Water Station

[gobyvin]

Hi All,
I have been working on designing and building this for months, trying to keep it simple, and use the least amount of plumbing parts to accomplish my goals and only one large pump. Pump is a Coralbox 12000 I bought from Reefbreeders. The left container is 10” gallons of RODI, the right is 100 gallons of Natural Seawater fortified to 34ppt. My local water is only 31, and tends low on alkalinity so I add buffer at 1tsp per 20 gallons and 5 cups of Reef Crystals.

 

[gobyvin]

Excuse the open wall, that room is getting new walls, ceiling and floor.

 

[gobyvin]

The 3/4 schedule 80 bulkhead in the wood panel wall sends heated Seawater or RODI through to the built in sump area behind my 180. I have a 20L Kalk tank under my drain plumbing to refill every week or so that is for ATO. I believe if I extend the pickup on the sump fill to the bottom of the skimmer chamber I may be able to use the water station pump to send water outdoors to my back yard using the fresh Seawater line but won’t be testing this until Spring, as I want to use salt water change effluent to kill weeds along my property line.

 

[Chris A.]

Nice setup. I like the NSW idea a lot

 

[gobyvin]

The 3/4 plumbing headed to left over the I-beam is the water inlet I pump seawater into the house through. The line headed right is the line that runs upstairs into my living room to deliver water to tanks I have upstairs (freshwater planted, for now...). I have to finish the plumbing connections up there and get a new python to use to deliver the water to the three tanks upstairs. Each kid, and the family 55 Amazon tank in our living room.
Lugging buckets stinks and preheating water in a wheeled brute was getting old. This should help save time/make things easier.

 

[gobyvin]

I throw this 35 gallon tank in my truck and take the seawater home with me to fill the larger reservoir. I built a pallet base to secure it well and protect the plumbing.

 

[gobyvin]

On the 3/4 inlet line that goes through the sill to outside i installed Banjo quick connect fittings with a dust cap. So far so good, they don’t leak and it made a neat install. No pics of that- it is mighty cold right now, but I was able to use a trimmed area that had a sump pump line already protruding from our house to contain this fitting, so it looks as neat as it can.

 

[gobyvin]

Thanks to Kyle @BackwoodsReefs for getting me these 100 gallon tanks and @Matt B for selling me the 35 gallon he did not need.
It has made things better!

 

[gobyvin]

I made these PVC heater guards so I don’t burn a hole in my storage vessels. Each one has a 250 watt Ebo-Jager inside, secured by a PVC sink tailpiece adapter. The whole case is made of 2” PVC with a screw union (to change out heater if it dies) hidden under the pool noodle floatation. The whole mess is secured to the cap of each storage tank with nylon bolts and thumbscrews on a plastic chain. This way as I empty the vessel, I can still heat the water as needed without fiddling with the heaters. The heater tops are covered to be sure the big waterfall doesn’t compromise their seals as the water level drops in each tank and I run the pump to heat/mix prior to use.

 

[gobyvin]

Nice setup. I like the NSW idea a lot

Thanks!
I have had good luck with NSW so far. It saves me big money over time as I pay city water sewer bills, so reducing my RODI burden is huge. I also really don’t appreciate having to pay for lots of salt, all the time and the trouble of mixing larger quantities well is also a pain. I like having water on hand too, in case of emergency. Some salt mixes are not stable stored for long periods anyway. I have tested pH, Alk, CA, NH4, NO2, PO4, and NO3 over storage and been pleased with what I found with the NSW in month long storage so far. No problems. It never sits long anyway, 180 needs 20 gallons weekly water change at least anyway.

 

[Andy V]

View attachment 155982
I made these PVC heater guards so I don’t burn a hole in my storage vessels. Each one has a 250 watt Ebo-Jager inside, secured by a PVC sink tailpiece adapter. The whole case is made of 2” PVC with a screw union (to change out heater if it dies) hidden under the pool noodle floatation. The whole mess is secured to the cap of each storage tank with nylon bolts and thumbscrews on a plastic chain. This way as I empty the vessel, I can still heat the water as needed without fiddling with the heaters. The heater tops are covered to be sure the big waterfall doesn’t compromise their seals as the water level drops in each tank and I run the pump to heat/mix prior to use.

I typically only make 10 gallons at a time. One day I needed to heat 20 gallons quickly. I threw in the 250w Jager and found out the hard way why that was a bad idea!

 

[gobyvin]

I typically only make 10 gallons at a time. One day I needed to heat 20 gallons quickly. I threw in the 250w Jager and found out the hard way why that was a bad idea!

Did the mix separate and throw precipitate? Or did you have a flood? I have been taking my build slow to try to get things right the first time... well as good as I am capable.

 

[Andy V]

Did the mix separate and throw precipitate? Or did you have a flood? I have been taking my build slow to try to get things right the first time... well as good as I am capable.

It burnt a hole through the bottom of the barrel and everything came out. I will take a pic later. Still have the barrel for other uses.

 

[gobyvin]

I knew my concerns for this were legit, thanks for confirming it for others who might be looking to heat water in polyethylene containers! My wife thinks I am crazy for building g some of this stuff, now, you have reaffirmed I am not ready for pasture just yet.

 

[Andy V]

I knew my concerns for this were legit, thanks for confirming it for others who might be looking to heat water in polyethylene containers! My wife thinks I am crazy for building g some of this stuff, now, you have reaffirmed I am not ready for pasture just yet.

I have a 50w(?) Jager in there without any protection and that has not caused a problem...which lulled me into thinking the larger one wouldn't be. As discussed, I was wrong!