Tired of hauling water.....

[taftonomos]

I'm sick of hauling a 5 gallon bucket up the stairs every week, and with a bigger tank and MH lighting on the way, it's only going to get worse. A side benifit will be the lack of an unsightly 5 g bucket next to my nice new tank setup.


The RO unit is located in the basement. Will the RO system have enough pressure to run a fresh water line up one floor to the tank? It's probably less than 5' vertical, I'd guess around 20-25' total.

If not, what kind of small pump should I use?

(I'm also doing a water change line (2x1" PVC) in and out of the new sump, so I can simply turn a ball valve and drain water from my sump down the drain, and then flick on a switch and have a pump bring the mixed water back in. As you might can tell, I'm tired of hauling water up and down, etc...)

 

[seedless reefer]

I believe the water will go up to a point because it is under pressure and the diameter of the hose is small but the flow would be intolerable.

The company that sold me my unit has these. This would be one answer:

http://item.express.ebay.com/Booster-pump-100-PSI-for-low-PSIor-high-TDS-Homes_W0QQitemZ150128924796QQihZ005QQfromsoiZ1QQcmdZExpressItem">http://item.express.ebay.com/Booster-pump-100-PSI-for-low-PSIor-high-TDS-Homes_W0QQitemZ150128924796QQihZ005QQfromsoiZ1QQcmdZExpressItem</a>

Also you could do like Jgoal55 does and pumps his up with a hose through an open window. His storage drains into something like a Little Giant pump and presto.

People who have figured out how to automate water changes in part or total are my heros.

I make Linda tote all my stuff after she whips me up a sandwich.

 

[linda lee]

Seedless Reefer;71879 wrote: II make Linda tote all my stuff after she whips me up a sandwich.

............. Linda will never reveal what exactly goes into that sandwich

 

[taftonomos]

I think that booster is meant for before the RO unit, when you are just bumping up the supply pressure to the RO. RO's have to have a certain pressure to function efficiently iirc.

Perhaps I just need to build a matching side stand or something to hold a container, and then use a pump/plumbing to fill up that container, and the normal gravity/float switch method of top-off.

 

[seedless reefer]

You are correct they would go first in line. But if it boosts the psi, in my peanut brain, it seems like that would do the trick.

Storage can with float and pump may be the answer. Or you could get yourself a Linda.

Jorge can you post a pic of the setup you use to fill the upsatirs tank?

 

[jaandgc]

Mine is under the sink, it goes about 7 feet inside the cabnets, down to the floor, around the dining room door casing, down another wall, around the corner, down another wall and to my float/RO container. Close to 40 ft I would say with no problem.
Jerry

 

[seedless reefer]

But he wants to run the line up.

 

[ouling]

 

[jaandgc]

it does go up and around a door frame, thats about 7' give or take an inch.

 

[stanfill reef]

I would expect that the RO water pressure is still about 15-20 psi coming out of the membrane. With that much pressure you should be able to do about 30'vertical, but any more and you would be pushing it. Plus, the farther you go up, the more backpressure you put on the RO membrane. This will restrict your flow causing you to waste a LOT more water. You will slow to a trickle. A better solution would be to put in a small tank/trashcan for the water on the bottom floor. Then pump to the second floor.

 

[family reefer]

My RO is under the sink. It is only about 7 ft from the tank. BUT... it runs down through the floor to the basement. to a float on the 32 gal container. there is a Mag 12 in the container that pumps it up about 8 ft to the sump for top off. (There is also a similar set up for the salt) Buy the "pond version" of these pumps so you get the 18 ft cord. These can then be cut and a heavy duty switch put in at a location convienient to the tank. I can top off and pump salt for the water change from the cabinet. About 300 bucks but it is worth it!!!! I ACTUALLY LOOK FORWARD TO DOING WATER CHANGES!!!!

 

[circlek]

If I understand correctly, I am already doing what you are planning, and it works fine.

I have my RO/DI unit mounted in the basement. I run a small 1/4" (?I think, the same size as the RO/DI's tubing) tube from the basement up to the first floor. The tubing goes into the stand and directly into my auto-top off tank.

The flow is not fast, but its not fast when its running at ground level either. The house water pressure is enough to force the DI water up. It takes about 90 minutes for me to re-fill my 5 gallon top off. That is about the same time it takes for me to fill a bucket in the basement.

Just put a timer or something on the RO/DI input so that you don't forget about it and overflow your top-off tank.

Karl

 

[slayer]

yeap it'll be fine... i have my ro/di unit in the garage, and run the efluent up to the attic in my 100 gall storage container. it has more then enough pressure to go that high... this is really cool, because to do a water change i just flip a valve in my sump to drain the water, and then another valve to let the new saltwater in the attic drain down into the sump... only drawback - taking the salt buckets into the attic...

 

[taftonomos]

Good deal, free/cheap is good

Any ideas on how to make something clean looking to pass the line through a wall? Maybe use a PVC bulkhead drilled into a blank switch plate?

 

[seedless reefer]

I would use a pop in sheetrock box with a coaxial cable cover.

Then affix a John Guest fitting into the hole where the coaxial barrel connector would be.