Unfortunately, unless you're willing to pony up for a plate chiller or a counterflow chiller, both require a food grade pump, no. More ice? i use tap water to get the temp down to around 80° F (27° C), then use an aquarium pump to force the water from an ice bath through the chiller. And it takes about the same time you mention, although usually I'm looking for lager temps.

 

How big of a batch? 20 liter? I use a smaller copper immersion chiller that I run tap water through and I can chill 21 liters from 100C to 20C in about 10 minutes. I gently move the immersion chiller in the wort to help circulate the wort around the chiller. My ground water that runs through the chiller is about 12C. When I brew a lager I put a pre-chiller ahead of the tap water inlet. It's basically a 20 liter bucket filled water ice and then with water. I put salt on the ice if a want to cut things a little shorter. After the water exits the pre-chiller in goes into my immersion chiller. I first lower the wort to 20C with just tap water and then I add the pre-chiller to finish. The wort goes from boil to 7C in about 30 minutes or so. Getting the wort from 20C to 7C takes the longer than from boil to 20C.

 

Also try spreading the coils a little bit, to allow more wort to flow around

 

I use a Jaded immersion chiller and can cool my batches in about 12 minutes or less. Depending on the time of year, I can get temps below 60f (winter) and 64-67f (summer). Well worth every penny and don't have the hassle of a flat plate heat exchanger.

 

If you drain the hot side of the chiller instead of reusing that water, your ice will be a lot more effective. You're trying to remove heat from the wort, which doesn't work very well when you end up pumping it back in. This uses a lot more water, that's your tradeoff.

 

Do you have a picture of your setup? I use an IC and I can chill a 10 gallon batch in about 20 minutes. I use a 500GPH pond pump in a 60 gallon barrel of water with 1/2" hose.

 

Jaded Hydra 6.5 gal to pitch in less than 10 min. Get rid of the hot side water, it will not cool fast enough in the ice bath, and fight you the whole way.

 

I didn't like wasting water but you need to get rid of the heat fast enough to make a significant heat differential.

 

Stir the wort while chilling.

 

If you don't want to waste the water, after it goes through the chiller, collect it in buckets. Then use it for something, watering plants or what have you.

 

15 minutes? Ouch. I wonder how quick my Hydra by Jaded would go if I had a second one and did that. It takes me 3 1/2 minutes to chill 6 gallons to 70° with just one chiller. Stirring is the key. You have to stir the wort. I cheat and use a paddle attached to a cordless drill.

 

That’s a lot of water!

 

This. I've collected and stored 10 gallons in an Igloo cooler for my next brew. Also used the water to clean and rinse my carboys that i'll be putting the wort in after cooling. In the summer, i fill the kid's white trash swimming pool. Win.

If you live in an area of the country or world that utilizes reclaimed water, indirect potable reuse, direct potable reuse, or aquifer recharge (e.g. Florida, Cali, etc), then just direct your warm water to a drain and forgetaboutit.

 

yep im a green thumb + own a pool in summer id just fill up the pool to replace evaporation. now its winter ill use the pool to recirculate with a 12v solar pump ive not got yet. also ive got my old crappy imersion chiller i can now use as a prechiller in esky as Ozarks pointed out. each to their own i say.