Does everyone just end up buying an RODI system eventually??

[Buckeye Hydro Verified Sponsor]

+1....I use a garden hose timer on mine, and I just know how long it takes to fill my ato and water change bins. The only thing you have to be careful with is your water production will slow down in the winter, if you live somewhere where it gets cold.

Good point. Consider having two different flow restrictors - one for the cold water months, and another for the rest of the year. They are only $4 each. https://www.buckeyehydro.com/capillary-flow-restrictors/

 

[nereefpat]

In this case, it is not differing water chemistry that drives the code compliance.

Oh, right. I just meant that I wouldn't want my unit sending my wastewater to my hot water lines and fixtures, since I have high TDS and hardness ions.

 

[mcshams]

What exactly are you shooting for parameter wise? your pH will not be zero, even in perfect water. a pH of around 7 is fine.

A pH of zero is not possible nor wanted. That measures acidity and <1 would be unbelievably caustic. 7 is middle and perfectly neutral water. Most reefs hover in the 8.3 area (slightly basic). RODI water however will likely be 7 out of the filter, which is desired.

 

[dbowman5]

wow 43 responses in 3 hours. my $0.02: when i consider:
the value of my time, the cost of transport, the cost of the purchased water, the effort it takes to get the water from an outside source, and testing the water or trusting the source;
compared to:
the cost of the unit, the convenience of being able to turn a valve in the basement to make water, the cost of replacement media, and the testing of the water for TDS
it becomes a decision to make my own water.

 

[burnetb1]

@magicwhistle
You can drink the RODI water but it is technically not good for you. By removing almost everything from the water in an attempt to get 0 TDS, you make the water unstable. It then pulls minerals from its surrounding environment. When you drink it, it is removing minerals from your body, making it "unhealthy"
I'm no expert, but I have heard you can mitigate this by leaving the container open and it will pull minerals from the air or you can add a teaspoon or two of brine (waste) water to it.

As far as original post criteria, I would recommend the BRS water saver series. It runs the waste water through another membrane to try and save on water. With a booster pump this also should reduce waste water. I hate dumping water down the drain, but an RO system requires a waste water outlet. You can plumb that back into your house water to "save the water" but the TDS is so high that I wouldn't want it going back into my house plumbing.

 

[Buckeye Hydro Verified Sponsor]

Plumbing membranes in series IS NOT A GOOD IDEA unless you have soft water (few do).

 

[Philly Reefer]

Plumbing membranes in series IS NOT A GOOD IDEA unless you have <1gpg hardness (few do).

Why is it not a good idea?

 

[K7BMG]

Ok so there are always multiple opinions.

This is my take on the RO/DI units.
What is the most important factor in a healthy Reef Tank. The water.
What is the number one piece of equipment that will insure High Quality water? A RO/DI unit.

How many LFS have the time to keep up with customers and tank maintenance let alone keep a close eye on their RO/DI unit.

Second I have started small and wound up with a full 7 stage system.
If I had to do it over again I would start with the 7 stage.
I would have saved myself a few hundred bucks and all the time it took to rework the unit.

Small units produce small amounts of water. Great for a Nanos, I don't think so.

If you go with a 7 stage unit here are the factual benefits.
7 stage produces up to 200 gallons per day.
Is this overkill?
For a Nano? Nope again the Nano parameters can change in the drop of the hat.
So it is even more important to have high quality water.
So your RO/DI can produce enough water in a day to last you for months.
Ok so what, is this a bad thing? If so, how so?
Then don't run it all day, just run it to meet your current needs.

I know you the OP has a larger tank than a Nano, but I am just pointing this out for everyone not just the OP.

More likely you will go larger, or add additional tanks and your ready as the RO/DI system will handle it with ease. No need to upgrade to a larger unit.
The 7 stage can handle the Nano and easily over a 1000g or more systems.

7 stage produces more product water with less waste water.

The Anion resin will need to be replaced almost three times more than the amount of the Cation resin will ever need to be.

Lesser stage units use Mixed Bed (Combined Cation and Anion resins) for the DI stage.
So your throwing away a lot of perfectly viable Cation resin.

The last resin chamber is mixed bed and will catch your mistakes if a resin gets depleted before you catch it. This is a failsafe.

All the seven stage units I have looked at will have a TDS meter and this is a must have.

I can't express how important the correct RO membrane used is key.
My local water authority and my water softener people swear by Dow Corning RO Membranes.
They both showed me extensive documentation on the Dow Corning and the others.
Yes my Softener guy is a salesman, But the folks at the water authority were not selling me anything, I asked as I was doing electrical work on several of the water plants locally.
Somehow I feel they have more knowledge than I do as this is there world.
I have no reason to doubt the opinions and proof they have given to me.

