Cooling wort during water conservation

Just wondering what you all do during water cobservation? I had some strange looks from people walking buy last summer with all that water running through the chiller and eventually down the driveway...

Afraid if getting fined this summer.

 

I save the water and dump it in my washing machine to wash clothes. hell it's clean water.

 

I plug the other end into my drip irrigation. Water the hops while I cool

 

You could always rig up a water recirculation system. Get a fountain pump from HD and a big bucket of ice water, put the pump in, hook the IC up to the pump, and cool away.

 

Maybe you are doing larger batches but I did 2 batches back to back last week with my immersion chiller and the water didn't even get to the drain. I saved the first few gallons in a cooler for cleaning and the rest evaporated in the driveway. Between the hot water and the distance it takes to run to the drain it evaporates pretty quick.
I don't think watering plants with hot water is a good idea. Maybe collecting it in a bucket until it cools will work.
Luckily I dont have any worries with water use ordinances. Our water comes from Lake Erie which prevents seasonal problems. I actually read that the water department is trying to serve more customers because water use has actually been going down. Between water conservation and population loss the city uses less water each year but many of the costs are fixed.

Craig

 

I like the washing machine idea. The cost would be limited to about $10's worth of extra hose....

I also like the idea of underground irrigation to keep nosy neighbors away.

Also, depending on where you are, are the restrictions 24/7? Maybe just make your batches in the evening. If you really feel bad about it, just hook it up to a sprinkler and make it look like you are watering.

 

I fill a cooler full of ice water and recirculate with a pump. It would only take about 15 lbs of ice to cool a 5 gallon batch that way.

 

I just catch my water from the immersion chiller in a large trash can.I use it for watering the plants on the front porch. We are pretty dry this year so we watch our use.

 

I have a large rubbermaid bin that I use to sanitize my bottles. Fill this up when you are chilling, add the sanitizer or cleaner of your choice, and let your guilt fade away.

 

I use my initial cooling water to fill up the kiddie pool for my boys. At first, as you know, the water is very hot. After some time the water cools off but the temp of the pool is now quite warm and the boys love it! After I cool the wort to ~100˚F, I disconnect the city water and recirculate ice water with a submersible pump in a bucket through the IC. Two 5 lb bags of ice take it from 100˚F to 55˚F in about 10 minutes.

 

I have 4" well and live in the country with 12 acres, so I dont have that problem. real cold water too.
My cfc is a 2' piece of 4" pvc pipe with 30' of copper coiled up in it & the wort goes in hot & comes out cold and so does the water.

 

Run it onto the lawn instead of the driveway, you won't get fined then b/c people won't notice.

 

Again, keep the initial runoff away from plants and grass you want to live. 200dF water is a great vegetation killer. I love the washing machine idea because you're taking advantage of the water AND heat that would otherwise be wasted. Save a load of whites for the hot water of course. This works well when the ordinance goes to restricting certain types of usage. In many cases they say you can't water your lawn or wash your car, but you CAN shower and wash clothes obviously. In this case, they really don't want to see water running down your driveway or onto the lawn unless you're scrubbing with a washboard.

If not, collect in a rubbermaid and use it to spot water plants as already mentioned. I use it to clean up after the brew.

 

I pump from my pool and back into it.

 

That's a pretty sweet solution as long as you're pool is cooler than 70F. Then you could run it for an hour without any guilt.

 

Yeah in the summer it gets up to 90 (AZ). I have to prechill then.

 

There are some really great idea's posted.

1 not mentioned is you could run the hose inside and fill up a bath tub with warm water.

Or just run it to anywhere where it will go down a drain to your sewer or septic tank so nobody will see.

The other thing is check you local watering laws it could be perfectly legal.

An example here in Georgia it's OK to water a vegetable garden anytime but your pool, lawn or car washing is restricted. Also I'd think if there was no specific restriction against it then it's legal.

 

put the exit hose in your sink or bathroom for drainage.

 

I do the washing machine thing... run the hot water in, add some detergent and wash. OR run it into the bathtub while SWMBO enjoys the circulating hot water

 

I do 10g batches. I might try the recirculating ice thing, once the temp get down from hot to reasonable.

 

I ran it into a soaker hose when I was in CA. I suspect up here, if we ever had water conservation in effect, I wouldn't have any water pressure anyway.