Hello Out There-I want to purchase a RO/DI H20 water purifying system and seem to be getting lost in knowing what to buy when I shop around for them. I don't need a unit that produces a lot of water per day. I am mostly wanting this for topping off in my sump and water changes. I have well water and know that silica is a problem, so the unit needs to be good at taking that out and capable of handling well water. Also, I want to rig the system so that I will have a small tube running to the fish tank from about 20 feet away and ultimatly running to two tanks. Do I need pumps for that? I am looking to spend $200-$300 (less if possible) and want to know everything I am going to need, not just the unit. Any thoughts, wisdom, or knowledge would be appreciated. Thank in advance.
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RO/DI Unit Purchase Advice Needed
- Thread starter benni
- Start date
There seems to be alot of cheaper RO/DI units out there now. Get one that comes with a high quality membrane, the difference in rejection rate will ultimately cost you more in DI resin. SO get one with a high membrane rejection rate, that said spectrapure toots theirs as the best, and I am not sure how much difference there is.
You can easily get one in your price range from many venders from buckeyefieldsupply.com, bulkreefsupply.com, etc... other things to consider besides rejection rate, are having a duel built in TDS meter, and depending on your water pressure a booster pump.
Rejection rates on membranes are based off of water pressure at 60-70 psi, my house is old and my water pressure with no booster pump was 40psi adding a booster pump was required for me.
You can easily get one in your price range from many venders from buckeyefieldsupply.com, bulkreefsupply.com, etc... other things to consider besides rejection rate, are having a duel built in TDS meter, and depending on your water pressure a booster pump.
Rejection rates on membranes are based off of water pressure at 60-70 psi, my house is old and my water pressure with no booster pump was 40psi adding a booster pump was required for me.
what ben said, plus:
get clear canister housings. you'll be able to tell when your filters need to be changed. also make sure you get a full-sized DI housing. A friend has a setup with a smaller DI tube on top. She goes through DI much more than I do.
don't hook it up so it tops off your tanks directly from the unit. You'll end up ruining the membrane that way. fill a large container from the rodi and top off from that.
B
get clear canister housings. you'll be able to tell when your filters need to be changed. also make sure you get a full-sized DI housing. A friend has a setup with a smaller DI tube on top. She goes through DI much more than I do.
don't hook it up so it tops off your tanks directly from the unit. You'll end up ruining the membrane that way. fill a large container from the rodi and top off from that.
B
i bought a cheaper version for 135 ish bucks a few years back. a 4 stage
model. air/water/ice was the company. I am trying to recall the exact price
but it escapes me. It was much cheaper then anything comparable though.
maybe it was not as efficient as others... or have whiz bang features but
my dual TDS meter told me water at 80 ppm was coming in and 0 was coming out.
that is all i needed to know and I never changed a filter once. they last for
a year or two depending on how much you make. I had a 70 gallon system
at the time.
this hobby tries to make you spend sooo much money on hype when this
is one good example of that. They all do the same darn thing. Just get a meter
to make sure. It will also tell you if your filters need changing. Screw color
changing nonsense. The meter tells you what you need to know.
model. air/water/ice was the company. I am trying to recall the exact price
but it escapes me. It was much cheaper then anything comparable though.
maybe it was not as efficient as others... or have whiz bang features but
my dual TDS meter told me water at 80 ppm was coming in and 0 was coming out.
that is all i needed to know and I never changed a filter once. they last for
a year or two depending on how much you make. I had a 70 gallon system
at the time.
this hobby tries to make you spend sooo much money on hype when this
is one good example of that. They all do the same darn thing. Just get a meter
to make sure. It will also tell you if your filters need changing. Screw color
changing nonsense. The meter tells you what you need to know.
thanks everyone-you helped me a great deal. Should I be overly worried about using my well water though? I am going to go look up the air/water/ice model now-it is frustrating seeing how easy it is for people to get ripped off-we have a store near us and when I go in there I am sick to my stomach on how overpriced most of everything is and it is like walking into a used car lot, I see people getting taken advantage of-I don't go there anymore.
http://www.airwaterice.com/product/1TYP ... 5_GPD.html
is the link. it has gone up in price a few bucks to 150. throw in a dual
tds meter for 23-25 and you are all set. Also note i said it was a 4 stage model
when it really is a 5 stage kit.
i see this kind of rig selling on reef sites for 200+ easy.
it never produced water for me that was higher then 0 ppm.
i sold it after two years of use when i moved with no filter changes.
is the link. it has gone up in price a few bucks to 150. throw in a dual
tds meter for 23-25 and you are all set. Also note i said it was a 4 stage model
when it really is a 5 stage kit.
i see this kind of rig selling on reef sites for 200+ easy.
it never produced water for me that was higher then 0 ppm.
i sold it after two years of use when i moved with no filter changes.
How often you change filters depends on how much water you make not how long you own a unit. It is unwise to wait to long to change the cheap prefilters as chlorine/chloraine can get to the membrane this way. Like I said get one with a high rejection rate membrane and you will save money on DI resin in the long run. I buy my DI resin from bulk reef supply and get color change resin, this helps me get a general idea of when I need to start looking at the output TDS.
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