WATER MIXING STATION
This is really for the new build I'm getting ready for at the new house but it's definitely going to be useful for this office tank as well since I can stop buying water at my LFS.
So I figured I'd post it here for now. Eventually I get a build thread going for the new tank once I have more of that worked out.
So I needed to figure out where I could put some tanks, and how I could get water to them.
Since my garage is detached from the house and doesn't have a water supply, that was out.
I have a hose bib on the back corner of the house so I decided that's where I would tap in for my water source. Since i have a ground level back deck that is near the only location I can really put a new tank, i figured that would be a good spot for the storage tanks. I decided the easiest way to create shelter for them is to purchase one of those plastic tool sheds at home depot. This ended up working out great size-wise. I build a wood platform so they would be elevated and keep the plumbing raised off the ground. I'm able to do all the filling/mixing with the turn of various valves and I also have barbed spigots for filling my water jugs from either the fresh or saltwater tanks. The pump is an Iwaki that was feeding my chiller on my previous build. I've always stored water in my garage before, but temps in there would "only" get to the high 90's. This location gets the afternoon sun so I have a feeling I'm going to be dealing with even warmer temps. Not much I can really do about that though so hopefully it doesn't create a problem. At least the tanks themselves won't be getting any direct sunlight. Some of you might be concerned about the weight of the water on the deck but one good thing is that the tanks are sitting directly over one of the main support beams, which I'm not 100% sure of, but should be sitting on the ground.
The pics below show how I hooked everything up. But first thing's first! When we moved in, the deck was rust red. Blechh.
So we painted it a lovely shade of turquoise! The backyard GLOWS.
I let it dry for a week. Now time to start hooking things up.
I tapped into the outdoor faucet using a Y splitter with individual shut-offs and attached a quick-fitting adaptor for the 1/4" water line.
I ran black line (more protection from sunlight) up the electrical conduit to the eve of the roof. Then ran it along the eve to the area of the shed.
Under the eve by the shed location was an electrical outlet. So we tapped into that outlet and ran an extension down the wall with a new box. This will be my power for the pump, and probably a booster pump in the near future.
I ran the water line down the outside of this conduit and then into a quick-fitting in the side of the shed.
For the power cord, I cut hole large enough for a 3 prong plug to fit through and then used an white plastic escutcheon to hide hole, attached it with some silicone and filled the space around the cord with more silicone. Same with around the quick-fitting. So things should be pretty water tight. The walls of the shed are hollow so I don't want water getting in there and having no place to go.
Inside the shed the water line connects to the other side of that quick-fitting and runs to the RO/DI which I mounted to the front of the stand. I originally wanted to mount it to the wall of shed up high but there wasn't really enough room and I would have had to fabricate some extra support. The stand is much more secure and it's easier to access this way.
The fresh RO/DI water leaves the DI and then goes up to the top of the fresh water container and enters through a float valve. I should be able to get almost 55g worth.
The waste water leaves the shed through another quick-fitting on the opposite side and goes under the deck, watering my foundation.
The last couple pics just show the plumbing inside the saltwater tank. I figured I might as well spend an extra few minutes to split the line to help a little with mixing.
The other good thing about this location of the water tanks, is that I have the option to eventually run both fresh and salt water lines out of the shed, further along the house, and then into the house to the new tank.
That's about it. Enjoy the pics!