Plus who wants to haul water around like ever? Not me.

 

[MJ in Boise]

Terrible well water keeps me from making rodi. I still make RO to drink. LFS here doesn't charge for RODI, so I make 60gal water runs and run it through a sediment then mixed bed DI to ensure purity. Their water always tests at 0 but better safe than sorry. If you have the ability to make your own do it.

 

[Philly Reefer]

Ok so there are always multiple opinions.

This is my take on the RO/DI units.
What is the most important factor in a healthy Reef Tank. The water.
What is the number one piece of equipment that will insure High Quality water? A RO/DI unit.

How many LFS have the time to keep up with customers and tank maintenance let alone keep a close eye on their RO/DI unit.

Second I have started small and wound up with a full 7 stage system.
If I had to do it over again I would start with the 7 stage.
I would have saved myself a few hundred bucks and all the time it took to rework the unit.

Small units produce small amounts of water. Great for a Nanos, I don't think so.

If you go with a 7 stage unit here are the factual benefits.
7 stage produces up to 200 gallons per day.
Is this overkill?
For a Nano? Nope again the Nano parameters can change in the drop of the hat.
So it is even more important to have high quality water.
So your RO/DI can produce enough water in a day to last you for months.
Ok so what, is this a bad thing? If so, how so?
Then don't run it all day, just run it to meet your current needs.

I know you the OP has a larger tank than a Nano, but I am just pointing this out for everyone not just the OP.

More likely you will go larger, or add additional tanks and your ready as the RO/DI system will handle it with ease. No need to upgrade to a larger unit.
The 7 stage can handle the Nano and easily over a 1000g or more systems.

7 stage produces more product water with less waste water.

The Anion resin will need to be replaced almost three times more than the amount of the Cation resin will ever need to be.

Lesser stage units use Mixed Bed (Combined Cation and Anion resins) for the DI stage.
So your throwing away a lot of perfectly viable Cation resin.

The last resin chamber is mixed bed and will catch your mistakes if a resin gets depleted before you catch it. This is a failsafe.

All the seven stage units I have looked at will have a TDS meter and this is a must have.

I can't express how important the correct RO membrane used is key.
My local water authority and my water softener people swear by Dow Corning RO Membranes.
They both showed me extensive documentation on the Dow Corning and the others.
Yes my Softener guy is a salesman, But the folks at the water authority were not selling me anything, I asked as I was doing electrical work on several of the water plants locally.
Somehow I feel they have more knowledge than I do as this is there world.
I have no reason to doubt the opinions and proof they have given to me.

Plus who wants to haul water around like ever? Not me.

I think one of the reason why ppl use the mixed resin is space. Currently, I don't have the space to hang a 7 stage rodi system. I need to unplug the rodi from my basement sink and put them away.
I would think this same scenarios would be for ppl in apartment

 

[K7BMG]

Terrible well water keeps me from making rodi. I still make RO to drink. LFS here doesn't charge for RODI, so I make 60gal water runs and run it through a sediment then mixed bed DI to ensure purity. Their water always tests at 0 but better safe than sorry. If you have the ability to make your own do it.

I am curious what is in your well water that is so bad?
We have an area here where I live that Arsenic is over the top and they have specialized equipment on the well system for that.

Fortunately for me and my well I am lucky and my annual test comes back with awesome results.

 

[burnetb1]

Plumbing membranes in series IS NOT A GOOD IDEA unless you have <1gpg hardness (few do).

I have never heard this. Does it lead to faster deterioration of the second membrane?

 

[K7BMG]

I think one of the reason why ppl use the mixed resin is space. Currently, I don't have the space to hang a 7 stage rodi system. I need to unplug the rodi from my basement sink and put them away.
I would think this same scenarios would be for ppl in apartment

Yes I understand your point.
The beauty of these systems however they can be separated and put in different areas.
The RO portion can be under the sink so the drain lines can be dealt with better, but the DI section can be routed and mounted elsewhere.
But yes for some even that might not be possible.

 

[MJ in Boise]

I am curious what is in your well water that is so bad?
We have an area here where I live that Arsenic is over the top and they have specialized equipment on the well system for that.

Fortunately for me and my well I am lucky and my annual test comes back with awesome results.

Co2

 

[Buckeye Hydro Verified Sponsor]

Why is it not a good idea?

Water hardness kills membranes. In commercial RO systems the membranes are routinely plumbed in series. But if you look at the system spec's for the feedwater you'll see "softened water." Water out of a functioning softener will be < 1 gpg. Remember that the concentrate coming out of the first membrane will be significantly harder than the feedwater to the first membrane. Willy nilly suggesting systems with membranes plumbed in series will work well for everyone, without first looking at feedwater quality is silly.

