RO/DI system- How do you guys do it?

[kevinreefer]

I recently bought an RO/DI system and I have my first batch of water. It was filtered into a 33 gallon bin. Its fresh water now. I also bought a second bin. How do you guys do it? do you have a freshwater bin and salt water? What is your set up?

And how do you do water changes? do you use a water pump and hose?

 

[renzema]

I have a mixing station setup so the first bucket is pure ro/di. Then it fills the second which I mix up saltwater when I want to. Mine is for a tight space so they are stacked


I suggest putting a float valve on the first bucket and a second on the line into the "saltwater bucket", saved me more times than I can count on over filling the buckets.

I'll see If I can find a picture.

edit:found it.

 

[G Santana]

Do a search on mixing stations, a number of hobbyists have very cool and elaborate setups to help automate RO collection, mixing and water changes.
Me I have one 32 gallon bucket and I use it for mixing salt and then I pump it onto my tank. In the future I may automate.

 

[SchrutesReefs]

What @G Santana said. There are almost endless setup ideas depending on space availability. My RO/Di setup is under my sink. Have a garage, kids claimed it. Have a basement, kids claimed it. So I took the only unwanted space.
I have a 20g tank, so I keep 2 buckets, one for ro/di to top off my ato. The other is for mixing salt. At 5g that’s a 25% water change for me.

 

[MaxTremors]

I fill up gallon jugs for top-off water, and then fill up five gallon buckets to mix salt water. I then use a pump to pump it into the tank. My tank is only 28 gallons, but when I had larger tanks, I used 55 gallon brute garbage cans on wheels, one for saltwater, one for fresh, and used the same pump to pump water into the tank (it’s around a 1000gph pond pump with like 10’ of lift, it sits flat and draws water from the bottom, so you can pump out all but around a half inch left in the bottom - I got it for $6 on Amazon (got like 90% off on prime day)). I would highly recommend getting a pump to fill your tank up, lifting buckets and dumping them in sucks.

 

[G Santana]

BTW, you may want to purchase this little gem, it may save you from a mess and alot of lost water. Anyone who has ever run an RO unit has at one point or another had a flood because they forgot to shut the unit off.

This is a great tool to prevent that.

 

[threebuoys]

RO/DI has a small pressurized tank to store 2 or 3 gallons of water.
32 gallon plastic trashcan for reservoir.
Line out from RO/DI tank connects to valve that allows water to be directed to either a faucet or to the reservoir.
Water is directed to faucet to collect for ATO manually, otherwise directed to the trashcan reservoir..
Float valve to turn off RO/DI once reservoir is full.
Cheap wave pump in reservoir to mix salt.
Heater in reservoir to warm water if necessary before transfer to display tank.
Cheap return pump a a hose to pump water out of display tank and then from reservoir to display tank when I do a water change.
I store my return pump and silicon clear hose in the water in the reservoir between changes.
Change 30 gallons of water in my 125 gallon tank in ten minutes.

 

[mrlavalamp]

big ol brute can on wheels.

Fill it with RODI using an XP Aqua flood guardian to fill it to my desired level.

Once full I drop a small pump in and a heater (only needed during winter) then add salt to the correct salinity.

Once that has mixed for 24 hours and salinity/temp is good, I take the pump out and attach a hose that runs to a kitchen sink about 15 feet away. Pump out the sump and some of the display so there is enough room.

I give the pump a quick rinse in RO and then attach a shorter hose to pump from the brute can into the display.

Once emptry, rinse the can, rinse the hoses, rinse the pump and place the whole kit and kaboodle into the can for storage in a closet.

I only change water about once a month though, so for me a mixing station would be a complete waste (I have neither the space nor the cash for it).

 

[kevinreefer]

I have a mixing station setup so the first bucket is pure ro/di. Then it fills the second which I mix up saltwater when I want to. Mine is for a tight space so they are stacked


I suggest putting a float valve on the first bucket and a second on the line into the "saltwater bucket", saved me more times than I can count on over filling the buckets.

I'll see If I can find a picture.

edit:found it.

Thank you, I love the set up, I think I'm going to do something like this. Do you have a heater and a wave pump in the salt water tank?

 

[LRT]

I have a mixing station setup so the first bucket is pure ro/di. Then it fills the second which I mix up saltwater when I want to. Mine is for a tight space so they are stacked


I suggest putting a float valve on the first bucket and a second on the line into the "saltwater bucket", saved me more times than I can count on over filling the buckets.

I'll see If I can find a picture.

edit:found it.

I love this setup. Goals for sure.
Right now I'm using 32 gallon brute for rodi. And another for mixing salt. Really need to get this set up in garage on opposite side of fish room wall!

