Distilled or RODI?

[Sleepydoc]

I broke it by dropping it, it cracked in 4 spots. I want to wait until I get a little more allowance for a new 7 stage from BRS I wish I had the money now because they are on sale. I am going to use the distilled that I am getting for 89 cents a gallon until I can get the new unit. I was just more asking for someone who doesn't have any access to RODI and they could buy distilled at the grocery store. I am 99% sure because of the way distilled water is made it would have very little TDS.

Ouch! That stinks! What kind of system did you have? Is anything salvageable?

What's your source water like? The 7 stage system is nice, but for half the price you can get the 4 stage value system that will still do a perfectly acceptable job of making water, and you can easily add the additional stages later on when you have the money. If you can swing $125 now, that's what I would do.

 

[Reef.]

Ouch! That stinks! What kind of system did you have? Is anything salvageable?

What's your source water like? The 7 stage system is nice, but for half the price you can get the 4 stage value system that will still do a perfectly acceptable job of making water, and you can easily add the additional stages later on when you have the money. If you can swing $125 now, that's what I would do.

I agree, I could be wrong but I think the extra stages don’t have much affect on the water quality, unless you have very bad quality water, more so reducing the waste water, 4 stages is the system I have, and should be enough for most I would think.

 

[ZoWhat]

Posts like this bother me. What you're essentially saying is "[IMO] if you can't afford to do this, you're too poor for the hobby so don't even bother."

Yes, the hobby is expensive, but that doesn't mean you can't reef on a budget either. No one has unlimited resources and people's financial situations can also change. Maybe the OP just got done getting a new return pump. Maybe he lost is job. Maybe he just broke his wrist and has medical bills. Whatever the case, he already already has a reef tank up and running, so the decision isn't whether he should get into the hobby, it's how to best keep his tank healthy.

If the dude cant afford a $150 4stage RODI system... idk what to say.

Sorta like you're into mountain biking as a hobby but can't afford a blown out tire? Seriously?

I'm shutting up bc of R2R guidelines

 

[Zach W]

RODI = 0, zippo, TDS (total dissolved solids which is principally calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, bicarbonates, chlorides, and sulfates)

Distilled Water = lots of TDS still in the water

This is just not true, the process of distilling removes the pure water and leaves behind dissolved solids. If your condenser is bad then you could potentially recontaminate there but I have never seen this be the case. I have an IM20 and it’s easier a lot of the time to just get a couple of jugs of distilled. I also have a handheld TDS meter and I check every single time. I’ve never seen distilled water that is not 0 TDS

 

[William Mumford]

If the dude cant afford a $150 4stage RODI system... idk what to say.

Sorta like you're into mountain biking as a hobby but can't afford a blown out tire? Seriously?

I'm shutting up bc of R2R guidelines

I can afford 500 7 stage units I am just waiting. Even if I bought it today I would still need something in the meantime while it ships. Not to mention I would be spending more money doing it this way.what are you talking about other than trying to say I dont have money. Something you have no clue about.

 

[ZoWhat]

Something you have no clue about.

Personal insult. Read the R2R guidelines ;Bookworm

 

[flyline]

I read this a while back that although distilled water is ok to use depending on what source the company gets their water there could be small amounts of other things in the water. When the company’s make the water they boil it and collect the steam leaving the heavier particles out but some stuff in the water has a lower evaporating point like pesticides etc... so there might be stuff you really don’t want in the water even though it reads 0 Something to think about

 

[William Mumford]

Personal insult. Read the R2R guidelines ;Bookworm

I dont care about that stuff at all. That is fact not an insult at all. How could you know how much money I have.

 

[SMSREEF]

edited.

 

[William Mumford]

I dont care about that stuff at all. That is fact not an insult at all. How could you know how much money I have. Was the post about how much money I have and that I cant afford a RODI unit?

 

[flyline]

We are all here to help each other

 

[Reef.]

I dont care about that stuff at all. That is fact not an insult at all. How could you know how much money I have.

Correct, it’s not.

Sorry this has gone south, you asked a simple question and have to deal with this.

I’m saving for items I need to buy too, no shame in that.

 

[SMSREEF]

I have an rodi that recently broke. So I thought I could rely on a LFS for 0 tds water. Huge no. Best I could find was 40 tds the one I thought would be the best was 140. Then I bought some distilled water from the store for cheaper and it read 0 tds on all. My question is why is distilled not recommended over RODI? Much easier to access and seems more reliable than any LFS from what I have been experiencing.

I started using distilled water about a month ago. I found out my RO unit was producing water with a bunch of silica in it.
I was waiting for Black Friday hoping the 7 stage would be on sale. Waiting enabled me to get a good deal and using distilled got me through just fine.

 

[William Mumford]

Correct, it’s not.

Sorry this has gone south, you asked a simple question and have to deal with this.

I’m saving for items I need to buy too, no shame in that.

I'm saving for a 200 gallon in wall set up with a basement sump but I guess I should stop now cause I can't afford it today.

 

[ZoWhat]

Misunderstood the OP. I knew your RODI was broken but thought you were complaining you couldn't afford a new unit.

Doesnt matter bc distilled water will work.

I once was in btwn RODI units and simply dechlorinated tap water until new unit arrived.

Glad to see y'all having fun jumping my turkey. I misunderstood and I APOLOGIZE

 

[William Mumford]

I started using distilled water about a month ago. I found out my RO unit was producing water with a bunch of silica in it.
I was waiting for Black Friday hoping the 7 stage would be on sale. Waiting enabled me to get a good deal and using distilled got me through just fine.

Yeah I wanted to buy one today. but I spent way to much this month on a skimmer and 2 media reactors instead of a dual.

 

[William Mumford]

Misunderstood the OP. I knew your RODI was broken but thought you were complaining you couldn't afford a new unit.

Doesnt matter bc distilled water will work.

I once was in btwn RODI units and simply dechlorinated tap water until new unit arrived.

Glad to see y'all having fun jumping my turkey. I misunderstood and I APOLOGIZE

It's okay just read no victims in the situation. I am going to get a 7 stage before Christmas.

 

[SMSREEF]

Yeah I wanted to buy one today. but I spent way to much this month on a skimmer and 2 media reactors instead of a dual.

Same here, there certainly are other things I wanted but we need to have a little restraint sometimes. I’m going from 10 gallons to 60 with sump and the thought of lugging 70+ gallons of Distilled made the RODI move to the top of my list, lol.

 

[William Mumford]

Same here, there certainly are other things I wanted but we need to have a little restraint sometimes. I’m going from 10 gallons to 60 with sump and the thought of lugging 70+ gallons of Distilled made the RODI move to the top of my list, lol.

Good move. Carrying water sucks.

 

[Phildago]

If It's actually, really distilled, I don't see the issue. Distilled water should theoretically be 100% H2O