More RO/DI questions

[thejon]

Greetings again all, more questions for you. Bonus check came in, credit card is paid off, and it's time to pick up my RO/DI filter. Lots of questions, some may not be "new reefing" related, but I'll ask here all the same :)

My goals are to be able to use the filtered water for both drinking via kitchen sink, and aquarium use. Both kitchen and aquarium are on the same level of the house, but I don't have a method to really store 15ish gallons of water on that floor as well. I suppose I could make the water 5 gallons at a time, and then move 3 or so buckets of water downstairs, mix / bubble for a day in some larger container, then move them back up the same way, but that seems like an awful lot of work. But making the water downstairs, where I have lots of room; I'm not sure how to (A) get the water back upstairs for easy drinking, and (B) get the water upstairs for water changes. Thoughts?

Also, I really don't know what I need, filter wise. I guess 75GPD is fine, filling the tank will literally take multiple days, but I suppose that's only a one time thing, and generally it's going to be top offs and small water changes after that. Based on my water quality report, I see chloramines coming in anywhere between 1.6 and 4.0, averaging 2.6 ppm. I see bulk reef supply RO/DI filters have specific "chloramine systems", do I need to look exclusively at a system that offers that? The filter guys site seems to have a chloramine filter upgrade for basically all their systems for an extra $14. Not totally sure what the difference is.

For drinking water, do I 'need' to get a tank for pressurization?

Lastly, auto-shut off, float valves, etc. Do I need to be concerned with any of this?

Thanks a ton in advance!

 

[Barch]

If you want to use your r/o for drinking water and for making salt water for your tank then I would do the following....

This diagram represents a standard under sink r/o system. You could "T" off the line going to the faucet and run a line to your storage tank w/ float valve to mix salt water. I would put your DI filter in this line thus giving you R/O-DI water for your tank. Water will fill your storage tank until shut off by the float valve. Water will then fill the 3.5 gal. pressure tank under the sink until full. this would give you drinking water at a faucet. You could run the line to your saltwater mixing tank through the floor to the downstairs. As far as getting your mixed salt water upstairs to your tank....2 options with a pump or bucket....

 

[thejon]

Thanks, that's about what I thought too, but was hoping for a happier result :)

What, in this example, is the difference between the storage tank and the pressurized tank? What / where is the storage tank?

What does everyone here typically do?

 

[Barch]

I set mine up so that the ro/di water goes into the tank on the left which has a float valve to shut off the water when full. From that tank I can pump into the tank on the right and then mix salt water.

inside the salt water mixing tank there is a mixing pump and a transfer pump so I can transfer water to the sump as needed. My set up is not the perfect one but works well for me. I have more detail in the tank showcase thread.

The pressure tank as illustrated in the diagram is what will store your drinking water and pressurize the system so you get a good flow from the faucet at the sink...

 

[thejon]

That's awesome, thanks so much! What is your holding tank exactly? Something you found that suits the purpose, or something made to be exactly that? Lots more planning to do than I realized!

 

[Barch]

you can use a variety of things from Rubbermaid garbage bins etc. I happen to have some old salt brine tanks from old water softener systems

 

[thejon]

Ah, looks like it's working well for you!

One of the ideas I was kicking around earlier today when I was supposed to be working is finding an older, cheap glass tank and building a basement sump; sort of kill 2 birds with one stone kind of thing. Any idea how much power would be needed for a pump to go from a basement floor to a 1st floor tank? Say, about 15 foot rise?

 

[Barch]

most of the pumps will give you a flow chart by dead rise in vertical ft. So you will have to pick one based on how much water you need to move vrs. the vertical rise and head pressure