Saltwater Storage

[GT350pwns]

Thinking about consolidating a few containers by getting a 40ish gallon rubbermaid to keep in the closet in place of a few buckets and a water cooler jug.

Buying saltwater from my LFS is starting to get a bit cumbersome. I'm wondering if I can store mixed saltwater indefinitely (realistically, however long it takes to deplete a 40 or so gallon container from water changes on a 36 gallon tank).

Saltwater is $1.50 for the LFS. If I buy RO/DI from the LFS at $0.50/gallon and red sea coral pro salt cost about $0.30/gallon, I could save some money and some space in the closet by getting those buckets out of there.

I wish I could buy an RO unit right now, but I don't have anywhere to hook it up at.

What does RC think, would this be any more convenient than hauling buckets every week for a water change? I realize I would still have to haul some buckets with this plan, but just not as frequently lol

[thegrun]

Yes, you can store either RO/DI water or saltwater indefinately in a food grade container with a lid. As long as your salt mix does not contain organics it does not need to be heated or have a pump for circulation. You may get a small amount of calcium precipitation at the bottom of the container, I clean this out once every 6 months or so.

[thegrun]

Also you can hook up a RO/DI system to any faucet, make your water and then store it in a closet when not in use.

[GT350pwns]

What is upkeep on an RO/DI unit like? I might just go that route if I don't have to have it perma-mounted somewhere.

[m0nkie]

Originally Posted by GT350pwns

What is upkeep on an RO/DI unit like? I might just go that route if I don't have to have it perma-mounted somewhere.

It depends on the water quality in your city and how often you use the unit. Most people change DI resin and carbon fairly often. ~ every 6 months.

the membrane last for years..

I have the BRS unit set in the guest bathroom. My saltwater reservoir and RO/DI ATO reservoir is sitting next to my fish tank in another room. Every month I drag the 10ft RO/DI water line to refill those reservoir.

*KEEP AN EYE ON THE WATER LEVEL* the RODI unit fills super slow in my room (wood floor), sometimes I forget and leave the house.. not a good feeling when you remember it half way through the day.

[Despairodyne]

Upkeep is pretty easy. Get a good TDS meter to check your output quality.

I use a flush kit on the RO membrane and use DI resin that changes color.

I like to change my carbon and sediment filters on a regular basis.

But always check the output water TDS.

[coverdog]

Deleted, someone already mentioned it.

[garyinco]

Originally Posted by GT350pwns

What is upkeep on an RO/DI unit like? I might just go that route if I don't have to have it perma-mounted somewhere.

You want to use it enough to keep the sediment & chemical cartridge(s) from getting skunky (not that frequently really) & you don't want to let the RO membrane dry out, at all. I'd keep it connected to a faucet whenever possible for the second reason, or at least see if a hardware store can come up w/ a faucet connector plug of some kind.

Another thing I'd consider is how are you going to shut it off when your container is full? You can't count on being "standing there" when it gets full. There are very inexpensive autoshutoff solutions for that, but why not get a complete solution to begin with?

Occasionally you'll have to replace the filter cartridges and RO membrane, but it is way less than buying water somewhere. When you're buying and hauling water I think its only human nature to keep minimizing your efforts.

Once you get an RO unit you will never go back. I use for all kinds of different things around my place. I like Spectrpure and they've been involved in this hobby for a long time.

[m0nkie]

Originally Posted by garyinco

You want to use it enough to keep the sediment & chemical cartridge(s) from getting skunky (not that frequently really) & you don't want to let the RO membrane dry out, at all. I'd keep it connected to a faucet whenever possible for the second reason, or at least see if a hardware store can come up w/ a faucet connector plug of some kind.

Another thing I'd consider is how are you going to shut it off when your container is full? You can't count on being "standing there" when it gets full. There are very inexpensive autoshutoff solutions for that, but why not get a complete solution to begin with?

Occasionally you'll have to replace the filter cartridges and RO membrane, but it is way less than buying water somewhere. When you're buying and hauling water I think its only human nature to keep minimizing your efforts.

Once you get an RO unit you will never go back. I use for all kinds of different things around my place. I like Spectrpure and they've been involved in this hobby for a long time.

What are these inexpensive auto shut off you mentioned? I'm just running a ball valve on the BRS unit.

I'm thinking about getting the BRS Ro/Di Auto Shut Off.. but since my water inlet line is not permanently connected to the water reservoir, I need to attach it to the float switch every time I need to do a water refill.

[JMorris271]

Originally Posted by m0nkie

It depends on the water quality in your city and how often you use the unit. Most people change DI resin and carbon fairly often. ~ every 6 months.

the membrane last for years..

I have the BRS unit set in the guest bathroom. My saltwater reservoir and RO/DI ATO reservoir is sitting next to my fish tank in another room. Every month I drag the 10ft RO/DI water line to refill those reservoir.

*KEEP AN EYE ON THE WATER LEVEL* the RODI unit fills super slow in my room (wood floor), sometimes I forget and leave the house.. not a good feeling when you remember it half way through the day.

Hi.I was just reading you post here and am wondering how you hooked it up in your BR. I bought the adapter from BRS and it will only connect to my kitchen sink. I can not find a male X male fitting anywhere. ( Sorry. This was suppose to be sent as a PM.)

[m0nkie]

Originally Posted by JMorris271

Hi.I was just reading you post here and am wondering how you hooked it up in your BR. I bought the adapter from BRS and it will only connect to my kitchen sink. I can not find a male X male fitting anywhere. ( Sorry. This was suppose to be sent as a PM.)

I didn't use any of the adapters that came with BRS. I don't have a regular faucet at home so none of them worked.

The easy way is to buy a waste water drain adapter kit (<5$)


and a murloc easy angle stopper (<$3)


I used a cheap ball valve to control on/off. ($2)

I couldn't find a murloc angle stopper at homedepot, so I got another valve, T'd off the cold water line for Ro/Di... same concept, just a little more expensive for the valve. ($10)