Using an IBC tote as a cooling tank

[pistachio_nut]

I'm going to buy a couple of IBC totes as a backup water supply for my house. I might as well tack on one more and use it as a cooling water reservoir. I've seen totes, but not quite up close. It looks like they have a 6" opening in the top. My big submersible pump is a hair over 6 1/2" across at the base, it's a 1/6HP that will push 850 gallons a minute up five feet, maybe 750 gallons up ten feet.

That might be too much of a good thing. I don't know if my clamps will hold the hose in place under that kind of pressure.

I guess I have a couple of questions. Should I get a smaller pump? If I got one that will fit through the 6" hole, is that all I need to do? Just attach the hose and lower it down? The only submersible pumps I've used in the past were little bitty aquarium pumps that had a suction cup base. This one doesn't have suction cups, it's just kind of heavy.

If I was going to hook up the pump to a radiator for cooling, what would the maximum flow rate be? Is that on the information sheet that comes with the radiator?

The liquid would be pumped through a submersible pump, plastic hose, an aluminum/plastic radiator, brass fittings, black radiator hose, and stainless steel. Possibly through copper tubing as well. I want to make sure the IBC tote doesn't wind up full of mold or whatever, so I need to treat the water with something. What would not damage those materials? My default guess is bleach, but I don't know what bleach will do to all of those things in the same flow. Is there something better?

[Halfbaked]

I like your idea on ibc totes. I would clean those things out really good and use them as storage for home water if you need that. I would collect rain water off your house and strain all the crap out of it and put in there. If I were to do it I would get 3 or 4 and burry them in the back yard. I would think that your pump might be a little more than you need. If you had clean rain water that is drinkable I would use that to make hoock with. You would never have to worry about your cooling water getting hot. The entire idea might be a little over the top but I am an over the top kinda person.

[cob]

pistachio_nut if your pump has a float switch, and you have the ability to elevate your IBC tote you can use the tote to supply pressure to your system.
with the tote 8' off the ground (weighs the same as a king waterbed 2000 lbs.) the 2" outlet becomes your supply for condenser cooling.
the condenser outlet feeds the radiator/cooling system, that drains into an open drum with your pump in it .
the pump refills the IBC after gravity supplys all the energy, and the pump has intermittent work to do as opposed to continuous.

[woodshed]

I use a 300 gallon tote I got for free from my water district for cooling water. They receive various treatment chemicals in them. Mine had a coagulant in it. Rinsed it out with hot water and Sodium percarbonate. Added a 10 gallon mix of water and 4oz. of SP then filled tank with tap water. Never had a problem with funny things growing and have used it now for a few months.

My pump runs at 300 gallons an hour so it flips the tank once an hour. No cooling system and generally see a one degree temp rise per hour through a run. Water temp in tank is 65 degrees which is what I keep my shop at.

[rad14701]

My big submersible pump is a hair over 6 1/2" across at the base, it's a 1/6HP that will push 850 gallons a minute up five feet, maybe 750 gallons up ten feet.

Sounds more like a pump off a fire truck to me... Are you sure that isn't an hourly rate instead of a minute rate...??? Even at an hourly rate that's a shitload more water than you need... Most stills work fine with under 2 liters/quarts per minute of coolant flow so you'd need to find a way to divert the rest using a bypass circuit, or chance burning out the pump...

[pistachio_nut]

Doh! You were right, I went back and looked at the box. It's 950gph at 0' of elevation. It gave other numbers that I misquoted in minutes instead of hours. It sure isn't anything you'd find on a firetruck, it's a little thing you could tuck under your arm and walk around all day with. Whoops!

That said, is this something I want to use or should I take it back (a year and a half later) and get something smaller? It's unused.

Thanks for your feedback!

ETA: There is a seasonal creek at my house, I bet at the time I was thinking about using the creek for cooling water. Bottom line is that's not going to happen. Way too much sediment in the water when it's running. I would have to build a dam and figure out who knows what else what. An IBC tote is a much more reliable source of water.