But ATO water online?

[GK3]

is there a way to get RO/DI water delivered? I have heard distilled works but may have copper and I don’t have a way to test for copper before using it.

I’ve seen petco has saltwater you can buy and pet smart has freshwater but it’s for freshwater tanks and I assume it just has chlorine removed.

wondering if there is a water I can buy online to use in my ATO.

yes I know I can get an RO/DI unit for home. Don’t want it, looking for alternatives. Yes I know it’s cheaper in the long run, please don’t recommend this as it’s not what I am asking.

 

[Saltyreef]

is there a way to get RO/DI water delivered? I have heard distilled works but may have copper and I don’t have a way to test for copper before using it.

I’ve seen petco has saltwater you can buy and pet smart has freshwater but it’s for freshwater tanks and I assume it just has chlorine removed.

wondering if there is a water I can buy online to use in my ATO.

yes I know I can get an RO/DI unit for home. Don’t want it, looking for alternatives. Yes I know it’s cheaper in the long run, please don’t recommend this as it’s not what I am asking.

So the petstores normally sell RO and premixed salt water.
Some are already packaged, some are bulk filled.
The main issue is these most often use RO and arent 0TDS.
But this doesnt really help you out if you want it delivered.

Are you intetested in mixing your own salt water?
If so you can get normal RO water delivered from any local water store that offers delivery.
If you want the pre mixed salt water, just pick up some bulk 5g containers to fill up if they offer that....

Deionized water will be very hard to find delivered locally.
Only one of my local water stores offered DI and it was .50c/gal and @ 2tds lol.

 

[LeftyReefer]

Fill your own jugs for .39/gallon at Walmart.
Or use any bottled distilled water. The worries over copper are way way over blown.
You do NOT need 0 tds water to have a successful reef tank.

 

[Reef.]

To be fair you are asking a lot lol

why can’t you test for copper?

 

[GK3]

To be fair you are asking a lot lol

why can’t you test for copper?

Don’t have a copper test and need the water today.

 

[GK3]

Fill your own jugs for .39/gallon at Walmart.
Or use any bottled distilled water. The worries over copper are way way over blown.
You do NOT need 0 tds water to have a successful reef tank.

Why do you say way overblown? Everywhere I’ve read says copper is the issue with distilled.

 

[pseudorand]

To be fair you are asking a lot lol

why can’t you test for copper?

I've never seen a marine copper test that tests levels low enough. Anything more than a few ppb (yes 'b', not 'm') can be toxic to some marine inverts.

I made the mistake if trying to repurpose a QT in which I had used copper. I cleaned and tested it using the Hanna LR cooper checker. I ended up with wildly different results from a dozen tests done one right after the other. Anywhere from 0 to over 250ppb. I finally contacted Hanna tech support and they told me the LR checker hasn't been verified for sea water. Heck if I can find that in the package, advertising or even the instructions though.

 

[92Miata]

Why do you say way overblown? Everywhere I’ve read says copper is the issue with distilled.

Almost no one distills water in copper. It's not inert. The vast majority is either stainless or glass.

You can taste it in water that is distilled with a copper still.

 

[Reef.]

I've never seen a marine copper test that tests levels low enough. Anything more than a few ppb (yes 'b', not 'm') can be toxic to some marine inverts.

I made the mistake if trying to repurpose a QT in which I had used copper. I cleaned and tested it using the Hanna LR cooper checker. I ended up with wildly different results from a dozen tests done one right after the other. Anywhere from 0 to over 250ppb. I finally contacted Hanna tech support and they told me the LR checker hasn't been verified for sea water. Heck if I can find that in the package, advertising or even the instructions though.

Right that is different, you have tried, I thought you meant you just didn’t want to test for it.

There is a nano build thread I follow on here and all he uses is distilled water from the shop (not sure if you can get it delivered) so the copper for his amazing tank isn’t an issue. I would think supermarkets wouldn’t use copper in their human drinking water...but who knows! They could!

 

[Saltyreef]

Right that is different, you have tried, I thought you meant you just didn’t want to test for it.

There is a nano build thread I follow on here and all he uses is distilled water from the shop (not sure if you can get it delivered) so the copper for his amazing tank isn’t an issue. I would think supermarkets wouldn’t use copper in their human drinking water...but who knows! They could!

Supermarket is a middleman....
You need to verify with the producer.

 

[Reef.]

Supermarket is a middleman....
You need to verify with the producer.

what

 

[Saltyreef]

I would think supermarkets wouldn’t use copper in their human drinking water...but who knows! They could!

In regards to this comment, the supermarkets arent distilling water.
You need to verify theres no copper still being used by the producer/manuf.
Even their house brands are produced by someone else.

 

[Reef.]

In regards to this comment, the supermarkets arent distilling water.
You need to verify theres no copper still being used by the producer/manuf.
Even their house brands are produced by someone else.

of course but if Walmart for example were to have a case of customer poisoning from copper it would be them that takes the biggest hit, so I would think they keep a tight control on the their supply chain but you are right in what you say.

 

[Saltyreef]

of course but if Walmart for example were to have a case of customer poisoning from copper it would be them that takes the biggest hit, so I would think they keep a tight control on the their supply chain but you are right in what you say.

The copper transfered to the water from a still isnt going to be enough to give someone copper poisioning.
Factor in most of us dont get enough copper in our diets anyways lol.

 

[Reef.]

The copper transfered to the water from a still isnt going to be enough to give someone copper poisioning.
Factor in most of us dont get enough copper in our diets anyways lol.

I started this weird interaction with you saying copper in distilled water from supermarkets would be unlikely to cause an issue if there was indeed copper in the water, not sure what this exchange has achieved here apart from you stating the bleeding obvious

 

[GK3]

So basically I can go to Walmart as use distilled water as my ATO for a bit in a pinch where I can’t get ro/DI water.

 

[Reef.]

So basically I can go to Walmart as use distilled water as my ATO for a bit in a pinch where I can’t get ro/DI water.

Yes it’s near enough the same thing, it’s just a different way to get rid of the TDS in water.

 

[Saltyreef]

I started this weird interaction with you saying copper in distilled water from supermarkets would be unlikely to cause an issue if there was indeed copper in the water, not sure what this exchange has achieved here apart from you stating the bleeding obvious

LOL....ok

 

[LeftyReefer]

So basically I can go to Walmart as use distilled water as my ATO for a bit in a pinch where I can’t get ro/DI water.

Yes. I've used all the above before installing a RODI.
I've used the Walmart distilled water and never had an issue with it. It did NOT test 0 tds, usually around 2-3 tds, but that was good enough. They usually have the distilled water in gallons for .85 - $1 each.

I've also used the Walmart RO machine water, where you can fill your own jugs for .39 gallon. That water also usually measured a few TDS as it doesn't have DI filter, only RO and UV. that water has also been fine and I preferred using that water over the bottled distilled since it was half price.

I sent in a sample of the Walmart RO/UV machine water to ICP for their RODI testing and it came back perfectly fine. The only thing worth noting was the presence of some silicon, but nowhere near enough to worry about. And for all I know, that silicon was from the poly jugs I was using to fill/transport it from walmart... 0 copper, btw.