FlyTrapCare Forums

Anyone have experience with adding a 2nd or larger RO tank to their existing system? I currently have a 4 gallon tank but It would make life easier to have a 10 or 25 gallon tank.
I don't have room for a tank this large inside the house so I was considering running a line off the existing system, under the house and adding a large tank outside on the side of our home. Anyone ever done anything similar? I would also add a faucet to the tank outside so I could pull directly from the tank outside. Clearly I need some help with the logistics.

Sounds expensive! Filters aside, that's going to create a lot of waste water that you have to pay for. Are you wanting this just for plants? If so, a rain barrel system might be kinder to your wallet

xr280xr wrote:Sounds expensive! Filters aside, that's going to create a lot of waste water that you have to pay for. Are you wanting this just for plants? If so, a rain barrel system might be kinder to your wallet

I essentially live in the desert, rainfall is nearly non existent from May until October so I don't think a rain barrel would be much use.
I am not sure how an additional storage RO tank would be wasting water, once the storage tank is full, the system stops filtering so I do see how any water would be wasted.

Branmuffin wrote: I am not sure how an additional storage RO tank would be wasting water, once the storage tank is full, the system stops filtering so I do see how any water would be wasted.

An RO filter uses water pressure to force water through the membrane but extra water to flush away what it filters out of your water. So your system could use 5 gallons of water to add one gallon to your tank. You're correct that once the tank is full it won't be using any extra water, but I'm assuming you're going to take water from the tank at some point. If you take a gallon, that would be another 5 gallons of tap water it has to use. 5 is just a number I picked. The real number depends on the efficiency of your specific RO system and possibly on your incoming water pressure (not sure of the latter.)

Don't under estimate how much you can collect from a short rainfall, though. I have just a 10 gallon tub that fills up and overflows from a leaky rain gutter in just a couple minutes. But if you don't get enough rain, the RO sounds like a good plan. I don't know anything specific about running the tubing though, sorry.

You can add a second tank or a larger tank and it will work the same as it does now. RO tanks have a diaphragm in them which has nitrogen at around 8 to 10 psi on the dry side and obviously water on the wet side.

In reference to xr's statements if you get a permeate pump it will greatly increase the efficiency of your RO. It will fill the tanks faster as well as waste less water and they are fairly inexpensive at around $45.

You could also run the waste water line into a rain barrel and use the bad water on plants that don't care about minerals.

Aquatec AQUATEC-ERP-1000 Permeate Pump https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SD73DA6/re ... dzbGC7ABFA

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Thanks for the great info, I have had this RO system about 9 months and clearly I never understood how it really works. I think I will look into making a rain barrel, and if this isn't enough to supplement my usage I will look further into purchasing another tank or just a larger tank. In reality I could probably fit another 4 gallon tank under my sink next to the current one and would be fairly simple, 8 gallons would be plenty, a 25 gallon tank I would never fully use I suppose. Thanks!