Outdoor water storage is it possible outside of BC?

[corpusse]

I am not aware of anyone doing this but I've also never considered it. I've just moved into a basementless house and for the first time in my life the tanks will be in the living space of the house not tucked away in the basement. That being said a fishroom is impossible for now and I need somewhere to store water.

Ideally I will have my 2 55 gallon drums one for RO and one for salt water. I am considering everything from a solar powered shed that powers either a spaceheater or the water heaters to using a woodstove, to keeping the water super salty and avoid major winter water changes. Basically I'm throwing this out there for ideas. I am in Northern Ontario so it's going to get COLD.

The backup plan is sticking one barrel in a corner of the house and covering it with wood to look like a table or something but ideally I can find a way to make this work outside.

[FishyFishy!]

Do you have a garage?

[corpusse]

No I don't unfortunately.

[lyall12]

What about using a fish pond heater?

Maybe wrap the drums in insulation, then use a small fish pond heater to keep it from freezing.

Next challenge will be getting it transferred without freezing the lines.

[corpusse]

The pond heater is an excellent idea. As far as getting it into the house without freezing I don't think that will be an issue. A high powered pump will get it in quickly and if its -20 I won't be doing a massive water change.

Moving out here was hard enough. Getting the reefs setup is a whole different kind of hard.

[sphelps]

Consider building an insulated shed on the side of the house. You could then heat by connecting to your existing furnace vents or run something separate. The shed could be used as sump/fish room as well if strategic placement is possible.

https://gatwickcarpenter.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/outhouse2.jpg?w=640

That all said though if the only purpose of all this is water storage, delete the water storage. It's a far stretch from a necessity.

[FishyFishy!]

Both are great ideas. The only issue with the insulation/heater idea is if he will be using an RO unit. Theres not much that can keep that from freezing. And with the tiny lines it will be the first thing to freeze.

Making a shed is costly, and heating it is even more so. If you can easily manage something like Steve suggested, then that is your best option to tie it to the house.

I vote making a table disguise out of wood and hiding everything underneath. You could make a cool bar or something on top to make it even more enjoyable.

[corpusse]

Consider building an insulated shed on the side of the house. You could then heat by connecting to your existing furnace vents or run something separate. The shed could be used as sump/fish room as well if strategic placement is possible.

https://gatwickcarpenter.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/outhouse2.jpg?w=640

That all said though if the only purpose of all this is water storage, delete the water storage. It's a far stretch from a necessity.

I like this idea the best. Of course it will cost and we really don't have the money for this now. That being said winter will probably get here before we get going on any longish term option so maybe by next spring we can do this. If the barrels have to stay in a main room in the house for one year my family is probably okay with that. Since this is our "forever" home I do want to get the tank(s) to the point where changing water is turning a valve and turning on a pump or at the very least pulling some hose line.

[Allpointswest]

Do you have a crawl space of any sort? Or an attic? maybe with careful placement you can put something up there and plumb it. it would be a pain to add salt to your salt res but you could pre mix it and pump it up as well. (just thinking out side the box lol) another idea is look for a different shape water storage. Maybe something that is tall and skinny that will fit behind coats in a closet or long and short for under a bed.

[lyall12]

Do you have a crawl space of any sort? Or an attic? maybe with careful placement you can put something up there and plumb it. it would be a pain to add salt to your salt res but you could pre mix it and pump it up as well. (just thinking out side the box lol) another idea is look for a different shape water storage. Maybe something that is tall and skinny that will fit behind coats in a closet or long and short for under a bed.

That's not a bad idea. I had a look last year at different water tanks. You can actually get some low profile rectangular tanks for RV water storage. Might be able to effectively hide those inside somewhere.

[corpusse]

I do indeed have a crawlspace and I've just come from there. Trying to figure out if I need to reinforce the floor for a 180g or not. Looks like it's in a great spot but that's a discussion for another thread.

I was under the impression it's bad to store water in the crawlspace however there are companies who make water storage tanks specifically for crawlspaces. The crawlspace has several heaters down there set to 10-12c so that's certainly warm enough for the water if I have to use a pond heater to heat the water to tank temp that would be fine.

[Allpointswest]

I thing the main issue would be ventilation. If its vented in a way that moisture does not build up or your containers are sealed so that they cant evaporate into the crawl space which might not have much air flow you would be fine. If you own the place I think I would add an out side vent with a fan that pushes air out and an in side vent somewhere so that heated house air can be pulled down and in to keep any moisture moving out. What size of vent and fan you will need Im not sure. Just like our tanks. Standing water isn't good and neither is standing air. Other wise I think you will be fine.

[Myka]

I am considering everything from a solar powered shed that powers either a spaceheater or the water heaters to using a woodstove, to keeping the water super salty and avoid major winter water changes.

The backup plan is sticking one barrel in a corner of the house and covering it with wood to look like a table or something but ideally I can find a way to make this work outside.

Don't make the water extra salty. You will get a ton of precipitation and many elements will be all out of whack.

I don't see why you can't store inside...don't you have a spare room? I have my tubs in our spare room which also functions as an office.

[Allpointswest]

this shouldn't be a problem if the water is heated and mixed with a power head.