RO topoff and plumbing

[Jimbo]

Hi all

Have a question, am going to get an RO unit and want to plum it directly to my tank, with a float valve. Water is available in the room that the tank is in via the input to my water heater. My concern is waste water, can I just pump that back into the current plumbing. I only need a couple of gallons a day to a max of 10g a day (way down the road). Since I want this to ease on the maintenance of my tank, why should I have to worry about emptying waste water, I guess I could run a small waste water hose out my window LOL . I live in an apartment so any major changes are a no no. But have permission to plum into the pipe going to the water heater. My water heater also has a pressure release hose coming out of it, wonder if that goes to the drain?

For a small system with a float switch what would you recommend. Money's of a concern and so are the cost of replacement cartridges.

Thanks -Jimbo

[Rick O]

The pressure relief valve on your water heater could go anywhere but chances are it dumps on the ground outside. Occasionally I will plumb air conditioning condensate drains into the plumbing soil line. If you do this it needs to be done before a trap or you need to put a trap into your wastewater line. This will prevent sewage gasses from coming into your apt.

[Unresistible Blue]

You should have no problems with plumbing the waste drain into a drain line. Depending upon how your sustem will be set up, you may want to out a check valve in your drain line, incase your plumbing ever backed up - you wouldn't want that flowing back into your ro/di system. Of course your RO/DI is pressurized, but for the price of a check valve I'd just assume keep any backup out of the drain line.

[Jimbo]

Thanks Rick / Blue
Check valve is a good idea. I also need to get a water sensor switch, if something starts to leak want to shut off the main pump otherwise you could be filling your house with top off water LOL.

[tdwyatt]

Originally posted by Jimbo
...Since I want this to ease on the maintenance of my tank, why should I have to worry about emptying waste water, I guess I could run a small waste water hose out my window ...

If you have a washer/dryer hookup in the apartment, you could run the waste water down the drain for the washer. You could even pick up the water supply there and not have to puncture the supply line for the water heater. The use of a supply line divider at the spigot for the cold water for the washer (many come with valves to shut off the water at the supply side) will allow you to use the washer and still make filtrate.

more by Jimbo
For a small system with a float switch what would you recommend. Money's of a concern and so are the cost of replacement cartridges.

We have a great sponsor that does the RO/DI machines. There are several companies on the market, but check our sponsor first, he is on the money with a quality unit and has a great price for the product he sells. Get one in the 25 gpd range. If you only use a few gal a week, you may want to run the final product into a plastic reservoir (like a Rubbermaid trashcan on wheels), then set up a 5 gal bucket under your tank as the supply for your top off and use either a Tsunami or a Ultra life float switch and controller to control a Maxijet powerhead. Suctioncup the Maxijet to the bottom of the bucket and run a length of supply hose from the outlet of the Maxijet into your sump. Place the floatswitch in your sump to maintain the desired level, and ze3ro your salinity in to your ppm based on this sump level. You still have to fill the bucket every so often, but it will give you a lot of freedom from maintaining the water levels, and your tank's salinity will become rock steady. You will need to locate the outlet of the hose at a level above the maximum level of your water in the bucket in order to prevent a siphon from emptying your bucket into the sump. This can be done by having the hose empty into a vertical length of 1" PVC that empties into your sump. Arrange the PVC pipe so that one end in under water in the sump, and the other is just higher than the lip of the suply bucket. In this manner, the siphon will break every time the powerhead finishes pumping, and there is no splash to consider when the water goes into the sump. Locate your float switch inside a protected area so that the wave and splash of the water movement inside your sump doesn't "jiggle" your float switch level (which will make the pump turn on and off quickly). To accomplish this, you can place the float switch in a vertical section of 4" diameter pvc pipe that has a few holes drilled in the bottom of it's base. the top needs to extend above the maximum level of the water level of the sump. Most float switches have a suction cup that will allow you to attach the switch inside the 4" dia. PVC. This project shouldn't cost much over about $50 or $60 total for the top off mechanism, and around $100 to $150 for the RO/DI device, depending on the make and model you choose.

JMO, hope this helps.