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Hi guys. haven't posted anything for a while but was wondering if anyone has any ideas on how to set up a water recycling unit.
I have a 200 litre plastic barrel that i cut the top off. I was hoping to fill it with water and put a pump in it, pump the water through the still and run it back to the same barrel via the out bound hose. would this be ok or would the water coming out of the still be too hot to run back through the still? I was thinking if the pump was on the bottom of the barrel, it would be pumping cooler water and i was putting the warmer water on top of it. what do you guys reakon?
Thanks in advance, Paul.

Would work but it would be hard to control the temperature since the water temp will be going up slightly over time.
Personally I would still stick a radiator in it, Something like a cheap water cooling kit off a PC and using your 200L as the reservoir.
At least then the water going back into the still should be the same temperature so you wont have to change the flow rate to be greater over time.
With a setup like that you could even use a fan controller to control the pump speed and put the temp probe in the still outlet so it controls its self.
This is what iv been planing to do for awhile since water pressure at my place is a bit erradic but so far it hasnt been bad enough for me to invest money on it.
Currently I just recycle the water like this. I use the heated water from the still to melt the sugar for my mash and bring it up to temp for the yeast, When I still a batch I get enough hot water to melt enough sugar and bring mash temp to 38C for 50L.

Thanks for the info. would putting a couple of bags of ice into the barrel help?

get a air con radiator from a car to run the out through. will make it cooler especially if you get a fan behind the radiator

ok. thanks guys. much appreciated.