I bought the Aquatic Life Ro Buddie with the Di part. After making about 20-30 gallons the Di resin has almost completely changed color. I flushed everything before installing the Di resin. Why is this happening? Is it because its brand new, and the second Di part I buy will last longer?
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Randy Holmes-Farley
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Are you on well water? CO2 can eat through DI resin rapidly.
Maine Reefer
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Yes I’m on well water. What can I do to decrease the CO2?
Randy Holmes-Farley
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Usually, degassing the water before the DI is best, but that gets complicated. Collecting the water, aerating it, then sending it through the DI.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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A CO2 test kit will help diagnose the CO2 in well water.
Maine Reefer
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What does that mean? How will I fix the amount of CO2 with a test kit?
Fudsey
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You won't fix it, just confirm the CO2 level in your well water
Ocean Lotion
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I have well water also. I did not go through my resin fast before buto ver the last year I can make only about 60 gallons and my di resin has changed color. Not sure if there is a fix.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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Like going to a doctor, "diagnose" means be sure it is the problem. Then it is more worthwhile to try specific cures for the diagnosed disease: degassing the water.
You can diagnose other ways too, such as pH and alkalinity of the well water.
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Randy Holmes-Farley
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Velcro
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Easy way to de-gas: set up a water container on a stand, tall enough so the the BOTTOM of the degassing container is above the highest level of your RODI storage tank. The pressure from your RODI unit will have no problem filling the degassing chamber at the higher height. Have an air stone in the degassing container and let aerate for a good 24 hours. You’ll be skipping the DI portion of your unit to fill the degassing container. Go straight from the RO to the degas container.
At the bottom of the degassing container, drill a hole and come up with a way to use a mur-lok fitting. I used a mud-lok bulkhead and rubber washer to seal it. You could also do like a 1/2” bulkhead and then a 1/2” to 1/4” reducer to screw in a mur-lok adapter. Whatever works for you.
The next part might be tricky with the aquatic life unit, since I don’t think you can remove any of the stages. With the BRS unit I was able to simply unhook the DI canister and remove it from the bracket. I mounted it low on the stand that is supporting the degassing container. You’ll want a mur-lok valve between the degassing container and the RODI container so that you are able to prevent the flow from one to the other until you have properly degassed. The gravity is plenty to run the degassed RO water through the resin and up to the RODI container.
I also use float valves in both containers so I don’t have to worry about overflowing either container.
This has increased my resin life from like 100 gallons per di cartridge to thousands.
Side note, high CO2 in water doesn’t ONLY happen on well water. I’m on city water and apparently ground CO2 levels here are ridiculous because both my municipal water and even the air around the outside of my house is quite high!
At the bottom of the degassing container, drill a hole and come up with a way to use a mur-lok fitting. I used a mud-lok bulkhead and rubber washer to seal it. You could also do like a 1/2” bulkhead and then a 1/2” to 1/4” reducer to screw in a mur-lok adapter. Whatever works for you.
The next part might be tricky with the aquatic life unit, since I don’t think you can remove any of the stages. With the BRS unit I was able to simply unhook the DI canister and remove it from the bracket. I mounted it low on the stand that is supporting the degassing container. You’ll want a mur-lok valve between the degassing container and the RODI container so that you are able to prevent the flow from one to the other until you have properly degassed. The gravity is plenty to run the degassed RO water through the resin and up to the RODI container.
I also use float valves in both containers so I don’t have to worry about overflowing either container.
This has increased my resin life from like 100 gallons per di cartridge to thousands.
Side note, high CO2 in water doesn’t ONLY happen on well water. I’m on city water and apparently ground CO2 levels here are ridiculous because both my municipal water and even the air around the outside of my house is quite high!
I know this post is a little old but I too have crazy CO2 and am considering a degassing set up but I’m not plumbing inclined so have been intimidated. Your write up seems straight forward and I had no idea that gravity could feed the degassed water through the DI. Could you post a pic of your set up?
