Do i need to use RO/DI water?

fyrfytr · Jul 20, 2012

I know that the Pur filter type/brand was discussed here, but I was wondering about the Zero Water filters. Saw an ad for these years ago and then again saw a pitcher type at Target the other day while I was shopping.

ZEROWATER Drinking Water Filters Home Purification Filtration

I bring it up because they adviertise 0 tds (hence the name) and in their FAQ setion I found this:
Q. ZeroWaterÂ® filters vs. other pitcher filters
A.
* It is a 5 stage filter which is more comprehensive.
* Ion Exchange Technology as opposed to simple carbon only
* Removes virtually of all detectable dissolved solids

Q. ZeroWaterÂ® vs. Reverse Osmosis (RO)
A. ZeroWaterÂ® filters produce water that is a similar purity level to that produced from an RO system. Our systems also don’t waste any water and operate based on gravity. In addition, they do not need to be installed into your plumbing.

Q. ZeroWaterÂ® vs. Distilled water
A. People usually say that distilled water can taste flat whereas ZeroWaterÂ® is described as crisp and refreshing. Distillation also requires electricity and takes hours to treat water.

AZDesertRat · Jul 20, 2012

If you only need to make a few gallons per week or month it might work OK but the cost of replacements is prohibitive if you are making water for anything larger than a Pico tank.

fyrfytr · Jul 22, 2012

Checked it out at the Target website. Says filter life is 30 Gal and a 2 pk of filters is $30. The initial price for the pitcher and a filter is $35...So you can do a pitcher and 3 filters for a total of 90gal for $65 and then you are at a price of about 50 cents a gallon. Some of their packages some with a DTS meter already packaged so you can verify that it really is 0

AZDesertRat · Jul 22, 2012

RO/DI is less than a nicke a gallon for comparison and that includes the water and sewer rates, replacement filter and resin. 1/10 the cost and better water.

You can never go by what the manujfacturer says as everyones water is different, heck they say the API Tap Water Filter lasts 100 gallons and I have yet to see one last 15 gallons around here and that was stretching it. You can't expect little low capacity filters to work miracles, if they did we would ALL own one.

Blufgan · Jul 23, 2012

I use two ro/di units best investment ever. Check out www.filterguys.biz

fyrfytr · Jul 24, 2012

Blufgan said:
I use two ro/di units best investment ever. Check out www.filterguys.biz

link wouldnt come up

Blufgan · Jul 25, 2012

Type in the filter guys in google it'll come up

Pkunk35 · Jul 25, 2012

fyrtry, you can use the zero water units, they do work well and bring tap to 0 on a tds. The filters run out quickly tho, I don't think you'd be happy using this for water replacement/changes, its just too expensive. Its great for drinking water tho!

I have a question,
I rent my place, so always thought I wouldn't be able to install a RO unit because you have to pierce the main piping? I know nothing about plumbing.
Do you guys think i would be able to install a RO unit here without causing the plumbing to be altered too much? I've never looked into it but I think I'll be living here for at least 2 more years...

Any help would be awesome, thanks guys!

AZDesertRat · Jul 25, 2012

You can use a faucet adapter with any RO or RO/DI system which attached and pops off easily when not in use. No permanent changes to the plumbing and only a $10-$12 part.

I would not use Filter Guys myself, mediocre systems at best and nothing special, you can do much better for less money.

Blufgan · Jul 26, 2012

Fo sho ro/di. Thats high quality H2O.

fyrfytr · Jul 27, 2012

So the other day the lil guy (who this tank is sorta for) and I stopped into a local fish store (will remain nameless to protect the innocent or guilty) and struck up a conversation with the guy running the place that day. I opened with how hard really is it, and he came back with its not that hard, how do you think we keep this place in business. He seemed very knowledgable, didnt try and sell me anything or push me into anything. Although he did mention a few times that they had the 28gal nanocube on sale for $199.

He said that they sell water there, both with and without salt. With salt it was 99cents a gallon and without salt it was 79cents a gallon. He mentioned that if you take salt water out you put salt water back in, and if you are just topping off then you just need RO water. Is that the case, cuz if so I can get RO water fairly cheap from my big box grocrey store and add salt to it for probably a lot less then 99cents a gallon

Pkunk35 · Jul 27, 2012

fyrfytr said:
So the other day the lil guy (who this tank is sorta for) and I stopped into a local fish store (will remain nameless to protect the innocent or guilty) and struck up a conversation with the guy running the place that day. I opened with how hard really is it, and he came back with its not that hard, how do you think we keep this place in business. He seemed very knowledgable, didnt try and sell me anything or push me into anything. Although he did mention a few times that they had the 28gal nanocube on sale for $199.

