Reef nutrition

Smell from brute containers

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I am currently using 3 food grade grey brute trash cans to store RO/DI, RO, and saltwater. They were brand new, scrubbed with vinegar, then rinsed with an ungodly amount of RO/DI.
They store water very well for a week, then start to develop an odor. It’s hard to describe it but it smells like faint cat urine. I don’t have a cat and it happens for all 3 containers; even the RO-only container.

To isolate this problem to the containers, I transferred some water to Home Depot buckets and left them for 30 days. The brute trash can had a strong smell while the Home Depot bucket didn’t.

I replaced all my trash cans and bought new ones just in case; same problem…

Before I drop a few hundred dollars on 3 Norwesco containers, did anyone have the same problem? I’ll need bigger containers anyway but I want to make sure I’m not overlooking something else in my water filtration system.

My RO/DI system is a BRS 6 stage deluxe (sediment, 2x carbon, RO, 2 resins) which has received the following upgrades:
- water saver (2x RO membrane with pump)
- An extra DI canister so I can do cation -> anion -> mix.
 
Weird. Cat pee smell is basically ammonia. Have you tested the smelly water for ammonia, TDS, or anything else?
 
Not familiar with that issue, but I use 2 44gal brute cans to heat my sea water before use…no problems ( that I’m aware of).
been doing this in same cans for over 15 years with 1000’s of gallons
 
I've been using a Brute for about a year now, washed a couple times with vinegar to remove some deposits on the bottom. But I haven't noticed any particular ammonia/cat pee smell (I have three cats). Did you buy the 3 can from the same place at the same time?
 
I just noticed this! I made rodi in a "cleaned" brute for a vacation and after returning, the Brute smelled like bo/ or the faint ammonia you were talking about. My black plastic square bin does not get this smell. I'll try it out again and see if it comes back.
 
I use a lot of Brute containers. Both 50G trash can for salt mixing, and a lot of brute bins for general garage storage.
Never noticed a smell.

You might go to home depot and sniff the Brute containers there. :)
See if they smell that way new.

Is your brute trash can outdoors? It is actually possible a stray cat is peeing on it.
 
H2OPlayar said:
Brute smelled like bo/ or the faint ammonia you were talking about.
Click to expand...
Same here, like hockey locker room. Indoors with lid closed as much as possible. No cats.

Someone on BAR turned me onto 7g buckets so I am back to buckets for small weekly water changes. Brute for emergency large change situations that I hope to never have to do.
 
Patio said:
Same here, like hockey locker room. Indoors with lid closed as much as possible. No cats.

Someone on BAR turned me onto 7g buckets so I am back to buckets for small weekly water changes. Brute for emergency large change situations that I hope to never have to do.
Click to expand...
Same here. White food-grade Brute containers always got that smell if I let mixed up water sit in it for a while with the lid on. Never had any issues, other than that smell. If I kept it aerated, the smell wouldn't happen. This was using Instant Ocean.
 
I have experienced this. Had no issue for years, then all of a sudden the water in the brute cans started doing this. I never did test for ammonia, which is a good idea. I switched to norwesco and haven't had the issue.

Edit: I also was using instant ocean: RC when I started having this issue, but had been using it before with no issue as well.
 
I picked up a few last summer for a tank move and also noticed a smell so ditched them unused. Got four blue 55g from local hydroponics store alot more sturdier but not a space saver work great for mixing/cleaning access plus air tight lids.
Paul
 
Thanks for the replies all!
It doesn't happen for the first 1-2 weeks. I did test the water and no ammonia. The parameters are where they should be. I'm thinking it's the plastic somewhat off-gassing when it's hot as they are in the garage. Containers were purchased at different time from different stores. I also replaced them in case there was a bad batch in 2018...

I like to make water in large batches and keep the cans full in case of emergency so for the RO water, it can often sit for 30+ days. I've had water in 5G jugs for water coolers for months without any funny smell/taste so I'm pretty sure the water itself is good.

Sounds like switching to Norwesco might help.
 
Sounds like you might have a Sauv Blanc on your hands! I remember learning in grad school how it was a legit flavor in wine due to thiols (particularly 4MMPOH) being produced by the yeast. https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn27466-5-weird-tastes-that-can-sneak-into-your-wine/ and it literally is described as cat pee.

So I'm guessing yeast in the air are dropping in and consuming something in the barrels (leftover organics or sugars) and making you this nice cat pee aroma. Likely completely harmless.

Are you using a salt mix with extra carbon in the mix like Tropic Marin Syn-Biotic?
 
Oh that's interesting. The containers are in the garage and I've experienced a similar issue both before and after I moved. I didn't see any negative effect on the tank so harmless seems to be correct. One issue is the taste of the water for human consumption when I transfer the water from the 35G brute container to an airtight 5G jug. I wonder if I was to let it aerate if the water would be tasteless again? In either case, a 35G mixing container isn't going to be enough for a 220G tank so I must upgrade anyway :)
 
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