melev

Very nice, but I am worried about the affect ambient light will have on your purified water. And even in an opaque cotainer, it is still very unstable. Here's an interesting test: Take drink from a glass of RO/DI water, and leave the rest to sit for a week. Then take another drink. TBH, I have never done a chemical test on the week-old water, but there definitely is a taste change. Good advice about using a reservoir. So often we here of melt-downs caused by fresh water over-doses. In my system, I started with float valves and moved to solenoids controlled by a tank computer. But I still planned as you, with a maximum flood amount that wouldn't adversely effect the system should there be an "incident".

If the reservoir is more or less sealed, and the water is 'effectively' purified, there wouldn't be much of anything to feed algae growth anyway, right? I'm not downplaying the precautions, because they are a good idea, but it shouldn't be a problem, I would think.

Not exactly. Because it is purified, there are no salts to buffer the water, which makes it very reactive with the environment. And it can't be entirely sealed, or water wouldn't flow into it. This is one of those things learned over time, and in particular on larger systems where a lot of salt water and RO/DI water is held at the ready. Of course, here in the Northwest, this issue is more acute, since there is so much airborne spores and high humidity.

The window tint should help with keeping light down to a minimum in the container. If that isn't enough, I left a space to slide in a solid partition. The top access door isn't air tight, but it is good enough that when I see a temperature change in my home, the upper section of air gets a tad foggy.

damn, I thought my 15g food barrel for an ato was kinda big... but then again it's a 75g tank versus a 400g tank lol

Melev I see how the ATO gets filled from the RO/DI unit but I am tring to figure out how the H2O getts from the ATO to the sump ? Thanks MIke

I'm curious why you didn't pull it and remake it with some removal room. Heck, you could even sell this one to someone who could use it in a less confined space.

Canyousee - I'll have to add a few more pictures of how it works. There's a tall piece of 3/16" rigid tubing inside the reservoir, and an Aqualifter pump is connected to it. It draws up the water and then pumps it out flexible tubing into the sump. A float switch in the sump activates that pump as needed to replenish evaporated water.

Robb - don't you think this project has dragged out long enough as it is? Plus who wants to pay $200 for an ATO container? hehe It isn't like I just knocked it out with 1/4" material in 20 minutes. It's a beast. It should last a good long time.

LOL. True enough!

As a precaution, I "painted" clear epoxy on all of my float valve bodies. I use 5 different ones throughout my QT and DT sump and ATO gravity feed systems. I did not want to take any chances with a leak forming in the float body, and having it not shut off. As a secondary back up to an overflowing ATO container, I plumbed in a 3/8 tube about 1/2 inch above the desired water level...that runs to a drain. That way if I ever forget to shut off my RO/DI system when refilling my container, and the float valve fails, the water will just run to the drain. Great job Melev.

Can you post some pictures of what you put on your float valve bodies? The entire thing, or just the plastic float section?

Great idea about the overflow drain.