ebay ro/di unit?
- Thread starter Mark_D
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pipes
New Member
Are you going to be using it for drinking water too? Most R.O. systems are called 3, 4, or 5 stage which refers to the number of filters and the membrane. Being in Ottawa, do you also have a water softener? Most units are a sediment filter(1) carbon filter (2) and then membrane (3). If you have one for drinking water you will also have a pressure tank and post carbon(4). Before some one bastes me, some units also have a second carbon filter before the membrane. If you want, you can then add a D.I. system to strip the T.D.S. down further.
Prices rang quite a bit, so shop around. Sometimes you really do get what you pay for. Quality from a recognized source goes along way.
Right now as our dollar really sucks, buy locally, as in Ottawa. If you have problems with it then someone is able to fix it. Not tell you to do it your self.
Take what I say as you will. I'm a licensed plumber who specializes in residential water treatment.
Prices rang quite a bit, so shop around. Sometimes you really do get what you pay for. Quality from a recognized source goes along way.
Right now as our dollar really sucks, buy locally, as in Ottawa. If you have problems with it then someone is able to fix it. Not tell you to do it your self.
Take what I say as you will. I'm a licensed plumber who specializes in residential water treatment.
OP
OP
Mark_D
Community Member
Thanks for the info pipes! I'm located just outside of Ottawa (Kemptville). We are on well water. We have culligan for our main bathrooms etc, and a different system for our drinking water. I was planning on buying an ro/di for a designated fish tank application. I'm a pretty good DIY'er but I also don't want to mess up our current setup. I usually buy stuff online and go pick it up across the border myself.
You get what you pay for with reef quality RO/DI units and cheap is not where you want to be as it will soon bite you. Find a vendor who sells Spectrapure systems in Canada or maybe call them direct and inquire about shipping to Canada if they can't name a vendor for you. Their basic reef quality system is better than most vendors top of the line systems and is only $125 US. If you can pick it up in the US it is a no brainer.
pipes
New Member
Since you already have a softner, make sure you plumb any R.O. system into the soft water line. Not the hard water. If you hook into the hard water, you will plug up your filters faster, and kill the membrane quicker. The membrane is the expensive part. If you have a C.C.Crap. ( can't say it, as I use to work for them, and now I am the competition). Can you tap into your existing unit? Depending on the unit you may be able to tee off with a valve before the post carbon filter. If it's an AC30 or an H83 unit the post carbon will be an inline filter. If you have the water tower you'll have to cut into the tap line. Make sure to turn the water supply and the tank off first. This is usually where someone sais "Duh", but you would be surprised at the number of people who don't think, or forget...
Whichever provides the softest water with the least headloss. The softer the water the easier it is for the membrane and the greater the pressure the more efficient it will be.
pipes
New Member
Whichever system is your R.O. Common sense is the prevailing factor. If your unit is the box type ( all filters in a casing ) then you would have to cut into the tank line. The tap line would run through a post carbon prior to the tap. Kinetico has been doing some interesting things with R.O.s. I've even seen a unit with the tank in the casing. So I guess it depends on the unit you have, and which lines are exposed. Make sure you don't tee into the drain line.
What the heck are you talking about? You tie into the treated water side of either the Kinnetico or the Culligan, all the other babble makes no sense. Use your calcium carbonate hardness test kit and a pressure gauge to determine which is the best choice, its as simple as that.
Dtackett
Valuable Member
I got a "5 stage" rodi unit from ebay. its actually a 4 stage though. the duel di risn uses the same amount of di as a single normal cartridge. this thing was tough. ive dropped it several times during moving to the new house and no cracks or anything. think I paid about 140 for it. the "you get what you paid for" idea is complete bs. you get what you research.
pipes
New Member
My understanding is that this is a residential R.O. unit feeding a tap on the kitchen sink. Not a standard aquarium R.O. unit. A residential drinking water system has a pressure tank, a post carbon filter, and a tap. All things that are not on an aquarium unit. If my assumption is correct, then the Culligan is the softener, and the Kinetico is the R.O. The softener removes the calcium and magnesium (what is refered to as lime or hard water) and replaces those ions with sodium ions. Which does not change the T.D.S. Then once the "hardness" is removed the R.O. can strip the mineral (T.D.S.) content to less than 20 P.P.M. After which, the D.I. resin strips the T.D.S. to 1 or less. If you are not familiar with a residential unit then find a pic on line. Depending on the system and manufacturer, it will determin where you can cut the 1/4" or 3/8" tubing in order to run a line to your ATO or Mix tank.
A lot of reefers refer to their "RODI" not understanding that they are two separate processes.
If you paid $140 for an eBay RO/DI you paid about $80 too much. Compare sediment and carbon filter quality, membrane quality and rejection rate, full size vertical 20 oz DI filled with fresh high quality resin versus the little horizontal tubes, fixed flow restrictor versus capillary tube, name brand ANSI/NSF and UPC rated housings and fittings versus Chinese clones and more. There really is a difference and research pays off.
Kinnetico systems are forms of water softeners. I do water treatment as a profession and am quite familiar with RO versus RO/DI as well as drinking water systems. The OP asked if it was better to join their RO to one or the other as it sounds like they have both, why they would have both baffles me but it is what it is.
pipes
New Member
Personal history: I worked for Culligan for 5 years. At this time they had 3 different systems. Then I apprenticed for the Eco Water dealer and he had a standard R.O. unit. Now I am self employed as a plumber specializing in residential water treatment. At the moment I sub-contract to 3 different water treatment companies servicing and installing another 4 different varieties of R.O. units. Not to mention the 3 commercial units I service.
Dtackett
Valuable Member
well, I know my filter is tough (dropping it moving it ect... haven't really been gentle with it) I know my filter produces 0tds from 700+ (even though it does it very slowly at my current psi) and I know it doesn't leak. chances are every aspect of my unit is made in china with a US seller but this is who I got it from
http://www.ebay.com/usr/max.water.usa?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2754
I know it works perfect, I know its durable, and I know it brings my high tds to 0. cant complain.
http://www.ebay.com/usr/max.water.usa?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2754
I know it works perfect, I know its durable, and I know it brings my high tds to 0. cant complain.
As an eBay Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
And I have been a certified water and wastewater treatment plant operator, supervisor and manager for 40 years with the last 10 years for one of the top 10 water-wastewater environmental engineering firms in the US working with membrane systems of all shapes and sizes in potable, reuse and waste water. You were still babbling about things that made no sense and made no difference. You feed the RO or RO/DI with the softest of the two with the highest available pressure.
The difference between a good system and a mediocre system is how much it costs to get to 0 TDS and how long it maintains that TDS. Cost of ownership is always lower with a more efficient system even if it costs more initially which isn't always the case like with the Spectrapure RO/DI which only costs $124 and outperforms systems at twice the price.
Dtackett
Valuable Member
to answer your question, 5 or 6 stage doesn't matter. most often the extra stages are just smaller DI stages to make them sound better. minimum system should have sediment, carbon, RO membrane, and preferably DI resin. so all you really need is a 4 stage. many people will recommend specialty carbon based on what your city uses to treat the water but these guys above would know more about that than me.
