Is stainless steel ok for ro water pump and rate set valves ?

[jake37]

I'm looking at a
Davey BT14-45 Booster System with Torrium2 - +45 psi 14 gpm pump and considering it vs a rundfos-scala2-3-45-1 pump. This is to pump ro water out of a 500 gallon bin to a pipe when the valve upstairs is open. the Davey pump has 304 stainless steel and I don't know if that will leach. The system is sort of like this:

ro system -> 550 gallon holding tank -> pump -> 10 or 20 gallon ro bladder tank -> 1 inch pipes -lots of faucets. The reason for the bladder tank is that one of the faucet will be used for a drip system that is around 3 gph and wanted to reduce cycles on the pump.

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Also are there valves where i can set the flow rate in gallon per hour and gallon per minutes (they can be two different valves) ?

 

[M1A1]

Yeah 304 should be great for RO duty.

I don't know of any valves like that. There's metering pumps which you can set the flow rate on, or there's totalizer/gallonage valves that will turn off after a certain volume passes through.

 

[Midwater]

I have used stainless valves and fittings without issue.

If you want to dose critically, then look at peristaltic pumps.

You cannot really dose with a valve, because the pressure behind is not known, but for the finest control in valves, look at needle valves.

You can get, and I do use stainless needle valves.

 

[fishdance]

Another 2 work around suggestions without the need for finicky valves that may fail:

a) instead of using a bladder tank, use an open top header tank set to a constant water depth and gravity fed to your tanks (via your one inch pipes). Constant water depth is easy to maintain with a standpipe overflow back to the 550 gallon holding tank. If you maintain constant water depth in the open header tank, the water pressure to each tank is uniform and any simple off - on valve will do. I used a push fit PVC end cap with a 1mm drilled hole instead of a valve to save money for many multiple tanks/racks.

b) use pressure compensation drippers commonly found in drip micro irrigation applications. These will drip preset volumes per hour regardless of the water pressure (but don't let the back pressure become too excessive). Cost around 15 cents each. If you need more flow than the biggest dripper (which is 20 Litres Per Hour) then use 2 or 3 or 10 drippers per tank

 

[jake37]

Another 2 work around suggestions without the need for finicky valves that may fail:

a) instead of using a bladder tank, use an open top header tank set to a constant water depth and gravity fed to your tanks (via your one inch pipes). Constant water depth is easy to maintain with a standpipe overflow back to the 550 gallon holding tank. If you maintain constant water depth in the open header tank, the water pressure to each tank is uniform and any simple off - on valve will do. I used a push fit PVC end cap with a 1mm drilled hole instead of a valve to save money for many multiple tanks/racks.

b) use pressure compensation drippers commonly found in drip micro irrigation applications. These will drip preset volumes per hour regardless of the water pressure (but don't let the back pressure become too excessive). Cost around 15 cents each. If you need more flow than the biggest dripper (which is 20 Litres Per Hour) then use 2 or 3 or 10 drippers per tank

Yea I was looking at emitters and could use a 1gph + 0.5pgh but would feel better if i found a valve. there are 'meter' valves for around $100 but not sure if they do what I want .

I don't understand the alternative to a bladder tank described. The rough flow is storagebin -> pump -> 20 feet vertical pipes -> valve -> tube -> aquarium. If the tube has a steady flow at 1gph the pump will have to refill the pipe (not sure how often) to reach the desire psi. How does your solution alleviate the movement of water from the basement to the upper flow ?

 

[fishdance]

A header tank is a smaller version of your 550 gallon storage tank placed above your fish tanks so you can use gravity feed - simple, effective, reliable, uniform. It's important to keep the header tank water depth constant if uniform water pressure delivery is desired. This is open top, not pressurised.

Often used to supply new water to egg incubation jars in commercial fish hatcheries (where reliable but precise water input flows are critical) if you want to research the concept. Header tanks can be quite small so often overlooked.

If you could place the entire 550 gallon storage above your tanks, you wouldn't need a header tank.

 

[jake37]

I don't see how a header tank helps with my problem.... Also the storage bin is 15 feet below my aquarium. I still need a way to keep the pump from running constantly for small duration due to the drip; hence the bladder tank.... unless there is another way to fix the issue.

A header tank is a smaller version of your 550 gallon storage tank placed above your fish tanks so you can use gravity feed - simple, effective, reliable, uniform. It's important to keep the header tank water depth constant if uniform water pressure delivery is desired. This is open top, not pressurised.

Often used to supply new water to egg incubation jars in commercial fish hatcheries (where reliable but precise water input flows are critical) if you want to research the concept. Header tanks can be quite small so often overlooked.

If you could place the entire 550 gallon storage above your tanks, you wouldn't need a header tank.

 

[fishdance]

The header water tank is a method to raise your water storage above your tanks where it's not practical to actually keep the water storage tank higher.

I'm sorry I don't have time time to explain this concept in more detail.

 

[jake37]

The header water tank is a method to raise your water storage above your tanks where it's not practical to actually keep the water storage tank higher.

I'm sorry I don't have time time to explain this concept in more detail.

Yes but why - I think you are solving a different problem. I'm talking about limiting short cycle of the pump; I have no clue what problem you are talking about. I certainly can't put 1000 gallons above my tank....

 

[fishdance]

The pump is used continuously to maintain constant water depth on the header tank. Deliberately over supplying and using stand pipe to return excess back to your main storage. This pump doesn't need to be large for constant slow feeds. There are quite a few advantages to this which I won't bother explaining as it doesn’t sound like the solution for you.

Yes - you can put 1000 gallon (and more) above your tanks this way.