Water storage

[glennemo]

recently I had an outbreak from hair algae and suspected that my ro membrane had gone kaput. Since I never had a TDS meter I purchased a little hand held one off of ebay. Sure enough my TDS was reading 30ppm. So I replaced all the filters, flushed it for hours, then let it run for hours and voila TDS was 2ppm. I filled an old salt mix bucket and by the time it was done TDS was reading 1ppm. I poured the bucket into a holding container, the type they sell at Home Depot etc. for storing clothes tools etc. I added my heater and a powerhead that has an attachment floss filter that I use in my display tank from time to time when things get stirred up. I then started filling another bucket. The TDS meter was now reading 0ppm. I poured the bucket into the holding container and began making a third bucket. I got bored and decided to test my new toy on any container of water in the house including Tap 124ppm, bottled spring 50ppm, and display tank (472ppm). I was wondering if the 0ppm water from the second bucket would dilute the 2ppm water from the first bucket bring it down to 1 ppm. When I tested the water in the holding container I get a reading of 116ppm!! I figure there could be 2 explanations, either the container is leeching something into the water or dried remnants (salt etc) from my filter had caused the super high reading. This is a 22 gallon storage container that is probably not "food safe" But I have used it in the past with no ill effects (as far as I know). I see many people online use garbage cans etc. to mix the water and I can't see how the leeching could be that high after about 1 hour. But I also can't see that much stuff being trapped in a little filter attachment to cause this kind of a spike. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[quagmire]

dried remnants (salt etc) from my filter had caused the super high reading.

I'm willing to bet what you quoted above is the cause of your high reading. No matter how clean you think the filter/bucket/tote is, it's not clean enough to give you a zero reading.
Let your ro unit run into your sinks drain for 5-10 minutes, then take the hose and fill a (clean) glass or new plastic cup with fresh ro water and test. This should get you closer to the actual number your unit is producing. Its probably a good idea to run some fresh ro water over the probe for a minute or two to clean any salt residue from it before you perform another test. In the future don't test display or any salt water with your meter.

 

[glennemo]

Well after addimg the third bucket the tds dropped to 96ppm. I left the water in the bcket overnight and the tds remains level at 96. This suggests to me it was was probably due to the filter. So what are you guys mixing water in?

 

[Monkeyfish]

I use a couple of Rubbermaid tubs (35 gallon and 25 gallon). The Brute garbage cans are also supposed to be good for water storage. The best thing to use is food grade vats, but they can be expensive and hard to find locally.

 

[quagmire]

I mix new salt water in a 44gl Brute. Typically i don't store r/o but on occasion i will leave some in sealed 5gl buckets for a few days.

 

[glennemo]

Would this be good enough http://www.homedepot.com/p/t/100662...&productId=100662697&R=100662697#.UYxfrbWG1rw

 

[quagmire]

Not sure if the one in the link you posted is as durable as the gray brute.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EylvKtQH5NE&feature=share&list=UUWJ6HTQh5RYTEb1j_bLGsQQ

I use the 44gl version of this one.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Rubberma...l-Gray-Trash-Container-FG8620-20GRA/100211748

Wheel dolly, very convenient.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Rubberma...-Waste-Container-Dolly-FG264000-BLA/100026995

If you have the budget look into one of these. These meet FDA standards.
http://www.aquaticeco.com/subcategories/938/Graduated-Tanks

The Brute pails have a clear coat on them. Some people have expressed concern that if the clear coat becomes damaged or wears off over time, the material beneath it might leach contaminants. I don't know if this is true, i have no way of confirming it. However, i can tell you that the clear coat in my pail has been damaged for a couple years. I still use it to mix salt water and haven't noticed any negative effects to the creatures in my tank. But because of the concern expressed by others, i rarely leave water in it for more than a day or two to minimize the risk. I'm due for a new pail, this one is over 10 years old.

 

[drej424]

I just switched from the brute pails to an old 55g tank. I'm much happier with it and it holds more water, too. I just need to get a new ato for it. I've already forgotten to shut it off twice! Luckily, my water storage is in the unfinished part of my basement.

 

[glennemo]

Picked up the 20gal grey brute. Made 15 gallons of 0tds water. Perfect. Thank you