water storage questions

jonnyb4ss

jonnyb4ss

New member
hi, all bout to setup a water storage/mixing area soon and figured i'd ask a few questions first, for ex. how long can i store rodi and mixed saltwater before using and should i have pumps circulating the water in my storage containers, do most of you just keep adding to your storage tank or do you clean it out every so often, i've only been making 5 gal buckets at a time and after over a year im getting pretty tired of flooding my basement with ro water when i forget how long its been running lol any and all info is appreciated thanks in advance :loco:
 
I myself have flooded the house a couple times also, thats when I setup a Brute contaner with a float switch for shutoff with the pressure switch. It saved myself a lot of headaches And as long as I keep it covered to keep any contaminants out the water is good for a long time without pumps or heaters. I don't mind mixing the saltwater when I need it.
 
No I've got a question about rodi. I've heard that when your rodi sits off, and then you turn it on that you need to run out a few gallons because the sediment gets back into the water line and comes out higher tds then what it normally is. So if your gettin rodi out of your storage container then the float turns your unit back on you'll have higher tds at first for a little while. Is this right?
 
Cub21rak said:
No I've got a question about rodi. I've heard that when your rodi sits off, and then you turn it on that you need to run out a few gallons because the sediment gets back into the water line and comes out higher tds then what it normally is. So if your gettin rodi out of your storage container then the float turns your unit back on you'll have higher tds at first for a little while. Is this right?
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I've heard this too, however I've checked the initial water coming out of the unit with my inline tds meter and I get readings of 0 right at startup. Though I do flush the membrane for 1 minute after I make water every time.

As for storage, I make water right into a 6.5gallon bucket with a spigot at the bottom and a shutoff valve installed at the top. http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/6-5-gallon-bottling-bucket.html It's actually a bottling bucket intended for bottling homebrew.

I store RODI topoff water in a gift wrap container that can be found for cheap around the holidays. It holds about 10 to 15 gallons. I have it hooked directly to my sump via tubing and float valve in the sump. A constant siphon keeps my sump topped off as water evaporates.

I plan to pick up another gift wrap container though to replace the 6.5 gallon bottling bucket.
 
my rodi feeds a 10g acrylic box (a Will Lutman joint) with a float valve shut off that feeds all 3 of my ATOs. It also has a spigot for WCs and draining. I have a tiny pump in there for circulation because still open water goes funky pretty quick. If you keep it moving it will last a long time and since it is constantly turning over as the ATOs drain the box I don't have any problem with TDS building up (especially now that my pimp new box doesn't let earwigs in). I think the initial flow from a RODI is worse if it has been sitting off for a long time and the water can move around without the guidance of pressure. If it's running for shorter periods more often I don't think you have the problem. I could be wrong, but my system is working well so far. I plan to incorporate this along with a mixing vessel into my current build, but i am also concerned about mineral buildup in the salt water vessel. It'll need to be easily accessible for cleaning I think.
 
jonnyb4ss said:
ex. how long can i store rodi and mixed saltwater before using and should i have pumps circulating the water in my storage containers, do most of you just keep adding to your storage tank or do you clean it out every so often:
Click to expand...

I store RODI w/o a pump, just use a lid like the others here. It'll keep at zero TDS for a long time if covered in proper containers. I do keep a power head in my saltwater storage container. If not it starts to smell like dirty socks after a few days. I store fresh saltwater like this for up to a month with no problems. I clean both the RODI container and saltwater container with vinegar, but the saltwater is cleaned much more frequently due to reefcrystals brown gunk.
 
I do rodi water into a 33G (?) Brute container. It's in a room that has a floor drain in case I forget to shut it off. lol No pump for circulation and I just mix sw when I need it.
 
I also do the 33 gallon brute to store my saltwater, with a pump to mix it, well, two, as one pump feeds the hose I use to fill my tanks, and when not in use is just stored in the container. I leave the pumps and heaters on all the time, since I feel like I am always making and using saltwater somehow.

Rodi topoff water I store in a 12g plastic garbage can of some sort - no pump, I just keep it covered. Well,it has a pump. But that feeds my ato, so it's not on often. I turn over 80 - 90% of the ATO container weekly (it's also never more than 80 - 90% full). I also store additional RODI in some used gallon or half gallon jugs, and some in a 6g emptied salt bucket - this feeds my other tank, in theory, but the aqualifter isn't strong enough to move the water, so now it just sits, and I use the jugs, lol.

It's good you're thinking this through before setting up - make water changes and storage as easy as possible, you'll reap the rewards down the line for sure!
 
i just use a 30 gallon tank for ro storage, no pump no issues (not covered but in my stand)
my sump is a 40 gallon tank. When i do a water change i turn off the return, add salt to the sump, pump ro over into the sump usually about 20 gallons on 177 gallon display tank, circulate with a pump for 2 hours, then turn the return pump back on. Then refill the ro container and ready for next month.
my ato also pulls from the ro storage (liter meter)

Setup has been the same for the last 15 years the only changes i have made is to automate the water change with my controller to time the pumps, and check the temp before the return pump kicks back on...i still have to be there to physically add the salt though. Makes for 2 minutes of work for a water change... Im lazy , run drain line from sump once, never have to get out the buckets again.
 
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