RO/DI Safety Help

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Craigdillman

now that I think of it I should find a way to plumb it directly to my ato container

Although lots of people do that, it's a really scary idea. If the shut off ever fails your tank will be pumped full of a never-ending supply of RO/DI water.

[Craigdillman]

Well yea I was thinking of plumbing rodi into the ATO tank which is controlled by the Tunze ATO so if it did over flow the ATO tank would flood .. both equally bad lol and my RO machine is down stairs and tank up stairs so i would have to route it threw some stuff which could also be a challenge

[Craigdillman]

Just found this video which is solving my problem even if i don't hook up directly to my ATO tank something in here should work for my situation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XPKLrU6LEo


Thanks for all the input ( hoping to never have a flood )

[gregzz4]

I used to have a mechanical float valve in my RO drum to shut off my system.
After some issues, I found that during shut-down, before the pressure valve closes, water pressure is greatly reduced. This caused some TDS to get through my system.

I've removed said float valve, and have run the RO drum overflow to a drain.
Drilled a hole as high as possible in the drum and away goes the leak.

If it overflows, oh well. Then close the valves and shut off the source water.
Next time it runs I flush the membrane and start all over.

If I were to ever spend some money here, I'd get a float/solenoid setup that would shut off the system instantly. Then I'd consider trusting it on it's own.

[mike31154]

One of those dilemmas. I've learned not to trust any kind of automated shut off, mechanical or otherwise when making RODI. I only make water when I'm home & doofus that I am, I've still had a couple of mini floods overfilling both my fresh & waste water vessels. I collect the waste water to use around the house & in the garden since our water rates are quite high & continue get jacked up by our good officials here in Vernon. Need to make the most of every drop coming down the city pipe. I set the timer on my gas range when I make RODI as a reminder. Nevertheless, several times I've forgotten even that when I decided to go outside & tool around. Now I set the timer on the gas range & my mobile when I go outside!

No way I'd ever plumb a RODI system directly to a sump or display as an ATO solution. I'd be terrified by the thought of that screwing up on me & greggz has already mentioned the TDS creep associated with that kind of set up. I can ill afford any kind of water disaster in my basement since the sewer exits the house only about a foot below the top of the basement concrete. There's no drain in the basement floor, so if something breaks, I'm knackered if I don't catch it in time. Thinking of breaking thru the concrete floor & installing an emergency sump to pump water up to the sewer line in the event of such a calamity. Recently installed a laundry tub with small sump underneath to catch the washer water. The washer used to have to pump about 6-7 feet up to the sewer line through a check valve. There was often residual water in the bottom of the washer after cycle was complete. Works much better now with the sump under the laundry tub doing the work. Anyhow, that little sump won't help if there's a water pipe break down there, the level in the whole basement would have to rise more than a foot before that started filling up & pumping.

All that to say, reiterate, a major mishap in my basement will have dire consequences, so I don't rely on any manner of automated water shut off on my RODI.

[Craigdillman]

Yea I totally agree, i never really wanted to plumb it directly in cause that alone scared me , and logistically in my house probably wouldn't be an option, I'm in the same boat a flood would not be good my downstairs bathroom is touching the storage where the RO MAchine is and would not want to cross that bridge..

I was wondering, the perfect set up would be a timer that you set say for 2 hours then after 2 hours a shut off stops the water going into the RO machine u till the timer is reset . So then you could figure how long it took to make be bucket set it for that time walk away and the timer would cut the water supply of you forgot to come and check it ? Does something like that exist ? Like a timer trigger solenoid or something ?

[gregzz4]

Use a mechanical timer
The style with pins used to set the on and off times
Then just do not use the "on" pins

Then of course you need to add a shut-off solenoid