Looking for water storage tank

Go to a hardware store and get a rain barel. Thats what I did works great after a few mods.

 

I have one for you, but I am in Waterloo.

Check with big restaraunt companies or food processors in your area.

 

If you're going to hook a unit up to your refrigerator, here's the one you need: http://www.airwaterice.com/product/...-Tank.html It has the permeate pump so that your line to the refrigerator can get pressurized, which is really required for the newer refrigerators to work correctly. When your refrigerator has under 30 PSI pressure, ice cubes won't be made properly, water slowly trickles out, etc. This is the unit that I have and I've been happy with the performance of the unit (it's my plumbing design that I struggle with...more on that to come). This one comes with a goose neck thing that you can attach to your sink for water, but I just requested that they throw in a float valve instead and they were happy to substitute.

That being said, here's a little food for thought. The problem is, your refrigerator really needs a constant water supply and your filter can only make water so fast. So what happens when you drain your RO/DI storage tank (or even just take 10 gallons out) and have it make water again? Well, you get a 3 gallon pressurized tank with that system, but it's very quickly drained now your refrigerator has no water. No ice...no cold water...nothing...until the RO unit makes enough water to fill the RO/DI tank...then the refrigerator water line begins to pressurize again. Now, that's a small part of the time and I try to do it at night, but when I filled my tank recently, I had to make 200 gallons of water on a 75 GPD rated membrane (which you never really get 75 GPD because you're probably feeding it with cold water and that slows down the amount it can process)...so let's say 60 GPD. So I was without water/ice for 3 days. Obviously an extreme case, but just doing a simple 10 gallon water change will put you in this situation for a little while.

That's not to say abandon the effort. I didn't think that it would make such a big improvement in the taste of the water...but it really does. We have pretty good water here in CR (between 150 to 200 TDS from the tap where I live) and you don't realize that your tap water has a taste until your drinking filtered water all the time. It makes a big difference and I wouldn't go back.

Now, there are a few things you can do to help mitigate this. First, check your water pressure. I'm not aware of an easy way to do this. It's going to require a pressure valve and a connection into your home plumbing. Maybe your local water department can tell you. If you have 65 PSI+ pressure, then you can get the 150 GPD membrane. It's a little more expensive, but a drop in the bucket when you're buying a new unit. AWI can customize your unit and just ask them to swap the membranes..it will only be an extra $10 or $20. Second, if you put a ball valve between your RO/DI unit and your storage tank, then you can turn it on and off when you want it to make water. So if you do a water change in the middle of the day, you can turn it off until that night, then turn it on and let it make water for you overnight. Another option is to get a larger pressurized storage containers, but I don't think they are worth the money...but you may. A 20 gallon tank is almost $185. Finally If you're more concerned about having water to your refrigerator all the time, you may want to consider just getting two independent units. That option significantly ups your expense and may not be worth the benefit to you. The "happy wife" factor can sometimes justify things that you would normally not spend money on. If you're looking for the sweet spot of cost/benefit, I would go with the higher GPD membrane and use a ball valve to control when water is made.

I wish someone had given me this information before I purchased mine, so I hope you find it useful.

--AJ

 

you can have it do that but that will require float switches, solenoid valves and a little electrical work.

 

Sounds like you should have sufficient water pressure for the 150 GPH membrane if you wanted to go that way. 




OK...so based on this information, I would say get two systems...one for water and one for drinking.  The one for drinking water have the pressurized tank, the permeate pump, etc.  The one for your reef water use a float valve. The filtration needs for the two are different if you're optimizing for a specific purpose...for example...you typically don't DI drinking water as it can give it a metallic taste.  My recommendation, I would call AWI, explain your needs and let them help you.  They can tell you exactly what you need, my knowledge is more focused to what I've learned for my specific situation.  There may be additional considerations for well water, etc (such as an additional sediment filter stage or carbon stage, etc).  Also, below is my filtration plan.  I'm in the process of implementing a second, dedicated RO/DI unit, but chaining them together so that if I wanted, they could both produce water for my reef in times of high demand.  When you implement two, you need to have check valves in the appropriate places to prevent back pressure.  In the below diagram, there are check valves shown for the waste line...which are not needed.  Also, there should be a ball valve shown on the line going from RO/DI unit 1 to RO/DI storage that would be turned off the majority of the time to keep the two systems isolated.  I hope this helps.
--AJ

 

Why not just do something like this...

