Need recommendations: RO/DI storage.

[chaostactics]

I dont have room for a brute trashcan. Something is leaching Ammonia in my RO/DI storage setup and I suspect it's my storage containers. I need suggestions for pins totes in the 15-25 gallon volume range that are safe for RO/DI storage.

[sadie]

Not sure about that size, but you could always get food grade 5 gal buckets with lids and store them in that.  Those stack pretty easy.

[mcarroll]

Ammonia from plastic is almost as good as blood from a stone.  What kind of containers are you using presently?

 

How much floor space space can you dedicate for storage?

[chaostactics]

58 minutes ago, mcarroll said:

Ammonia from plastic is almost as good as blood from a stone.  What kind of containers are you using presently?

 

How much floor space space can you dedicate for storage?

The generic black and yellow totes that are sold at every home improvement store and many retails stores throughout the US. I have no floor space what so ever. The containers are on steel shelving units.  

[mcarroll]

I'm not sure I know what you're referring to....something like this?

 

Definitely not a good choice.  Although I can't imagine one "leaking" ammonia, it does take up almost four square feet of floor space.

 

You want something that will hold water in a "vertical" configuration.

 

A 55 gallon drum or wine/olive barrel take up around the same amount of floor space, but at 50-60 gallons hold around twice as much water:

 

Those are easy to find recycled for cheap.   If you do a little looking around and don't mind paying new prices you should be able to find something smaller around 10-30 gallons, if desired.

[MainelyReefer]

I use a 14g HDPE container usually used for a brine tank on a water softening system, small footprint with a lid check those out they may suit your needs. 

[NoOneLikesADryTang]

I use Rubbermaid Slim Jim trash cans. Same materials as the Brute, but it's a much smaller footprint, which works for my limited space. I have the 16 gallon; they also have a 23 gallon one, that has about the same footprint, but is taller. Since the tank keeper is about a foot shorter than me, the 16 gallon height works well for us.  I picked mine up at Home Depot, but they sell them on Amazon. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01G82M1W8/ref=twister_B07D7TFTVP?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

[chaostactics]

23 minutes ago, NoOneLikesADryTang said:

I use Rubbermaid Slim Jim trash cans. Same materials as the Brute, but it's a much smaller footprint, which works for my limited space. I have the 16 gallon; they also have a 23 gallon one, that has about the same footprint, but is taller. Since the tank keeper is about a foot shorter than me, the 16 gallon height works well for us.  I picked mine up at Home Depot, but they sell them on Amazon. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01G82M1W8/ref=twister_B07D7TFTVP?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

what do you cover them with?

[chaostactics]

2 hours ago, mcarroll said:

I'm not sure I know what you're referring to....something like this?

 

Definitely not a good choice.  Although I can't imagine one "leaking" ammonia, it does take up almost four square feet of floor space.

 

You want something that will hold water in a "vertical" configuration.

 

A 55 gallon drum or wine/olive barrel take up around the same amount of floor space, but at 50-60 gallons hold around twice as much water:

 

Those are easy to find recycled for cheap.   If you do a little looking around and don't mind paying new prices you should be able to find something smaller around 10-30 gallons, if desired.

Yes that yellow and black container. They fit great on steel shelving and are rigid enough to hold 10ish gallons of water with a tight fitting lid

Thats the opposite of what im looking for (the barrels) . i dont have any floor space. i need containers that will fit on steel shelving units 

[NoOneLikesADryTang]

27 minutes ago, chaostactics said:

what do you cover them with?

They make lids - I ordered one from amazon about a year ago. I think the stupid lid cost almost as much as the can itself. 

[mcarroll]

1 hour ago, chaostactics said:

Yes that yellow and black container. They fit great on steel shelving and are rigid enough to hold 10ish gallons of water with a tight fitting lid

Thats the opposite of what im looking for (the barrels) . i dont have any floor space. i need containers that will fit on steel shelving units 

Oh!  In that case you're screwed doing about as good as could be expected. LOL

 

You can get bigger totes, apparently up to 30 gallons.  I'm not sure I'd trust such a large one in the long term though.

 

Try Googling "horizontal water storage tank" and see what's out there.  (Lots.)  I bet it's all going to require more than zero floorspace though.

[chaostactics]

SOLVED! It wasn't the bins leaching ammonia.

[chaostactics]

1 hour ago, mcarroll said:

Oh!  In that case you're screwed doing about as good as could be expected. LOL

 

You can get bigger totes, apparently up to 30 gallons.  I'm not sure I'd trust such a large one in the long term though.

 

Try Googling "horizontal water storage tank" and see what's out there.  (Lots.)  I bet it's all going to require more than zero floorspace though.

Haha stay tuned. It wasn't the bins. It seems to be the very last thing I would have suspected. I need to do a bit further testing. 

[NoOneLikesADryTang]

Dog was peeing in your water bin? 

[DSA65PRO]

I use the Five Gallon Carboys that drinking water comes in, years ago I got a bunch that were rejects, that still held water. A #8 and #10 rubber stoppers fit the openings. I got ones that have two holes, put Lee’s 1/4 inch rigid air line in them. I do a cascading system to fill them. I always keep a lot of drinking water around, so if we have an extended power failure, with no well operation, we can get along. I date when filled with masking tape labels. 

[Saltslinger]

You gonna leave us hanging like this? What was leeching? 😱

[Semo]

I think look for some glass carboys on craigslist. Very cheap and should be available local. Small footprint and will cure your concern with plastic. 

[Semo]

Would ship you one for shipping cost but that likely more than you could buy one locally.

[chaostactics]

On 1/24/2020 at 4:23 AM, Saltslinger said:

You gonna leave us hanging like this? What was leeching? 😱

The salt mix 😵

[chaostactics]

On 1/26/2020 at 6:39 PM, Semo said:

I think look for some glass carboys on craigslist. Very cheap and should be available local. Small footprint and will cure your concern with plastic. 

Neat idea for an inert container but I can't put a float switch on that. May as well buy some 10-20 gallon aquariums 

[mcarroll]

On 2/1/2020 at 3:54 AM, chaostactics said:

May as well buy some 10-20 gallon aquariums 

A pretty good idea, really.  Squarish and rectangular containers will make more efficient use of the space you give them.

[chaostactics]

On 2/2/2020 at 11:28 AM, mcarroll said:

A pretty good idea, really.  Squarish and rectangular containers will make more efficient use of the space you give them.

It really is probably the ideal situation. I was just being cheap because I: 1. Didn't want to have to make/buy airtight (nearly airtight) lids 2. Didn't want to spend the time drilling glass and the cost to purchase a diamond bit. 3. Didn't feel like taking the time to paint the tanks or do something else to black out the aquarium walls/lids. 

That being said if my storage situation changes in the future I will probably stop being lazy/cheap and strongly consider using aquariums. 

[Semo]

I bought some 60 gallon pickled pepper barrels for saltwater and RO storage. 

1 month later I still have the pepper smell. I would recommend glass of some sort or new plastic. Just my brief experience in this. 

I've not used bleach but lots of my tricks to clean beer brewing equipment with little success. Not sure if the smell even hurts but its in my head.

 

[mcarroll]

Won't hurt.   Mine still smell a little like seasoned olives.  😉

 

Bleach didn't seem to help in my case....pretty sure the smell is in the plastic's pores, so the bleach (soap, etc) probably can't touch it.  (Not without damaging the plastic to get to it...)