He said that they sell water there, both with and without salt. With salt it was 99cents a gallon and without salt it was 79cents a gallon. He mentioned that if you take salt water out you put salt water back in, and if you are just topping off then you just need RO water. Is that the case, cuz if so I can get RO water fairly cheap from my big box grocrey store and add salt to it for probably a lot less then 99cents a gallon

Since I do not have a RO unit this is exactly what I do as well. $0.25 per gallon at the machine in front of the grocery, i've tested with tds meter and comes out 0.

If you aren't going to buy RO, this is a cheap and immediate alternative, only real negative is the hauling of water (personally, I need the exercise!). I would suggest buying a RO unit tho, in the long run it's easier and more cost effective. Works great as drinking water as well.

mcarroll · Jul 28, 2012

fyrfytr said:
So the other day the lil guy (who this tank is sorta for) and I stopped into a local fish store (will remain nameless to protect the innocent or guilty) and struck up a conversation with the guy running the place that day. I opened with how hard really is it, and he came back with its not that hard, how do you think we keep this place in business. He seemed very knowledgable, didnt try and sell me anything or push me into anything. Although he did mention a few times that they had the 28gal nanocube on sale for $199.

He said that they sell water there, both with and without salt. With salt it was 99cents a gallon and without salt it was 79cents a gallon. He mentioned that if you take salt water out you put salt water back in, and if you are just topping off then you just need RO water. Is that the case, cuz if so I can get RO water fairly cheap from my big box grocrey store and add salt to it for probably a lot less then 99cents a gallon

A few of things to consider:

An RO filter (what the grocery will have) puts out about 90% pure water; and RODI filter puts out 99% pure water. You are not buying the same product at the grocery and the LFS, so the price comparison is not accurate.
A poorly maintained RO (or RODI) filter puts out crappy water and can be the cause of algae issues. Will you be able to tell if the grocery filter has been maintained? The LFS will at least have someone around you can ask - and if they use their own water and their tanks look good, their water is good.
Unless you can verify that the filter at the grocery is an RO filter, there's a possibility of copper plumbing being involved since the water is intended for human consumption vs reef where copper could matter. (RO is almost surely all-plastic.)
If you're going to the expense and bother of carrying water (vs installing RODI at home which is cheaper) I'd probably make the most of it and buy premixed saltwater as well as the RODI for top-up. At least you're also saving the bother of buying/storing/mixing salt.
Based on saving gasoline costs alone, you'll probably pay for your filter in 6 months.

If something like a 28 gallon tank is what you're going to be running, the water costs are not going to be so significant that you'd need to "cheap out" on grocery store water. 20% water change is only 5 gallons and the same volume of fresh should last for top-ups for quite a while. Maybe $25/month if you're doing weekly 20% changes? Half that if 10% will do. If the budget is really that tight, save up a few months and purchase an RODI filter for the house -- way, way, way cheaper in the long term. Easier than carrying water to and from the car too.

If you're looking at a tank that's anything north of 50 gallons, you can pretty easily justify the RODI filter based on several factors. 20% water change is at least 10 gallons and it's not too hard to go through 5 gallons RODI per week in top-up water on a "bigger" tank. So you'll probably be carrying 4 buckets instead of 2. (160 lbs instead of "only 80 lbs")

Good luck!

-Matt

Pkunk35 · Jul 28, 2012

mcarroll said:
A few of things to consider:

An RO filter (what the grocery will have) puts out about 90% pure water; and RODI filter puts out 99% pure water. You are not buying the same product at the grocery and the LFS, so the price comparison is not accurate.

Well the machine I get my water from is a RO/DI and these machines are labeled as such. They are the newer water machines located outside the big box stores. My LFS's water is called RO/DI but it is not, it reads 100+ on my TDS meter. You have to test the actual water being used but I'm fairly confident in those RO/DI machines.

Still tho, getting an RO/DI and a TDS tester should both be in your future purchases wish list even if you don't purchase them immediately.

mcarroll · Jul 29, 2012

RODI is too pure for drinking water as far as I know, so I'd take a second look at the machine. If they arre really running a DI phase I think they'd have to post-treat the water somehow. No idea how or with what as I've never heard of using RODI water for drinking.

For ref, if you look at any place that sells RODI filter with a drinking water kit, the DI phase is not used for the drinking water.

In any event the store water is still more money and a lot more work than running a filter at home.

Even at $1 per gallon, your budget for water isn't very big - less than $20/week even on the high side where you are at 20% waterchanges, and you don't start out at 20%.

I'd hesitate in cheaping out like this. (There're lots of other opportunities!) A) it's an unknown quantity that you don't need, but B) it's also not even the real cheap solution.

Actually if you break it down, the grocery store water will only be cheaper than the LFS water for several months at most. Somewhere around that time is when you would have spent enough to pay for a home filter.

-Matt

P.S. The LFS's tanks would be rank with algae on 100tds water - not too far from my tap water reading. What TDS do you get from your tap water? I would ask them about this if you want to try this routeâ€¦