 

[dbowman5]

Ok so there are always multiple opinions.

This is my take on the RO/DI units.
What is the most important factor in a healthy Reef Tank. The water.
What is the number one piece of equipment that will insure High Quality water? A RO/DI unit.

How many LFS have the time to keep up with customers and tank maintenance let alone keep a close eye on their RO/DI unit.

Second I have started small and wound up with a full 7 stage system.
If I had to do it over again I would start with the 7 stage.
I would have saved myself a few hundred bucks and all the time it took to rework the unit.

Small units produce small amounts of water. Great for a Nanos, I don't think so.

If you go with a 7 stage unit here are the factual benefits.
7 stage produces up to 200 gallons per day.
Is this overkill?
For a Nano? Nope again the Nano parameters can change in the drop of the hat.
So it is even more important to have high quality water.
So your RO/DI can produce enough water in a day to last you for months.
Ok so what, is this a bad thing? If so, how so?
Then don't run it all day, just run it to meet your current needs.

I know you the OP has a larger tank than a Nano, but I am just pointing this out for everyone not just the OP.

More likely you will go larger, or add additional tanks and your ready as the RO/DI system will handle it with ease. No need to upgrade to a larger unit.
The 7 stage can handle the Nano and easily over a 1000g or more systems.

7 stage produces more product water with less waste water.

The Anion resin will need to be replaced almost three times more than the amount of the Cation resin will ever need to be.

Lesser stage units use Mixed Bed (Combined Cation and Anion resins) for the DI stage.
So your throwing away a lot of perfectly viable Cation resin.

The last resin chamber is mixed bed and will catch your mistakes if a resin gets depleted before you catch it. This is a failsafe.

All the seven stage units I have looked at will have a TDS meter and this is a must have.

I can't express how important the correct RO membrane used is key.
My local water authority and my water softener people swear by Dow Corning RO Membranes.
They both showed me extensive documentation on the Dow Corning and the others.
Yes my Softener guy is a salesman, But the folks at the water authority were not selling me anything, I asked as I was doing electrical work on several of the water plants locally.
Somehow I feel they have more knowledge than I do as this is there world.
I have no reason to doubt the opinions and proof they have given to me.

Plus who wants to haul water around like ever? Not me.

excellent read plus reefers are social creatures. networking with local reefers is a feature with our community. the ability to quickly process a large amount of RODI for emergency use by our neighbors is another reason to go large

 

[MichaelReefer]

When I had my small 15 Gallon, I didn't mind grabbing it at the LFS because I only needed like 10 gallons a month. But once I got my Reefer 250, and now my 525xl...it's just too much water to haul back and forth.

 

[Philly Reefer]

Water hardness kills membranes. In commercial RO systems the membranes are routinely plumbed in series. But if you look at the system spec's for the feedwater you'll see "softened water." Water out of a functioning softener will be < 1 gpg. Remember that the concentrate coming out of the first membrane will be significantly harder than the feedwater to the first membrane. Willy nilly suggesting systems with membranes plumbed in series will work well for everyone, without first looking at feedwater quality is silly.

so in conclusion, it will deteriorate the 2nd membrane faster? (as mentioned by @burnetb1 )
Is there other negative side effect beside that?
I can only tell you in my own set up /experience that it worked to produce more RODI water and less waste water.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

That is interesting, and impossible. Is it the ZeroWaste one? I see that it has you return the waste water to the hot water line in your house, instead of down the drain. That might work in certain situations. It also says that it comes with a 24 gallon per day membrane, and is incompatible with a 75gpd.

No , that one came up also but you have to plumb into the hot water side and I said no way

 

[magicwhistle]

@magicwhistle
You can drink the RODI water but it is technically not good for you. By removing almost everything from the water in an attempt to get 0 TDS, you make the water unstable. It then pulls minerals from its surrounding environment. When you drink it, it is removing minerals from your body, making it "unhealthy"
I'm no expert, but I have heard you can mitigate this by leaving the container open and it will pull minerals from the air or you can add a teaspoon or two of brine (waste) water to it.

Unless you're drinking ungodly amounts of it all at once or you're only drinking RODI water and nothing else and not eating anything else it should never affect osmotic pressure to the point where it 'strips minerals from your body making it unhealthy.' Even the WHO who regularly says this type of stuff has very few studies showing it's harmful and for most harms they claim they cite MORE studies showing it's not harmful. And these are studies that intentionally set up to see if it's harmful ie. set up situations where harm is even possible. Which shouldn't be a situation a normal person with a normal diet is in.

Even if you're worried about it there's tablets you can buy to re-mineralize the water with whatever you want.