Wash tank options?

[mol1jb]

Hey all,

I am adding another 4x40 tower to my single 4x40 and believe I need to increase my wash tank size. The tank is currently ~5 gallons. I have a 10 gallon old aluminum pot. Would this work?

[Maple River Sugar]

With my Micro 2 from Leader which is a two post RO it still uses the 5 gallon bucket.

[DrTimPerkins]

Aluminum is not a suitable container for RO soap.

[maple flats]

You can get a SS pot in 10 gal, or have a tin shop make one big enough for 10 gal using SS. RO soap will etch/eat up aluminum.

[Super Sapper]

The wash tank is essentially an open spot in a wash circuit. Once you have been circulating and everything is pretty well mixed a larger tank is not needed.

[wiam]

My wash tank is the bottom half of a 55 gallon plastic barrel. Has worked fine for years

[mol1jb]

My wash tank is the bottom half of a 55 gallon plastic barrel. Has worked fine for years

I actually have a few of these around. Thanks for the idea.

[mol1jb]

The wash tank is essentially an open spot in a wash circuit. Once you have been circulating and everything is pretty well mixed a larger tank is not needed.

I guess my biggest concern is having enough soap for washing both membranes. Here is how I had been doing the wash on one membrane -

Fill up the wash tank with 5 gallons of 115* permeate
Mix in enough soap for the proper PH wash
Initially set my valve to drain coming off of the membrane to get out any cold water and keep the wash water as close to high PH as possible
Once I feel the warm water coming out of the drain line, switch the valve to circulate for a wash cycle.

In doing this, the tank is less than half full when the valve gets switched to circulate. I also don't have anything to reheat the wash water once in circulate. I may have to look into adding something. If I leave everything as is, I think it would work best for my setup to have a larger wash tank.

[mol1jb]

Thanks Dave and Tim for the info on aluminum. I will avoid this option.