.

Richie said:

Just 5 gallons, but it is a good 15-20 minutes worth of water flowing out.

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EdWort has a system that size. Lemme find the link.

Here ya go. If you choose carefully the bucket that holds your ice water can also serve as a fermentation water bath.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/recirculating-ice-water-chiller-38235/

HTH,
P

+1 on watering the lawn.

What do you guys do with the water that runs through your wort chiller? We are short on water in this part of the country and I am thinking of ways to recycle or re-use it.

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We have the same problem in El Paso.
I use a 55 gallon storage tank on wheels for watering the lawn.


I love labels


Cheers,
ClaudiusB

I typically clean the equipment that I used during my brew-day.

I run off the water into a 25 gallon trash can and use it throughout the week to water the potted plants we have outside. I do capture some for cleanup too. I usually get the temp down to 115 and then switch to a ice water recirculation through the chiller.

You could store it in a barrel and continue to water plants with it over several days.

I had a 55 G drum to collect water in (actually used it for tuning outboard motor, but ended up selling the boat.) Never got the chance to store water though, because I put it behind the garage and over the winter, the water at the bottom froze and split the bottom seam. Don't freeze your steel drums.

springer said:

I use it when I clean up nice hot water. As the outlet water gets down in temp I water the lawn with it .

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Likewise. Before I run my chiller, I fill my MLT with all the junk I need to clean and direct the chiller's output to there.

Sawdustguy said:

+1 on watering the lawn.

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I tried running the chiller water onto the lawn once and I didnt think about how hot it is for the first 5 minutes and it actually killed parts of my lawn. So now, I use the first runnings to sanitize the primary, racking cane, etc and the rest goes down the drain. I should use the rest (if it's cool enough) on the lawn or flowers or something.

I fill buckets and use it for cleaning, Then dump it in the grass.

Like others I use the first hot runoff to fill my mash tun and other buckets for cleaning. After that I catch everything in empty 5 gallon water bottles. I usually fill 3 - 4 depending on the temperature of the water. I usually just dump them in the washer for use the next time, usually fills the machine up about 2/3 of the way.

I've only done this once, but I let the first runnings from the IC go into the MLT for cleanup , and after that (10 gallons) recirced through an ice bath.

Wow from hearing about tight water is or 85 degree ground water from many members living in the southern states, this must suck big time.
Here in the S.F. bay area I have city water plus well water. Well water for the yard at 63 degrees, 7.8-8 gallons a minute I run the water over an hour every other day for the garden.
Well water to brew with also plus run it thru the chiller with no problems running the pump 3 hours at a time. The water tables only 12' higher in the winter with the foot valve at 45'. Due to California going into another drought they want us to cut back by 10-15% now and more later was the story to me months ago then if you go over your set amount a higher penalty rate kicks in this after you've already reduced your usage to a minimum. I was told at the water districts job site I wired plus at the reservoirs in the mountains (I scuba dived and placed in the intake ducts flow meters, got extra hourly pay having fun), to waste city water as this allows me able to cut back a little without going over the set limits getting billed at the higher penalty usage rate.
BTW fly fishing where the public is not allowed at these reservoirs and streams was fantastic on my lunch hour and the weeks there. Catch and release was so cool, well we ate a few natives.
I'll dig wells again on my other two properties as I have spare pumps, pipe drilling plus another threading powerhead to turn the digger. Some stored drilling rig equipment since the last drought of 1977 in California. That was a 103' deep well 6" PVC casing from my underground job 1/2 mile away.