Funky RO water

[T Diddy]

At the LFS, I see these huge containers full of RO water...stagnant RO water. They mix their salt in rubbermaid trash cans. I bought a rubbermaid trash can to collect my RO water, but also use it to mix salt. I now have RO water in the can that has been there for the better part of 2 weeks. I've only opened it up to get top off water. Now it has a funky bad water smell.

What does everyone do with their RO water???leve it stagnant, or add circulating pump? Should I toss out this water and start over?

[layer3switchguy]

Hi,

I do notice that my RO water in my top-off container does have an odor to it. I haven't noticed an issue from it, and think it's the plastic that is throwing off some sort of odor. It is a food-safe pail too.

[bertoni]

There might be enough nutrients left in RO water to support some growth. I might put a pump in it, but I suspect that a bit of aeration will be enough to avoid damaging the tank. Do you know the TDS out of the RO filter?

[T Diddy]

last time I checked it was ~ 20

[bertoni]

Well, it's possible that the smell is due to something missed by the RO filter. I wouldn't worry all that much, although I might add DI. I'd mostly be concerned about any possible waterborne disease that's an issue for humans. The DI should reduce the risk of that.

[T Diddy]

water test clean for NH3 NO2 NO3, but I'll probably change the carbon and DI soon anyway

[saltwater freak]

hello Imo if your water is at 20ppm tds you need to change the filters
test the water after the carbon blocks,ro,and di when you see a spike in the tds change that filter

imo the water coming out of your ro membrane should not be higher than 2 ppm
and the di should be 0ppm
if it is higher than 0 coming out of the DI change the di resin (the di resin will leach out what it has absorbed after a while)
or you will soon have algae blooms

Thats just my opinion

[IAReefer]

I have a mag 9.5 in my RO water constantly churning it up. I have a 100 gallon storage tank. Is it abnormal to do this? I've always done this and I never have smelly RO water. I also don't have TDS creep from that bin either.

[bertoni]

I never bothered with a pump in my RO/DI water. :)