water storage

quick question I found a guy on Craigslist that has 55 gal drums for sale. He said they used to store vinegar in them. Do you think if i bleach them out and rinse them well so i can use them to store my RO/DI water and mix my salt water in them

 

Yep. At the store I sell food-grade plastic drums that used to have olive oil in them. (They need to be cleaned too obviously)

 

Lol many of us use vinegar to clean our tank equipment. I have a pump soaking in vinegar as we speak. Does that answer your question?

By the way, I'm not sure if the bleach is necessary. Just be sure to rinse very well. Vinegar is very water soluble.

 

thanks so much i will pick them up this weekend. My Ro/Di comes in on Thursday so i will get started making water my tank will be 210 gal and i need to wash sand and rock so i will be making lots of water.

 

Good work on the RO/DI! Just make sure to do your research on them too! Remember, No hot water, change your prefilters every 6 months (or according to pressure), zero TDS does not mean do not change your filters, keep tubes above unit when not in use, and keep track of your RO membranes rejection rate. Sorry if you already did your research, just trying to save you some money! ;D

 

this all assumes you trust the guy is telling the truth. or even knows the full history of the barrels in question... but at face value, should be fine.

 

what's that about? I have never, ever done that... I do have on/off valves if that's the concern...

 

I think he means so that a siphon doesn't leave the membranes dry? I use shut-offs as well so haven't worried about this either.

 

I have valves on mine too, but most units don't come with them. So many people who are new to RO/DI don't realize that if they don't put the tubes above the unit, or add valves, that the water will siphon out and their expensive membrane will be destroyed. I have been advised to do this by many experienced reefers, and I have even seen this in pictures of other reefers units. I am surprised that you knew to have valves on your unit but you didn't know why.

 

ok ok, i see. to me, valves are the (only) answer so I thought you were getting at something else (why I hinted that I have valves if that's the reason). Wasn't that I didn't know why, I just didn't realize that's what you were gettin at. It never has occurred to me you could just put the tubes up top. I went straight to the valve ;D


Thanks for clarifying ;D