Water change pump plan

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gwhunter

Guest
Ok like most of us here I wanted to make water changes easier. My house is a cape and I've got several tanks through out the house. My RO/DI system is in my finished basement in a utility closet. It consists or a 75gpd unit which empties into a 45 gallon rubbermaid trash can. I use this for top off and mixing new saltwater. But carrying buckets upstairs for my 90g got old real fast. I ususally do 30% changes to it. So I decided to pickup some sort of water pump that would be able to overcome the head pressure of about 25ft total. I also didn't want to break the bank of the pump.
Well I installed the pump and looked over the directions. The pump is small but rated to pump up to 45' at just under 250gph. My concern is that as I looked over the pump I noticed that there is some type of grease or lubricant on the discharge side. It looks like a petroluem jelly of sorts. So I wiped it out but now I'm scared to run my water through it for feal of contaminating my tank. I should mention the pump is an external type not submersible.
Matt
 
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gwhunter

Guest
Good point, it's a flotec 1/12 hp 350gph liquid transfer pump. I'd post the link but know that's not allowed here.
Matt
 
reefkprz

reefkprz

Active Member
they use food grade oils for lubricating it. you should NOT refill your tank with it for a couple uses, you should prime it and run it for a while to wash the oils free and discard the water. A good skimmer will help remove any residual oils that may be introduced to your tank from regular usage. the oil used is unlikely to be toxic.
 
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gwhunter

Guest
I let it run yesterday for about an hr with just fresh water running through it.
I figured as much about the skimmer but still feel a bit nervous. I wonder if there's another option.
Matt
 
gmann1139

gmann1139

Active Member
You could use a couple smaller pumps in series, and keep small buckets on each floor to pump in and out of.
The other option is to put the RO/DI on the top floor and let gravity do the rest, but I'm not sure that's an option for you.
 
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gwhunter

Guest
Originally Posted by gmann1139
http:///forum/post/3224445
You could use a couple smaller pumps in series, and keep small buckets on each floor to pump in and out of.
The other option is to put the RO/DI on the top floor and let gravity do the rest, but I'm not sure that's an option for you.
This isn't an option at all. The ro/di unit can't be moved and I've not place to store buckets of water. And besides this is completely opposite of what I'm trying to achieve. But thanks for your reply.
Matt
 
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