Show off your mobile water change build

[chemwiz]

Everyone,

In desperate need to enlightenment on building mobile water change station.

Here's what the deliverables need to be.

Mobile- need to store in laundry room, roll to kitchen for DI water, then roll full to tank
Volume - changing 25 gallons per change, one resevoir to take from tank with another to hold new water.

Yes I know, the only place the wife allowed the tank was also the very furtherest from any water line or drain.

Can't be the only one looking to run this kind of setup, so please inspire my creativity.

Thank you in advance.

 

[kopaczjm]

Interesting idea. my plan was to build it BYOB (bring your own bucket) Tee the return line with a valve. place the line from that into your bucket. open the valve. presto-chango. one bucket out, one bucket in. make sure to shut off any ATO otherwise pulling water out will cause RODI water to enter your system and decrease your salinity. very interested in hearing everybody else's designs though. i'm still pretty dang new to the hobby, so i'm confident there are better ways to accomplish this.

 

[MarkDarnell]

I use a 35gal Brute trash can with the wheels on the bottom. Bought from Lowes. I roll the trash can a day or two ahead to my RO unit and let it fill it up. It has a float valve on it so once its full, it shuts off automatically. Then I turn off the water supply to the RO unit and commence to making saltwater or fill up my ATO tank.

 

[MarkDarnell]

If you need 2 tanks, 1 for old water, and 1 for new water, just get 2 cans with wheels.

 

[scardall]

Idea: 1) RO with large storage caontainer 2) remotely controlled SW for Pump 3) pump that can push water the distance you need 4)2 containers for old and newly mixed water 5) amother pump to remove old water to a drain 6) don't forget proper tubing

All that said, cheaper to get alot of exersize. Oh well. Good luck :squigglemouth:

 

[SAWDUSTINTANK]

How far is the tank from a toilet? I use an old MJ900 pump connected to a garden hose and run the water to the toilet. I don't have a septic tank so I am not as concerned. This alleviates having to fill another container to dump old water.

 

[stunreefer Verified Sponsor]

You can buy RO/DI tubing in 25'- 100' sections from most box stores (Lowes, HD, Menards). Run the tubing to your reservoir location while in use, then roll up the line and store with the RO/DI unit (under sink, etc.). You'll also need a quick-connect ball valve to turn off and potentially disconnect.

 

[bamareef]

Everyone,

In desperate need to enlightenment on building mobile water change station.

Here's what the deliverables need to be.

Mobile- need to store in laundry room, roll to kitchen for DI water, then roll full to tank
Volume - changing 25 gallons per change, one resevoir to take from tank with another to hold new water.

Yes I know, the only place the wife allowed the tank was also the very furtherest from any water line or drain.

Can't be the only one looking to run this kind of setup, so please inspire my creativity.

Thank you in advance.

Why move to kitchen to make water. Get an Hose bib adapter, add a tee with valve to RO/DI system and make up water in laundry room. Use the washing machine drain on the wall for your drain from DI/RO system.

 

[hllywd]

I use two trash cans; one to siphon old water into, and one for new mix, a hose that reaches the nearest shower, an old Rio 3500 pump, and a shorter piece of hose to go from the mixing can to the tank. I siphon into the waste can to measure how much I'm taking out, then pump the new water back into the system. I then pump the waste water to the shower drain, stack everything up and put it away till the next time. Somebody's going to say get rid of the waste can, and siphon directly to the shower... I do it the way I do so I know exactly how much old water I'm taking out. I can change 30 gallons in about 10 or 15 minutes without a drop spilled, the cans stack, and all the equipment stores inside, pretty simple.

I also have a 1/4" tube I run from my RO/DI out to the tank. My mixing can has a float valve and I never manually move any water.

Hope that helps!

 

[Fishmania21]

I'm following this thread, but please post picture as well :director:

 

[zoa1988]

i would love to see some pictures

 

[woochi]

I pump from the laundry room to the second floor, there's a big ole pump in the bottom of the old water softener and with the turn of a few valves I can direct New water either to main floor tanks or second floor tanks, as for draining I run a hose to the nearest toilet or outside.

 

[kgk]

Here's mine. I use a garden trolley from Harbor Freight and two 16 gallon flat-bottom tanks from Tank Depot, various plumbing supplies from Home Depot, and a Sicce 3.0 pump. I could probably use a bigger pump, this one doesn't do the mixing job that well.

 

[Skydvr]

kgk, that's a pretty clean and simple setup. I like it.

Do you think a lock line style fitting (or maybe even just a 45* fitting) on the inside to direct water at a downward angle would help the mixing?

 

[kgk]

I have a pve pipe inside to direct flow downwards nearly to the bottom of the tank. I may try some intermediate holes like a spray bar and see if that helps.

 

[Skydvr]

Is that another 90 in the tank? All those 90s and Ts add a lot of restriction. Have you tried it without the PVC inside? That may give a little more flow and be a little more turbulent without having to pick up another pump.

 

[kgk]

There is another 90 in the tank. That's a good idea, thanks.

 

[Skydvr]

Might not really help, but it's worth a shot. We spend enough in this hobby as it is.

 

[ReefCartel]

Here's mine. I use a garden trolley from Harbor Freight and two 16 gallon flat-bottom tanks from Tank Depot, various plumbing supplies from Home Depot, and a Sicce 3.0 pump. I could probably use a bigger pump, this one doesn't do the mixing job that well.

I ordered two 35g horizontal storage containers and one vertical 55g from Tank Depot 3 weeks ago and still haven't received it. Also no tracking info. How long did yours take to come in? thx

 

[kgk]

I picked mine up at their location in Houston.