 

[n2585722]

It depends on how complex you want it to be. I have three 20 gallon containers one id for DI storage. One is for fresh saltwater for the auto water changes and the third is a mixing tank. I use my comtroller to control the RODI system. The ATO uses DI water from the DI tank. Once the tank gets low the RODI is turned on to refill it back to full. I do have a float valve on as a backup. As a third backup the on time is timed if it is on too long the RODI is shut off and a alert is sent. The forth backup is a leak detector. It will cause the fill to stop and a alert to be sent. The AWC draws fresh salt water from the tank with fresh salt water. When this goes low it will stop the AWC, but it also will start a transfer from the mixing tank if the water there is ready to use. Once the transfer is complete the mix tank is automatically refilled the same as the DI tank. All I have to do is add the salt mix and press a button when done to alert the controller it is ready to use. This may be a little more complex that most setups but it can be done. The three storage tanks are Brute trash cans they are kept under my workbench in the garage. All the holes for the sensors and plumbing are drilled into the lids. No holes are the can itself.Photos below of the DI tank and the mixing tank. Also a photo of the top of the workbench with the controller board behind it.

 

[renzema]

I love this setup. Goals for sure.
Right now I'm using 32 gallon brute for rodi. And another for mixing salt. Really need to get this set up in garage on opposite side of fish room wall!

Thank you.

Mixed in brute garbage cans for almost 2 decades and it's so much easier with a simple setup like this. It saves me so much headache and work. I always thought it was a frivilous purchase but it makes water changes and top off so much smoother.

 

[LRT]

Thank you.

Mixed in brute garbage cans for almost 2 decades and it's so much easier with a simple setup like this. It saves me so much headache and work. I always thought it was a frivilous purchase but it makes water changes and top off so much smoother.

I'm there for sure. The whole water making thing feels most like a job when it comes to this hobby. Been needing to get ro water on other side of wall. Honestly after seeing your set up I may as well do a mixing station while im at it.
What are you using to mix the salt?

 

[kevinreefer]

I fill up gallon jugs for top-off water, and then fill up five gallon buckets to mix salt water. I then use a pump to pump it into the tank. My tank is only 28 gallons, but when I had larger tanks, I used 55 gallon brute garbage cans on wheels, one for saltwater, one for fresh, and used the same pump to pump water into the tank (it’s around a 1000gph pond pump with like 10’ of lift, it sits flat and draws water from the bottom, so you can pump out all but around a half inch left in the bottom - I got it for $6 on Amazon (got like 90% off on prime day)). I would highly recommend getting a pump to fill your tank up, lifting buckets and dumping them in sucks.

I was thinking about shooting a hose with a pump through my wall and near the tank. so can pump the salt water directly in the tank.

 

[renzema]

I'm there for sure. The whole water making thing feels most like a job when it comes to this hobby. Been needing to get ro water on other side of wall. Honestly after seeing your set up I may as well do a mixing station while im at it.
What are you using to mix the salt?

It's tought to see in the pic, but there is mag-5 in the lower left that pulls water from the bottom and pumps to the top of the bottom bucket. I also added the long line up to the upper container, if in a pinch I need to have 40 gallons of salt mixed but only used it once so far. There is a heater hole cut on the back top of the lower bucket to insert the heater and it seals around it.

Just for more information, I had a steel frame built that is bolted to a concrete wall and chains wrap around the front of the containers to make sure it is safe.

The whole setup actually floats off the floor about 2".

 

[burningmime]

Note you don't have to spend a ton on a water change system. I bought some overpriced food-grade containers (one of my many buyers regrets), but your brute trashcans, a $30 pump, and some soft tubing would work just as well. It definitely does not need to be complicated or expensive (DI resin and the RO system is expensive and complicated enough)

 

[Kongar]

My setup is so simple and effective, it's one of, if not the biggest inhibitor to me upgrading tank size. Things can get complicated and space consuming. My build thread shows pics.

Short version - my rodi system is tapped into my bathroom sink. (it's now on the cold water line with an on/off valve - no longer screwed into the tap). I flip the waster water into the sink, and fill 5 gallon buckets in the shower right on the side. If I forget to turn off the water, no biggie - right down the shower drain. I throw in a powerhead and a heater, toss in some salt, and boom water for a water change. When i do the water change, it's siphoned into an empty 5gal bucket, and I lift the new water up and just dump it in. EZ. No mixing station, no barrels to scrub, so worries about floods - it's perfect TBH. Buckets are stored in the linen closet, rodi unit and hoses just sit under the sink when not in use