Got a Reverse Osmosis unit finaly

so with the help of a friend...bored808 i have made the step up to having RO water wich i have gotten away with not using for 6 years or more.i am going to mount it to the back of my house and have the reseviour be a 55 gallon plastic drum.first things first the ghetto mount.some screws in the wall and a cystom bungee DI canister holder.
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im just not "big time" enough to get an RO imo...

well if you ever want some water you know i will hook it up.you can just keep it in a bin or what not until you need to use it.[img][/img]dollar store fix for the other canister.[img][/img]
and here is the barrel we picked up.now i just have to get some more wood for the frame to the resivour.
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one frame at a time.[img][/img]

nice, i was wondering where the update was...

i am also going to attemp to weather proof the RO unit and possibly drill a hole in the wall so during cold seasons i wont have to traverse outside for the water.

i would not drill a hole in my house...

i have done it once or twice.for fish tank purposes only.

here i am almost finished with then stand wich will elevate the drum for the spout i plan on putting in for ease of access.[img][/img]
[img][/img]the stupid little feet on it are there to hopefullly prevent it from sinking too far as i am just putting the stand on the ground.there is a high gravel to earth ratio so things should be fine.

i wanna see the finished product...

i am a paranoid person so i put some bleach in the barrel and filled it with water then covered it for a night to sterilize it.i now have to rinse it out and let it soak with regular water and some prime a couple times to remove the bleach.then i will be in buisness.

so here i have drilled a hole in the bottom of the barrel just perfect size for the male threaded piece of PVC i will use to connec the ball valve to theinside union.[img][/img]
here are the pieces i am using since i am unable to find a bulk head here and am too impatient to wait for the store to open.a ball valve, a threaded union,two O rings, and the connecting male thread.
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after tightning the ball valve i got a tight enough seal with the O rings i didnt even need silicone.
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then to make the input line fit snug and to help match the color i used an old gravel vac top.i hooked it up to my water hose manifold and let her rip. awww yeah done and done.[img][/img]
i suppose i still have to put up the trelice for the rasperries to grow up around the stand.
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A few free pieces of advice about outside ro units.

1) theft: i know you feel secure but of word spreads you have it outside, someone might come looking.

2) extreme temps: freezing is bad for all the cartridges. Warm water is also bad. It expands the pores in all the membranes, allowing more pollutants through.

3) algae: clear canisiters grow algae, the algae breaks free and clogs the next passing membrane (falls out of sediment cainster and clogs carbon etc). Black canisters heat up more and faster (see temp extremes)

I would recommend covering it. It would be easy to cover it with a wooden box on hinges that opens with a padlock. This should help all issues, theft, sunlight, and throw some insulation in there for temps, done deal.

I just wanted to warn you.

i was actualy considering all the things you just mentioned aside from knowing about the algae clogging.thanks for the heads up.my ida was going to be appropriately ghetto as i was going to hinge a bin to my house with either home insulation strips or cutout some styrofoam for the insulation.oh and warm water expanding was also not soething i thought about.so now i will have to minimize the hose length and flush before a barrel fill on a hot day.sometimes the residual water in the hose can get way hot on the sunny side of my house.the unit is shielded from direct sun but not the hose.another project

oh, you live for projects and you know it...

i know right as i still need to get the trelice around the stand. you can come by and give me a hand if you want to.

so on a differnt note since i have been using RO on a few of my tanks i have had a decline in alkalinity and calcium to the point of some coral degredation . so i am now in the process of doing the old calcium chloride and soda ash combo.should be cheaper than buying all these buffers.

did i also mention with so many tanks using RO water has started to really raise the water bill. i might need to prioritize.