Running water to my tank

[magnetar68]

My new tank is in the family room. There is no water there and it is built above a slab, so there is no easy way to run water under the house. My current tank has a small tank I use for top off water, but I must fill it every few days. This is tank is bigger (120G vs 34G), so I expect higher demands for top off RO/DI water.

I was hoping to use my RO/DI unit on a solenoid and a kent float switch. The challenge is that I need to get water to the family room. One idea is to extend the PVC used for the sprinkler system (SCH 40) to outside a window. This would mean keeping the RO/DI unit outside an just running the 1/4" hose into the house. Would this work?

I was thinking I coupld put it into a box of some kind. I live in CA, so we only get a few days of freeze warnings a year.

 

[steved13]

This doesn't sound like what you were thinking, but it might be a temp solution for you...I have a float switch in my top of tank, with a female connection. I run about 20" of RODI output line, with a shut off valve, from the RODI unit to the top off tank, connect it, and open the valve. When it fills I disconnect and coil the line up. Works great, I have the line running across my floor for about an hour 2-3 times per week.

 

[agentgreen]

My house is on a slab as well and I have a 120G tank.

I am using a 50ml/m dosing pump (like this one BRS Top Off Doser (50 mL Per Minute) - English) and pumping RO/DI water through my walls about 10 feet away. I'm fairly certain a pump like this could pump water from much longer distances without any issue.

I basically cut out openings in my walls and then put in outlet boxes in them. Then I cut holes in the outlet plates and ran the 1/4" RO/DI tubing through them. When I leave the house, I can just put blank outlet plates over them and no one is the wiser!

In your case, you could probably just run the 1/4" RO/DI lines outside your house and then back into your house where your RO/DI unit is. Even if the outside temperature is cold, the amount of water you are putting into the 120G tank wouldn't really affect the tank temperature during top offs.

 

[BigAl07]

I do mine just about like Steve does. I simply uncoil the 1/4" line, fill the tank (takes about 45 mins 1x in 2 weeks) and then put it back up.

 

[magnetar68]

Thanks for the feedback so far. Yes, I could do the top off manually, but I was hoping to automate the process. I really like the idea of the outlet box, so I think I am going to go that way for now. Here's my plan:

1) Split my existing 3/4" PVC line outside and run it along the outside of the house to outside my familly room.
2) Place the RO/DI unit in a box and plump it to that PVC line.
3) Run the 1/4" product output line through the house to an outlet box next to the tank.
4) Plumb that 1/4" line to a solenoid and to a Kent float switch in the sump.

(Water will flow only when the float switch is open and the timer for the controller lets water run. My hope is to provide some redundancy when one of the two fail)

 

[BigAl07]

Sounds like a good plan. Just for "Fun" I'd try to incorporate some degree of insulation for the "Outside" section just in case you were to have one of those "Freak" cold snaps.