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drimo

My Saltwater Mixing Station (Part 2)

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8 Comments
by
drimo
, 03-07-2011 at 10:28 AM (23734 Views)
Check out Part 1 in case you missed it.

I wrapped up the plumbing for my water mixing station this weekend.

The first thing I did was install the Uniseal on the top barrel for storing RO/DI water. Installing the Uniseal was tough but I learned a trick is to either use warm soapy water or your favorite water based lubricant. I'll let you guess which one I used but it was a lot easier than just trying to jam the PVC through the Uniseal.

I put a ball valve on the outlet so I can open and close it at will. I am using vinyl tubing for now so I can direct where the output goes, whether it be the bottom barrel for mixing saltwater, or into my top off container.


Inside the barrel, I used a 90 degree elbow to siphon as much water as possible out of the bottom when the valve is opened.


I then did a size-fit for the plumbing on my mixing pump and installed two more Uniseals. As you can see, I can control the flow back into the mixing container, or direct the flow out another valve where I will attach a hose. The hose will be used to pump water up to my reef tank in the living room.


Here is a close-up the plumbing.


Finally, I employed the same 90 degree elbow trick on the outlet, as well as extending the input's piping towards the bottom of the barrel. The idea here is that the flow from the pump will disrupt any salt that is sitting on the bottom of the barrel and get it into the water for mixing.


I will post another update after I acquire the right kind of hose or tubing. I hope this helps others with their planning!

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Categories
‎ Plumbing , ‎ DIY projects

Comments

  1. matt_longview's Avatar
    That is a truly great setup. Does your RO unit feed the top barrel on it's own also? Man... with this setup you could really automate this easily! I'm just thinking of an upstairs room, over my fish tank with my RO unit filling this RO bucket, my tanks ATO container plumbed to the top barrel, the saltwater barrel plumbed to my sump for easy water changes. Wow!

    "I hope this helps others with their planning!"

    It seriously has! That's cool.
  2. drimo's Avatar
    Thanks! I don't have my RO/DI float switch installed to the top barrel yet, but that is coming soon. Right now I am just running waste water from my RO/DI into the barrels to test the system and as a final rinse.

    My tank is almost right above the mixing station but I am afraid of drilling through the floor to get access. I have done it before to run ethernet lines and messed some things up. So that is why I'll be using a hose to pump up the stairs.

    The pump is an old GENX 4 that I got from Champion Lighting and Supply in a box-of-crap. It has enough head pressure to do the job, but I've got a new Panworld 100px on reserve if necessary.
  3. melev's Avatar
    That looks great. So you didn't want to admit that you were slathering on Astroglide? LOL

    Isn't the elbow "trick" on the outlet actually your inlet? I understand what you wanted to do, but it appears that that is the intake to the pump rather than the output line from the pump.
  4. drimo's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by melev
    That looks great. So you didn't want to admit that you were slathering on Astroglide? LOL
    ROFL, I used a different one, but same idea. It actually works very, very well.

    Quote Originally Posted by melev
    Isn't the elbow "trick" on the outlet actually your inlet? I understand what you wanted to do, but it appears that that is the intake to the pump rather than the output line from the pump.
    Looks like you caught me in a logic-loophole. You are correct!

    Thank you for the kind words. I can't wait to start using it.
  5. baker.shawn's Avatar
    I use to have something similar setup but on a smaller scale with 10gal buckets, it’s really convenient and the fact that you can always have new saltwater and freshwater on hand all the time is great, im sure you will love it.
    my major downfall was the fact that i had it in my basement and i was having a hard time keeping dust and cat hair out of the water, eventually kept getting brown slime (hardly noticible) growing on the bottom of the buckets, are you going to be sealing your barrels with a lid or anything?
  6. drimo's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by baker.shawn
    i was having a hard time keeping dust and cat hair out of the water, eventually kept getting brown slime (hardly noticible) growing on the bottom of the buckets, are you going to be sealing your barrels with a lid or anything?
    Yes, the lids from my current trash cans fit perfectly over top the new barrels.
  7. DJ in WV's Avatar
    will those uniseals hold that much water without leaking
  8. drimo's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by DJ in WV
    will those uniseals hold that much water without leaking
    It hasn't leaked yet, and I believe uniseals are designed that way. Once the pipe is in place, the pipe puts pressure on the uniseal, which is why it is difficult to get the pipe in place. It's weird to put faith in that piece of rubber, but it works, especially for a curved surface.