Some RO/DI installation ?s

[rickm]

I have some question's on whether this setup is going to work or not.I plan on putting my RO/DI filter on a shelf in my basement next to my washing machine hook up.I'll just run my waste water tubing into my washing machine drain(easy part).I'm going to use a 3/4" Y connector from my cold water where my washing machine taps into and have one side going to my washer and the other side(using the 3/4" garden hose adapter) going to the RO/DI filter.
Next I'm going to run the out put line to a tee,I'm then going to drop down from the tee into a make up rubbermaid tub with a Kent Marine float valve.This will be where I'll get my water for mixing up water changes.The other end of the tee will run up to my sump where I'll put another float valve and use this to automatically top off my tank with.
A couple of concerns I have is:the length from the filter to my tank sump will be some 25 + feet.Is this run to long to bring water up to my float valve in the sump?
Second:If I install the shutoff kit to go along with the float valve in my sump how will I be able to fill up my water change tub when my sump is satisfied?Also my water comes from a well.
Any help will be appreciated.
Rick

[dakar]

Sounds very similar to the way I have ours set up. The distance is no trouble, the whole system relies on the water pressure for the rest of the house, just remember water will take the path of least resistance when it can. The one thing I would suggest is that you use a resivoir for your auto top off, and use a ball valve inline before each float valve, so you will have to manually turn on the water from the RO/DI to fill each resivoir. Research indicates that constant turning on or off for short bursts degrades the RO membrane rather quickly.

But the float valves are great, here's a link to the simplest auto-top off I created using just a float valve and one of those aqualifter pumps, that may be of some use for ideas if nothing else.

http://www.captivereefing.com/viewtopic.php?t=1243&highlight=dato

[rickm]

Thanks for the link....Interesting about the short bursts not being good for RO/DI filter.The only thing is I'd be putting the reservoir in my basement and wonder if the aqualift would pump up to my sump.
Also are you using just the float valves,I read that you should also use the shutoff kit with it to stop production of the waste water,is this necessary?
With your idea I would just run the out put line from the filter to my Rubbermaid with a Kent Marine float valve.Then I would attach a Aqualift pump to the Rubbermaid container and have this running up to the sump all the time as a 2 pipe system like in your diagram.I could then just take the water from my Rubbermaid container and use it to mix up my water changes then have it fill back up automatically from the filter.
Thanks

[rickm]

Also could I use the 1/4" clear flexible tubing coming off the Aqua Lift Vacuum pump to the sump and back down from the tee to the holding reservoir?

[dakar]

That should work, the only thing to watch out for is the aqualift has a max lift pressure it can handle, i think it's like 13" or so.

Our RO/DI has an automatic shut off built in that turns the unit off when the output line pressure reaches a certain point. So when I need to fill the resivoir every 4-5 days or so I just open the ball valve and the float stops it when it's full, then I close the valve until the next time, most of the time I just let it run overnight and shut it off in the morning. Same thing with my other water making activities in the basement.

We tend to really beat up our filters.... it's genreally running 4-5 days a week solid.

[Guido]

I got a quick question about RO/DI water since we're on the topic of RO/DI here. Can I buy 75 gallons of RO/DI water somewhere, and if so, how much is it? (Per gallon preferably, if you could)