RO Water System

[Naja002]

Ok, I got it now. Thanx! On page2 it shows the "Flow-Restrictor" (A) in the "loop". By closing the valve the flow is forced to go passed the Flow-Restrictor and is processed normally. By opening the valve the water is allowed to circumvent the Flow-Restrictor and flush the membrane. I'm assuming the unrestricted flow is too much for "processing" causing the flushing effect. The PDF also helps by showing the placement of the "Loop", etc in the system. Before I really couldn't tell where it was placed for certain and had to guess. Got it!

Thanx!

[DiabloCanine]

Just timed a water change with this system. Changed 90 gallons in 9 tanks and dosed ferts in 45 minutes. I have about a half day of my life back......DC

[yoink]

Seeing this thing in action would make anyone want one, so with that I have a few questions I didn't ask earlier.

-How is the drain hooked up?
-How long are the hoses, and what happened to the yellow hoses?
-Any problems with sucking up baby fish/shrimp?
-What do you dose for kh and gh, ie calcium and magnesium and do you dose it all right after water change, or broken up throughout the week?
-Did you get all of the "PVC to hose" adapters locally?

Thanks.

[DiabloCanine]

Originally Posted by yoink

Seeing this thing in action would make anyone want one, so with that I have a few questions I didn't ask earlier.

-How is the drain hooked up?

Goes out the main drain in the mechanical room, you walked right by it, next to the water softener.

-How long are the hoses, and what happened to the yellow hoses?

Do not know exactly how long they are, I just went to the furthest tank and cut. The yellow ones were not long enough anymore when I moved the 110 closer to the windows so I rigged new ones.

-Any problems with sucking up baby fish/shrimp?

I thought shrimp were going to get sucked up several times, they would walk around on the strainer. Maybe seen one or two take a ride.

-What do you dose for kh and gh, ie calcium and magnesium and do you dose it all right after water change, or broken up throughout the week?

The only thing added to the water is Tropica Master Grow and GW ferts, usually right after water changes.

-Did you get all of the "PVC to hose" adapters locally?

I believe everything was purchased at Lowes on County Line or Menards except the strainer (Marine Depot, RO unit (Premium Aquatics), pump (Premium Aquatics), float valve/shutoff kit (Premium Aquatics), and backflush kit (Premium Aquatics).

Thanks.

Let me know when you are ready and we will make you a setup......DC

[yoink]

Here she is, my DC water changer. It is pretty close to the same thing. The drain and fill hookup is a little different.

Water changer part, mine is 3/4" and works well on my 5g or 75g. The hoses come off at 90 degrees because I have some tanks on the floor and it would kink otherwise.


RO system, the third canister is empty right now.


Down into the bucket


The drain is in the back. It is two flexible couplings and a PVC tee. It was hard to find a way to connect PVC to brass(bathtub drain), this seemed the easiest. I tried one of those self piercing saddle valves for the supply to the RO, they don't work well at all. Soldering is much easier, if not as good looking.






The drain and fill lines run into the closet here.


The water closet.



Thanks for helping me reclaim my sundays.

[DiabloCanine]

You made a nice setup. I did not even think about linking into existing drain plumbing like that, nice job. Did you end up using a Mag 5 pump?......DC

[yoink]

Yeah I used a mag 5 too. I'm happy with the flow it provides, any more and it might knock my substrate around in all of those little tanks. I need to get something to go around the hose running into the drain line, it kinks a little and slows the syphon down. I had to tap into the back of the bathtub because this is in my bathroom. I could have put it out in the garage, but that would mean really long hoses and really cold water. It all went pretty smoothly expect the damn self-piercing valve. I messed with that thing for a couple hours trying to get it not to leak. I finally broke down and went to lowes for a couple copper pieces, took about twenty minutes after that.

[DiabloCanine]

Originally Posted by yoink

Yeah I used a mag 5 too. I'm happy with the flow it provides, any more and it might knock my substrate around in all of those little tanks. I need to get something to go around the hose running into the drain line, it kinks a little and slows the syphon down. I had to tap into the back of the bathtub because this is in my bathroom. I could have put it out in the garage, but that would mean really long hoses and really cold water. It all went pretty smoothly expect the damn self-piercing valve. I messed with that thing for a couple hours trying to get it not to leak. I finally broke down and went to lowes for a couple copper pieces, took about twenty minutes after that.

Mine kinked also so I made something out of pvc.



I have a bunch of plastic pieces left over from my Fluvals that would probably keep the hose from kinking if you wanna try them.......DC.

[midazolam]

Originally Posted by DiabloCanine

1) Looking through the square hole in the top of the barrel, is that a true union that allows you to unscrew the pump from the manifold?

2) with regard to your water changers. What starts the siphon when you are draining the tanks?

Really nice set up. Going to try and do something similar on a smaller scale tomorrow or wednesday.

Thanks!

[DiabloCanine]

Originally Posted by midazolam

1) Looking through the square hole in the top of the barrel, is that a true union that allows you to unscrew the pump from the manifold?

2) with regard to your water changers. What starts the siphon when you are draining the tanks?

Really nice set up. Going to try and do something similar on a smaller scale tomorrow or wednesday.

Thanks!

1. Yes, that goes to the pump.

2. By manipulating the ball valves a siphon can be started, i.e., the fill valve and pump is turned on allowing water into the tank then the drain ball valve is opened and the fill ball valve closed which starts a siphon........DC

[midazolam]

Originally Posted by DiabloCanine

1. Yes, that goes to the pump.

2. By manipulating the ball valves a siphon can be started, i.e., the fill valve and pump is turned on allowing water into the tank then the drain ball valve is opened and the fill ball valve closed which starts a siphon........DC

Thanks, I'll let you know how mine turns out.

[BuckeyeFieldSupply]

Great work.

You may want to think about swapping out those standard garden hoses for hoses designed for potable water. They are very inexpensive.

Russ

[DiabloCanine]

Originally Posted by BuckeyeFieldSupply

Great work.

You may want to think about swapping out those standard garden hoses for hoses designed for potable water. They are very inexpensive.

Russ

How much for 70 feet?.....DC

[yoink]

Originally Posted by BuckeyeFieldSupply

Great work.

You may want to think about swapping out those standard garden hoses for hoses designed for potable water. They are very inexpensive.

Russ

Are they any less kink resistant than the marine/RV potable water hoses from a hardware store? The hoses I have now are terrible when it comes to kinks.

[DiabloCanine]

Here is an update to the water change equipment. I was so crammed into this room that it wasn't fun even going in there. I decided to go back to one 55 gallon drum, since I have a 100gpd RO system it will refill in 12 hours anyway. RMC hooked me up with a drum that has a removable top, been wanting one for quite some time.

Here is what it looks like now:



I picked this up at Lowes to store the water changers in:



I built an electrical box with a switch to turn the pump on/off, also a receptacle for the heater.



Here is the top of the barrel, I will label everything at a later date:



RO unit was updated with another filter and 100gpd parts: