Water, Pumps, and Algae

[flyer81]

I am using a water chiller setup to perform 3 functions in my room. One it chills the room by circulating it through an icebox, which then passes the water through a wort chiller sitting in my reservoir, and I also pump water through a tankless water heater which then puts CO2 into my room. All of this water is passed through a 1 hp chiller and I am using a 55gallon drum as a reservoir.

My problem is that the water, if left to its own devices gets really really really gross. With slime coating all surfaces. That was on straight RO water with nothing added to it. The 2nd time around I put a spa float in and added a few chlorine chunks. This turned the water a dark green and destroyed my submersible water pumps by eating all the stainless steel screws. Apparently chrlorine and stainless dont play well.

So I am looking for a happy medium. I dont want to destroy expensive water pumps but at the same time I dont want to have smelly water with slime on everything.

Anybody ever deal with this? What is the best method of handling this? Should I just cultivate a beneficial bacteria colony like I do in my flowering system? I figured water flow was high enough before to keep things moving and prevent slime but it built up on everything.

 

[toastfighter2]

If the water never comes into contact with your plants you can add antifreeze to the system. The alcohol in it will hell keep anything from growing. It will also slightly raise the efficiency of your system too.

 

[DoomsDay]

Little bit of fox grade hydrogen peroxide will work wonders for you as well

 

[Madasulike]

Can anyone help my pump doesn't stick to bottom of res for very long the suction cups seem to give up after a little time leaving the pump not secured to bottom of res is there a glue or something that I can get that can make the suction cups stick to bottom and not harm the water or the plants in the process

 

[flyer81]

Antifreeze! Duh! I guess that totally makes sense now. Thanks!

Madasu, it just depends on what it is connected to, I use hoses and stuff to hold it in place. My pump sits on the bottom pointing straight up, goes into a piece of vinyl hose and then connects into PVC where there is then an elbow and goes out the side of the reservoir. Because everything is cut properly the pump is wedged against the bottom. That is in one system. In another, my reservoir is a conspicous spot. If I had the pump sitting on the bottom it vibrated the plastic reservoir and made noise. I rigged the vinyl hose so that the pump is essentially floating in the middle of the reservoir. No noise. I just use specific cuts of vinyl and pvc hose to put the pump where I want it. Wedged to the bottom so it stays in one place or floating in the middle.