Water Line to ATO?

[usvi diver]

Just curious what you more experienced guys would say about this.

Is it worth the trouble to run a water line from your RO/DI filtration unit directly to your aquarium? I am in the middle of some work in the room where I plan to place the aquarium and I am running some 12/2 line so it will have its own dedicated breaker back at the box. While I am doing this I realized it would be really easy to run the 1/4" water line from the filter system, under the floor and to the sump but is it worth it? I was thinking it might help with making things easier for the ATO. Let me know what you all think. Thanks.

 

[realfish]

I think it would be worth running a water line while you are there. That being said, I would not hook it directly into your sump. R/O systems do not work well for small volumes of water such as that used by an ATO. It is best to fill up a reservoir with R/O water and then shut it off until it needs to be refilled again and then topoff from a reservoir.

For example, if I forget to turn off my R/O system when the resevoir is filled, the TDS meter reads from 10-12 ppm. If I let it run it goes to zero very quickly.

So, you could use the line to either fill up a resvoir under your tank or to a resevoir located near your R/O unit.

 

[elfloyd]

I will run water from the RODI to sump on my new build. The RODI is on one side of the house, and the tank is on the other. I will not control the RODI with a normal float switch. Instead I will use a solenoid valve controlled by my Apex. The valve will be in the garage at the RODI output. I will have a tee at that point... one side going to my RODI holding tank, the other running to the sump. I will need to run the solenoid power cord from the garage to the Apex. And while I am running ATO power and water lines I'll run a second set of lines to plumb water change salt water into the sump (both water and power).

I feel somewhat safe that I can avoid overflows because the Apex will control the water flow and a float valve in the sump will control the Apex. As a final fail safe the solenoid valve is 'normally closed' meaning it will not allow water to flow in case of a power failure. (Note: the Apex power outlets are normally closed as well.)

 

[eagle9252]

<span style="font-family: Calibri"><span style="font-size: 13px">I don’t have a large house so what I did for my issues.</span></span>
<span style="font-family: Calibri"><span style="font-size: 13px"></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Calibri"><span style="font-size: 13px">The RO/DI unit is in the laundry room. The next room over is the kitchen then a wall deviding the living room and the kitchen where the tank is installed in the center of the wall splitting the 2 rooms. And then there is the pantry where the RO/DI slash SW mixing station is. </span></span>
<span style="font-family: Calibri"><span style="font-size: 13px"></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Calibri"><span style="font-size: 13px">The RO/DI unit water line goes up thru the ceiling into the attic and across ceiling in the kitchen and down the wall in the pantry. But sometimes ¼” tubing does spring a leak so I ran it through a garden hose. This was if a leak accrues it will stay in the hose and come out the ends and not leak on the ceiling. It would protect from the direct heat and cold, this is my thughts... </span></span>
<span style="font-size: 13px"><span style="font-family: Calibri"></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 13px"><span style="font-family: Calibri">I fill my RO/DI up once a week. This way all of the water is used instead of just tiny bits. This keeps the water from getting stale IMO. The ATO runs through the wall and goes to the tank and is switched by a float switch that controls the water level in the sump. </span></span>

 

[grouper therapy]

I would definitely run the line to the sump. How your ato setup is irrelevent in the sense the water has to get to the sump some how. I would look into running a drain line and a waterchange line as well.

 

[bruce 1]

I have been thinking about doing this also. But several have told me to not do it. Decisions? ??

 

[elfloyd]

You need to be careful in your planning to prevent overflows. The key is mastering how you will turn off/on the water supply. Relying on the float switch is not good enough: sometimes they don't close properly in any system, but this can be compounded in the sump when you are only opening for small amounts.

 

[bruce 1]

I was thinking of a solenoid valve also.

 

[grouper therapy]

Solenoid valve on a timer that only comes on a few times a day. I also put one on my supply to the rodi to prevent too many short cycles.