carbon ?
- Thread starter jadakiss
- Start date
Uhhhh My carbon was like 20 bucks or something like that. I wouldn't buy it from the hardware store. What I think you could do (call first) Is get a VERY CLEAN container and fill it with your water and bring it to fish town, they should be able to tell you if you need a replacement filter. But call first. I know that All-Star aquarium told me to do that, but they said bring it up to them. Which is an effin haul.
Buckeye Field Supply
Sponsor
- Location
- On the Internet
remember that your prefilters (the filters before the membrane) don't remove tds - so a tds meter won't help determine if the filters need to be replaced.
This is where a pressure gauge helps. We install pressure gauges after the prefilters and before the membrane. if you check the pressure when the prefilters are new, and then see that pressure decline over time, you know one or both of the prefilters are clogging.
A good rule of thumb is to replace your sediment filter and carbon block after six months. A more precise way to maximize the useable life of these two filters is to use a pressure gauge to identify when pressure reaching the membrane starts to decline. This is your indication one or both of the filters is beginning to clog.
Also be cognizant of the chlorine capacity of the carbon block. The Matrikx+1 (“Chlorine Guzzler”) for example will remove 99% of chlorine from 20,000 gallons of tap water presented at 1 gpm. Original equipment suppliers commonly provide carbon cartridges rated at 2,000 to 6,000 gallons.
Regarding your RO membrane and DI resin, use your TDS meter to measure, record, and track the TDS (expressed in parts per million) in three places:
1. Tap water
2. After the RO but before the DI
3. After the DI.
The TDS in your tap water will likely range from about 50 ppm to upwards of 1000 parts per million (ppm). Common readings are 100 to 400 ppm. So for sake of discussion, let's say your tap water reads 400 ppm. That means that for every million parts of water, you have 400 parts of dissolved solids. How do we go about getting that TDS reading down to somewhere near zero?
If you do some experimenting with your TDS meter, you'll note that your sediment filter and carbon block filter (collectively called “prefilters”) do very little to remove dissolved solids. So with your tap water at 400 ppm, you can measure the water at the “in” port on your RO housing and you'll see it is still approximately 400 ppm.
The RO membrane is really the workhorse of the system. It removes most of the TDS, some membranes to a greater extent than others. For instance, 100 gpd Filmtec membranes have a rejection rate of 90% (i.e., they reject 90% of the dissolved solids in feed water). So the purified water coming from your 100 gpd membrane would be about 40 ppm (a 90% reduction). Filmtec 75 gpd (and below) membranes produce less purified water (aka “permeate”), but have a higher rejection rate (96 to 98%). The life span of a RO membrane is dependant upon how much water you run through it, and how dirty the water is. Membranes can function well for a year, two years, or more. To test the membrane, measure the total dissolved solids (TDS) in the water coming in to the membrane, and in the purified water (permeate) produced by the membrane. Compare that to the membrane’s advertised rejection rate, and to the same reading you recorded when the membrane was new. Membranes also commonly produce less water as their function declines.
After the RO membrane, water will flow to your DI housing. DI resin in good condition will reduce the 40 ppm water down to 0 or 1 ppm. When the DI output starts creeping up from 0 or 1 ppm to 3 ppm, 5 ppm, and higher, you know that your resin needs to be replaced. Sometimes people complain that their DI resin didn't last very long. Often the culprit is a malfunctioning RO membrane sending the DI resin “dirty” water. This will exhaust the resin quicker then would otherwise have been the case. Sometimes the problem is poor quality resin – remember that all resins are not created equal!
Russ
This is where a pressure gauge helps. We install pressure gauges after the prefilters and before the membrane. if you check the pressure when the prefilters are new, and then see that pressure decline over time, you know one or both of the prefilters are clogging.
A good rule of thumb is to replace your sediment filter and carbon block after six months. A more precise way to maximize the useable life of these two filters is to use a pressure gauge to identify when pressure reaching the membrane starts to decline. This is your indication one or both of the filters is beginning to clog.
Also be cognizant of the chlorine capacity of the carbon block. The Matrikx+1 (“Chlorine Guzzler”) for example will remove 99% of chlorine from 20,000 gallons of tap water presented at 1 gpm. Original equipment suppliers commonly provide carbon cartridges rated at 2,000 to 6,000 gallons.
Regarding your RO membrane and DI resin, use your TDS meter to measure, record, and track the TDS (expressed in parts per million) in three places:
1. Tap water
2. After the RO but before the DI
3. After the DI.
The TDS in your tap water will likely range from about 50 ppm to upwards of 1000 parts per million (ppm). Common readings are 100 to 400 ppm. So for sake of discussion, let's say your tap water reads 400 ppm. That means that for every million parts of water, you have 400 parts of dissolved solids. How do we go about getting that TDS reading down to somewhere near zero?
If you do some experimenting with your TDS meter, you'll note that your sediment filter and carbon block filter (collectively called “prefilters”) do very little to remove dissolved solids. So with your tap water at 400 ppm, you can measure the water at the “in” port on your RO housing and you'll see it is still approximately 400 ppm.
The RO membrane is really the workhorse of the system. It removes most of the TDS, some membranes to a greater extent than others. For instance, 100 gpd Filmtec membranes have a rejection rate of 90% (i.e., they reject 90% of the dissolved solids in feed water). So the purified water coming from your 100 gpd membrane would be about 40 ppm (a 90% reduction). Filmtec 75 gpd (and below) membranes produce less purified water (aka “permeate”), but have a higher rejection rate (96 to 98%). The life span of a RO membrane is dependant upon how much water you run through it, and how dirty the water is. Membranes can function well for a year, two years, or more. To test the membrane, measure the total dissolved solids (TDS) in the water coming in to the membrane, and in the purified water (permeate) produced by the membrane. Compare that to the membrane’s advertised rejection rate, and to the same reading you recorded when the membrane was new. Membranes also commonly produce less water as their function declines.
After the RO membrane, water will flow to your DI housing. DI resin in good condition will reduce the 40 ppm water down to 0 or 1 ppm. When the DI output starts creeping up from 0 or 1 ppm to 3 ppm, 5 ppm, and higher, you know that your resin needs to be replaced. Sometimes people complain that their DI resin didn't last very long. Often the culprit is a malfunctioning RO membrane sending the DI resin “dirty” water. This will exhaust the resin quicker then would otherwise have been the case. Sometimes the problem is poor quality resin – remember that all resins are not created equal!
Russ
Buckeye Field Supply
Sponsor
- Location
- On the Internet
When you buy a carbon block the other thing you want to know is the chlorine capacity - usually expressed in gallons of water chlorinated to 1 mg/l. Some blocks have a capacity as low as about 1,000 gallons (remember this is treating your RO/DI water AND your waste water). We have blocks that range from 6,000 gallons to 20,000 gallons.
Will it do any harm? No.
Is it a good idea to have your carbon block also act as a sed filter? No.
Can you get a better price elsewhere? Yes
Russ
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