For instance.. in AJ's case, the bladder tank plumbed into the ice maker line would need to be sized according to the worst case scenario (according to him.. about 3 days worth of water). If you're just making ice, a smaller bladder tank would work. If you're using it for drinking water at the same time, then a larger bladder tank would be needed. The check valve in the line before the bladder tank would hold the pressure. When you do a water change, the RO would take the path of least resistance and run through the DI stage and fill your storage tank. When that tank (non-pressurized) is full, the float would shut the line off and (if needed) the RO would go back to filling the bladder tank.
Don't be jealous of the fancy drawing! /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/wow.gif

 

Actually, that's exactly how unit 1 (from my diagram) is set up...I just don't show the storage tank.  That's the default configuration of the unit I linked to.  The problem comes with the expense associated with a pressurized storage tank.  If they were cheap, I would just add one of them, but they are really expensive.  A 20 gallon tank is $185 and they just go up from there.  The benefit to buying the bigger storage tank is that then you're only using one set of consumable filters and membrane.  The benefit to having two units, is that you can chain them together (as shown in the diagram above) when needed and produce twice as much water. 
--AJ

 

A 10 gallon bladder tank is only $135. I think that's pretty cheap compared to what's involved in adding a whole second system (when looking at initial and long term cost). 10 gallons will make a lot of ice and still have quite a bit of drinking water (unless you're hydrating a dozen people for 3 days).

 

It's not about being concerned about using 10 gallons of water from the refrigerator...the RO/DI storage tank and the refrigerator are competing for the water at the same time...so you do a 20 gallon water change, it drains the 3 gallon pressurized tank, then has to make another 17 gallons of water before the float valve closes and it can begin re-pressurizing the tank and the line to the refrigerator. I'll post a diagram that might help to make it clearer.

--AJ

 

Sounds like we're going in circles.. heh. I don't think you're
understanding my post and diagram. That's why there's a check valve
right in front of the bladder tank.. so the bladder tank is only used
for drinking/ice. The bladder tank will keep the constant supply (under
pressure) to your drinking tap and ice maker (because of the check
valve). There's no need for a bladder tank on the reef water side of the system. So.. in conclusion, the bladder tank supplies water for drinking/ice while the RO/DI is busy refilling the non-pressurized storage tank for reef water.. once that's done filling, the RO can refill anything that was taken out of the bladder tank, etc, etc.

 

Notice how the storage tank has a single stem. The water goes in and out of the same tube based on the pressure of the line which is a shared line with the refrigerator and the DI stage. A way that it could be changed is if the line to the refrigerator was front ended with a check valve, and the 3 gallon storage tank hung off of that...but I don't know if that's possible based on the way that the permeate pump re-pressurizes the line post-membrane.

--AJ

 

Yeah, that's not how they are designed and I don't know if it's possible based on the way the permeate pump works. I would recommend contacting someone who really knows this stuff to see if that could be done.

--AJ

 

I've done quite a bit with RO systems. I've never dealt with permeate pumps, though.. as there's never been a need.

 

I didn't read this entire thread but I do have a Typhoon III that is run to a RO drinking water system, ice maker and RODI output for the reef tank. I actually bought a permeate pump and used it for a few weeks until i notice something was wrong with my RODI production. The permeate pump works great and helps give added pressure and volume to your drinking water system but it also causes problems with the RODI production. The problem is that being the permeate pump works using the waste water to make pressure, the fact that the RO and RODI both use the same waste line causes issues. While the system is making RODI the waste line is basically blocked because water is not going through the permeate pump. I don't know if that makes sense or not but the fact of the matter is if your gonna be using your RO and RODI outputs separately it won't work. I just have a 5 gallon pressure tank running of my RO only output that is T'd off twice, one line goes to the ice maker and one goes to the drinking water faucet. Just make sure you have a check valve somewhere in the line going to your pressure tank so it doesn't cause back pressure going back to your unit. The RODI line out goes to a container with a solonoid and float valve that is for reef tank only.

If you want to try the permeate pump I have one that was only used for a week I will let go for $35.