Setting up water supply & R/O filter in your room

[brightskies]

My room is detached and quite a distance from my house. I'm tired of lugging 5 gal. buckets and am thinking about bringing water to the room. I can use PVC easy enough to get it to the exterior wall, but what should I do once I get it inside my grow room? I was thinking something along the lines of putting in a mop sink/faucet? I'm not too worried about an official drain. I could probably make something using some 1" PVC draining into a drywell (big hole filled with gravel) outside of the exterior wall. What have you all done?

I'm currently hand-watering and mix up a 10 gal batch of nutrients at a time into a 32 gal Rubbermaid garbage can on wheels. I then pump it through a hose and out of a watering wand. That lasts me about a week and then I mix up another 10 gallons.

I've also got a 5 stage reverse osmosis filter I'm thinking of using that I got for real cheap. I don't know how many gallons per day it is rated for, but I doubt I'll be able to fill up 10 gallons very quickly on demand. It has a 3 gallon expansion tank as part of the setup. Do I just replace the expansion tank with a larger 30 or so gallon tank with a float valve? Maybe it'll be easier just doing it the way I am now.

All ideas and photos welcome!

 

[Lazyman]

Sinks and faucets are nice, but I just trenched a garden hose 75' from my building and punched a hole in the wall. Hooked it to a 4-way manifold, one line goes to the filter/timer in my sig, the other lines are for hoses and stuff that doesn't need filtered water. If you have gophers wrap the hose in tinfoil or they'll fuck it up underground.

Oh yeah, and yes to your RO question, a alrger res with a float valve is handy (put in a full time overflow valve/fitting at the top too) but they make a kit for RO systems that shuts off the supply line when the outlet line is turned off. Can't remember what it's called but search for RO shutoff valve and you'll find it.

 

[lid]

I have my r/o system hooked up to a 50 gal rez with a float valve. I dont know what your waste to clean water is on your r/o system but will most likely waste 30 gal. for 10 gal. of clean r/o water. Dont know if your drywell could handle thats much water. Also your going to lose water pressure so u may need to get pressure regulator for the r/o system to work correctly.

 

[Lazyman]

To increase RO output you'll need an RO booster pump ($$) but you'll burn filters faster.

 

[brightskies]

Thanks for the great info- I hadn't considered much of that. You've all really helped me.

How long can I store 50 gallons of plain R/O water? Is there anything I have to do to keep it "fresh"? Is a transluscent storage container OK? Or, is a black one preferred to prevent algae growth?

Thanks again!

 

[lid]

I would use a black one. If u can get one with the sealed top with two caps would be perfect. Just open one when its filling up and then close it when its topped off. Should stay fresh a very long time.

 

[lid]

To increase RO output you'll need an RO booster pump ($$) but you'll burn filters faster.

Thats what i was thinking of

 

[binaryfission]

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[Godless]

I have a 35 Gallon rubbermaid trashcan as the good water storage tank. I have an airstone in there - don't know if I need it or not, but I figured it would keep the water from getting funky. Even after using it for a year, it still smells like plastic when I open the lid. Hasn't seemed to be a problem, but I'll eventually replace this with a "food safe" container.

My waste water goes into a 75gallon tank with a float valve (this tank fills long before the clean water tank, so this is the main auto shut off). I have to manually open the drain at the bottom which flows outside to a T split - with valves after each T so the route can be picked. One side of the T feeds a set of drippers down the hill and the other side is just a straight water drain that I use in the winter because the dripper side will destroy the PVC if it is full of water and freezing out.

I wish I wouldn't have put the R/O system in my actual room because all the lines and the PVC condense a crap ton of water and drip it all over the place. When I run the R/O, I have to crank the dehumidifier to minimize the condensation.

When the 75 gallon waste tank fills up overnight, the clean water tank is 1/2 full.

 

[medi-useA]

An airstone in the tank will help it not become stagnant...will also stop mozzies from breeding there

Keep it dark...either the container is dark or it is stored in the dark...If keeping for a long period...a goldfish could be kept there, I suppose but then you would have to factor in the nutes from the fish waste.

If the water is kept cool, the DO will be higher too
muA