My Own Fish Store Build!

looking good..

 

I have some questions about the RO/DI and Saltwater that I will be selling.

I am thinking about having 2 pumps...1 for the RO/DI water. and 1 for the saltwater. The pumps would be next to the holding tanks in the back of the store.

I would run pvc from there to all the sumps with normal shut offs on them.
This would give me the ability to add make up water and saltwater to any system by turning a valve at the individual sumps.

I am planning on having the pumps plugged into switched outlets. The switches would be at the "for sale" RO/DI and saltwater area. That way I can turn the p[umps on and off when I need water to sell or to add to a sump.

Does this make any sense?

Here is my question? Is there any plastic shutoffs that are spring loaded and normally closed?
At the water "for sale" area I would like to have beer tap type shutoffs so you have to hold it why you fill the buckets. I am scared of the thought of a ton of water being dumped because somebody leaves the valve on.

If I am way of base on my thoughts of this operation tell me!

 

They sure do:
Dead man spring return ball valve
Apollo 'Deadman' Spring Return Handle Ball Valve

 

A couple of other thoughts about water sales from the retail standpoint - what will your policy be?

BYOB? (as in bring your own bucket?)

A LFS near me does something kind of nice - they have a bunch of those nice portable water containers - you "buy" one filled up for 16 bucks but you get to keep the jug and the next two refills are free.

The water container i bought from them was blue and looked like a giant upright plastic gas can (5-6 gallon capacity) and i love it - the cap screws on - no more sloshing in my vehicle or while climbing up two flights of stairs to my apartment - and no more using a hammer to open water buckets when im in a hurry. Heck you could have some of those around with your logo done up on it as a label! Or even have some 5 gallon buckets made up with your logo and number on a label if you dont go the "water jug" route. Might not be a bad way to recycle buckets you do wind up with. Just put your logo sticker on them and get your name out there. This also helps guarantee they will come back to you for water (resulting in more sales since i NEVER go for water and come home with just water....its usually another 75 bucks worth of stuff) and if they dont, the competition knows you are out there!

My big blue jug is now my dedicated CLEAN water jug - there is no chance of ever accidentally mixing it up with a bucket used for some other purpose like salt mix or cleaning or whatever thus resulting in a bad situation.

Heck, I had brought a bucket the day i went but bought the large water jug because of the reasons above.

 

Do I have to worry about them being stainless steel?

Do they make all plastic ones?

 

Thanks - OnefishTwofish I will look into that!



>>>>>>>>>>>Anybody have any input on the stainless valves?

 

Bump

Anybody?

 

wish i could tell you. i hate seeing someone looking for answers nobody seems to have

 

I've got 2 solenoid activated valves you could try out of you wanted. They are not manually activated but might be able to set a timer on them. I got them for a great score, but I do not believe they will work for the amount of water i planned to run through them. Shoot me a PM if you'd like, i'll send you a PM with the specs. Otherwise they will just sit in the garage collecting dust.

 

Stainless is fine. Titanium would obviously be better because that will never wear out and rust. Rust isn't really a big deal though. When you put phosphate remover in a reactor on your tank, what do you think that is? LOL