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Old 01-03-2017, 03:56 AM
zhasan zhasan is offline
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Default COLD WEATHER ISSUES

Hi All,

Due to limited space, I have to setup my water station in the garage. I live in Lac La Biche and temperature reaches 30 below and more during winter. This would certainly result in frozen RODI water in the barrel.

Is there a way I can keep RODI water in the garage without having to run a heater? would running a pump intermittently do the trick? Objective is to save cost while keeping ample water supply for top off and emergencies.

I'm curious to see how others manage this.

Thanks,

Zee
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Old 01-03-2017, 04:36 AM
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I'm not too sure, you would need some serious circulation to keep the water from freezing in the barrel. As far as heat goes, I'm not sure if you can get away running a heater as the heat loss would be significant and the heater would run nonstop.

I'm sure some of the reefer gurus will come up with some alternatives if this cannot be accomplished.
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Old 01-03-2017, 01:52 PM
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I think you'd need something like a pond or livestock trough heater and a pump. I don't think there is a way to do it energy efficiently. It would probably cost you less to go buy 5-gallon jugs at the grocery store. The other thing, are you planning to run the RO/DI in the garage too? If it freezes, it will crack.

Are you moved permanently to Lac La Biche? I could change your location for you.
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Old 01-03-2017, 03:08 PM
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During the winter, instead of keeping rodi water on hand, why not produce the water just before you do the water change? I do that all the time anyways, as it only takes 1 day to produce enough rodi water for a water change. And just keep a bucket in the house, enough for evaporation replenishment.

I assume your rodi must be in the house, as no way it could work in -30.
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Old 01-03-2017, 04:56 PM
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You will need major insulation and heaters.

Best to do what Pilot said and make it before you need it.

My recommendation would be to get one of those hang on float valves and let it drain into a bucket that you are using that is sitting over a drain preferably.

https://www.amazon.com/Eshopps-AEO19.../dp/B00BUFV2GK
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Old 01-03-2017, 05:15 PM
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Couple of options.

1) A large enough volume with sufficient motion may not freeze. You would have to do the calculations to double check.

2) Build an insulated "mini-shed" around the storage containers and combine it with the pump and you will need a lot less energy. Again, need to do some calculations to make sure.

3) The "mini-shed" plus a heater on a timer, just enough to keep from freezing.

All of this and you are still going to have to do a lot to heat the water up for any significant water change or top off.

Charles
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Old 01-07-2017, 05:59 AM
zhasan zhasan is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Myka View Post
I think you'd need something like a pond or livestock trough heater and a pump. I don't think there is a way to do it energy efficiently. It would probably cost you less to go buy 5-gallon jugs at the grocery store. The other thing, are you planning to run the RO/DI in the garage too? If it freezes, it will crack.

Are you moved permanently to Lac La Biche? I could change your location for you.
The plan is to run the RO/DI in the garage. The garage is insulated however it get pretty darn cold in there to the point where things start freezing.

I'm also looking at the possibility of running the RO/DI inside the house and run the line from the wall out to the garage.

Yes, please update my location. The move is permanent for the foreseeable future.
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Old 01-07-2017, 01:05 PM
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One of my clients has the same sort of setup, and buckets of water freeze in there even when they're up against the house wall when it's about -25 even though the snow melts off the cars.

Using a cooler is a good idea though, and may be a good solution.
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Last edited by Myka; 01-07-2017 at 01:08 PM.
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Old 01-08-2017, 03:11 AM
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Another option that we use around dredges and barges is aerators for de-icing. They use a lot less energy than heaters. A good size air pump and some ait stones might work as well.

Charles
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