I have the until attached to the outside wall and route the waste water out the PVC drain pipe for the water heater into a brute trash can for use on the plants
I plumbed mine a few years ago from the cold water intake for our water heater. Installed a shut off valve into a "T". One going into the water heater and the second with a connection to the RODI tubing.
The emerald crabs I have purchased recently due to a bubble algae outbreak have only lasted a few weeks and then I find them dead. Most of my trochus and turbo snails last multiple years