A few RO questions

[nyjets51]

I am thinking about starting my first SW tank... My first question is Where does the waste water go? My next question: Is it possible for the tank and the RO unit to be on different floors of the house? Is there any way that could work out?

[drparker]

Down the drain or some route it into the washer or use it for watering the garden. Yes it can work you'll have carry it in buckets or route water lines and use pumps.

[Playa-1]

The waste water is basically filtered tap water with a slightly higher tds then your regular tap water. It can be used for anything that you would normally use tap water for. I send mine down the drain of my utility sink because I haven't gotten around to drilling a hole in the wall and watering my roses with it.

As far a your filter on a different level then the tank, there are many different ways to make that work for you.

[nyjets51]

So lets say I put the good water in a garbage can... Then could I use a pump to get that water into a 5 gal. bucket and bring it up the stairs? What kind of pump would I use?

[IslandCrow]

Usually people will produce relatively large amounts of purified water and store it in a container such as a Brute trashcan as opposed to producing it on an "as needed" basis. If you do this, you'll generally end up handcarrying it to your tank anyway. You can also set up an auto-topoff next to your tank using a smaller capacity storage container (such as a 5g bucket from Lowes, Home Depot, etc.) which is refilled periodically from the larger storage container connected to your RO unit.

So lets say I put the good water in a garbage can... Then could I use a pump to get that water into a 5 gal. bucket and bring it up the stairs? What kind of pump would I use?

I use a Mag 5 to pump water from my storage container in my garage to the tank in my living room (a distance of about 10 meters). You can use the following calculator to help you pick an appropriate pump: http://reefcentral.com/calc/hlc2.php

[AZDesertRat]

It really does not matter where you mount your RO or RO/DI unit as long as it is protected from the elements and bright sunlight and it is close to a cold water source and drain. Most of us here wil tell you that you do not want to have a direct connection between your RO unit and your tank anyway, a float valve failure could make your saltwater tank a freshwater tank in a hurry. If you want an autotopoff system its best to store RO/DI water in a seperate vessel and use it to fill the tank so you have a limited amout of water that could dilute the system in a failure.