Smelly RO water?

[ItouchedThebutt]

So I have a 5 part RO unit from BRS. Make it in the garage in a brute trash bin. Wash and dry it before each batch. However after about a week of storage with a lid I notice it smells. You may laugh but the smell to me smells like cat tick. (Side note I think the same thing of IPA beers) is this alarming? Is it safe? What’s causing this? Does anyone else experience this?

 

[EricR]

Cat pee smell is pretty common.
Same here in Brute trash can -- worse in summer when it gets hotter.
Vinegar or bleach clean out of Brute helps for a while but, in the end, I don't think the smell is of a huge concern,,, and eventually seems to find its way back anyway.

My opinion only...

 

[ItouchedThebutt]

I wonder where it comes from? I didn’t know if it was like a sign my carbon blocks or filters where going bad and letting out organics that may be spoiling?

 

[Malum Argenteum]

I'd suspect that anything that leaches from the plastic bin could contribute.

RO water is very biologically unstable, and grows bacteria more than you might think. For drinking purposes, it is recommended to be UV sterilized before use because of this. I used to maintain a commercial RO system in a business, and some of the equipment fed from it grew some odd pink cyano-looking biofilms.

I store my RO and premixed WC water (for both my FW and SW systems) in glass aquariums, and have no obvious bacteria issues (I'm sure they're growing stuff, but I do not notice it).

 

[ItouchedThebutt]

Well the odd thing is back in the day when I would get my jugs from my lfs of RO I’d get like a two month supply and let it sit in the garage and never notice a smell. Main thing is I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t doing anything wrong with my filter and if it was bad for the tank.

 

[Kustom71]

I had that same issue it was driving me crazy. All i did to remedy it was place a pump in there to keep it moving at all times. Have one in my fresh water brute and one in my saltwater brute. No more cat pee smell.

 

[fishywishy]

Anytime my rodi water smells bad that usually means it’s time to change the DI cartridge. I would also gets a tds meter to make sure you have 0 tds coming out of your system to make sure nothing is getting in your water to make it smell.

 

[ItouchedThebutt]

I had that same issue it was driving me crazy. All i did to remedy it was place a pump in there to keep it moving at all times. Have one in my fresh water brute and one in my saltwater brute. No more cat pee smell.

I will hop on this and see if it works. Hate that smell and makes me feel like I’m hurting my tank just by adding that water. Lol

 

[ItouchedThebutt]

Anytime my rodi water smells bad that usually means it’s time to change the DI cartridge. I would also gets a tds meter to make sure you have 0 tds coming out of your system to make sure nothing is getting in your water to make it smell.

The in line one reads on average 3 tds coming in and 0 coming out

 

[Luisn17]

The in line one reads on average 3 tds coming in and 0 coming out

Have the same issue and the exact numbers from my TDS meter. I did upgrade to a new bigger Brute container and noticed the smell is gone. The new 44 gallon one does better have a better lid than my previous old 22 gallons one, wonder if the water gets smelly from not moving and access to air…...maybe??