Help for RODI

[Gill11]

Hi I plan on getting a 20 G cube tank as DT and I already have a 14 G and a 10 G tank from my freshwater days to have as a fish and coral quarantine tank.
One of the main basic things seems to be ensuring great quality water .
My local city water is very hard , 24-34 grain and the water quality report seems to suggest that there is slightly high radium level
I was wanting some help in choosing an RODI system that I could use both for the hobby (I plan in the beginning to have all 3 tanks going simultaneously ) and as an additional source of drinking water and maybe save on the culligan refills

Thanks

 

[lazycouch]

i’d say just avoid the 2 birds 1 stone situation and go for a brita for your drinking needs and this portable RODI system for your tank! it’s been real good to me testing at 0TDS LiquaGen - 4-Stage Reverse Osmosis and Deionization RO/DI Portable Space Saver Water Filter System - 50 GPD

 

[gabrieltackitt]

I’d recommend looking at the BRS ones, they use standard 10 inch cartridges, which can be easier to find and cheaper vs the RO Buddie, Liquagen style that can be more manufacturer specific. BRS makes a drinking water add on for their RODIs as well so that you can get filtered water to drink/cook with and not exhaust your DI resin for that.

Here is a good starting point RODI for fairly dirty water:

BRS 5 Stage Reverse Osmosis Deionization Systems

Bulk Reef Supply - Saltwater Aquarium Supplies for Reef Tanks

www.bulkreefsupply.com

Here is the drinking water add on:

Add-On Faucet Kit

This Add-On Faucet Kit is necessary to set up your reverse osmosis unit to supply drinking water on demand. The BRS Add-On Faucet Kit includes everything needed to bypass the DI (deionization) stage and add a pressurized tank and faucet to your reverse osmosis system. The pressurized tank...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[DaddyFish]

Be careful drinking RO/DI water as your only source of drinking water. Brita pitcher or any quality water filter is a healthier option. RO/DI water lacks essential elements that your body needs.

 

[gabrieltackitt]

Be careful drinking RO/DI water as your only source of drinking water. Brita pitcher or any quality water filter is a healthier option. RO/DI water lacks essential elements that your body needs.

Absolutely correct! Drinking the full RODI long term can deprive your body of a lot of the minerals that it needs.

that said, for dirty water it is perfectly safe to drink RO only water, I basically grew up on it. The BRS kits, and I believe most others that are designed for both, pull the drinking water out before it passes the DI stage, so it retains some minerals. You can also get remineralizing stages to put on the drinking water line if you decided that would be a better option.

 

[AcroNem]

If your source water is really high, I would look into a good system, it's worth it. Spectrapure is great, also a BRS system will be good too.

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

spectrapure or nothing.

the real issue with drinking rodi was is that the di resins are not fda approved to be used for drinking water. there’s NO way the beneficial elements rodi lacks, wouldn’t be replenished via other food and drinks you consume. that argument is not realistic.

 

[Gill11]

Absolutely correct! Drinking the full RODI long term can deprive your body of a lot of the minerals that it needs.

that said, for dirty water it is perfectly safe to drink RO only water, I basically grew up on it. The BRS kits, and I believe most others that are designed for both, pull the drinking water out before it passes the DI stage, so it retains some minerals. You can also get remineralizing stages to put on the drinking water line if you decided that would be a better option.

 

[Gill11]

Yeah the drinking water comes off the RO before the DI , so is the same as the RO water you would get at supermarket

so one of the better brs ones or a spectrapure one ???

 

[Sebastiancrab]

Be careful drinking RO/DI water as your only source of drinking water. Brita pitcher or any quality water filter is a healthier option. RO/DI water lacks essential elements that your body needs.

Hi I plan on getting a 20 G cube tank as DT and I already have a 14 G and a 10 G tank from my freshwater days to have as a fish and coral quarantine tank.
One of the main basic things seems to be ensuring great quality water .
My local city water is very hard , 24-34 grain and the water quality report seems to suggest that there is slightly high radium level
I was wanting some help in choosing an RODI system that I could use both for the hobby (I plan in the beginning to have all 3 tanks going simultaneously ) and as an additional source of drinking water and maybe save on the culligan refills

Thanks

I just recently bought a Dual Reef/ Drinking water system from AirWaterIce. There are additional filters for the drinking water added on as well as a tank and faucet fixture. Not that I am promoting them but suggest you consider them and Buckeye Hydro. I just found that they were the most reasonable price and they offer a lifetime guarantee. LiquaGen had some not so good reviews and Buckeye has a one year warranty and is more expensive. So is Spectrapure. Make sure you get a TDS Meter and a pressure guage. Also, you need to check your local water to see if the utility is using chloramine. You will need an additional filter if so.

If you go with a smaller system, you won't have standard cartridges that you can buy from any supplier. Also, the water output will be slower with higher waste water. I went with the 100 gal per day. This sets me up for the future too with a larger tank.

 

[John Smith]

Hi I plan on getting a 20 G cube tank as DT and I already have a 14 G and a 10 G tank from my freshwater days to have as a fish and coral quarantine tank.
One of the main basic things seems to be ensuring great quality water .
My local city water is very hard , 24-34 grain and the water quality report seems to suggest that there is slightly high radium level
I was wanting some help in choosing an RODI system that I could use both for the hobby (I plan in the beginning to have all 3 tanks going simultaneously ) and as an additional source of drinking water and maybe save on the culligan refills

Thanks

An RO system should work for you regardless of hardness and radium level.

All RO brands are the same. They are just empty bottle housings. The importance is the filter cartridges inside. Buy the cheapest you can find and chose the correct filter cartridges. I bought a used system on Craigslist for $35.00.

You need to know how an RO filtration system works to make your selection. The basic system consists of an RO membrane, a carbon block filter and a sediment filter. The RO membrane is the main filtration. It can easily be damaged by chlorine and chloramine which are disinfectants used to treat municipal water. That’s why we need the carbon (chemical) pre-filter. One-micron carbon filter must be used to effectively remove these as well as other chemicals to protect the RO membrane. Because of the 1-micron rating, the carbon filter gets clogged up quickly. That’s why we need the help of a sediment, pre-filter which must also be rated 1-micron to remove particulates so the chemical filter can do its job effectively.

This basic system should remove ~95% impurities from municipal water supply. How do we make it better?
For aquarium use, adding a DI (deionization) stage can remove any leftover ion and bring impurity closer to zero.
For drinking, adding an inline post carbon filter can improve taste and smell.

Here are some extra notes:
If water source has lots of sediments (ground water) or rust particles (old piping), you might need additional sediment pre-filters (5µm, 10µm, 20µm, ...)
Remember to match the flow restrictor to the RO membrane rating (50gal/day, 100gpd, ...)

Below is my setup.

Stage 1: sediment filter 1-micron rating.

Stage 2: carbon block 1-micron rating.

Between stage 2 and 3, add a water pressure gauge (some system might already have this build-in). Water pressure drop means the sediment and/or the carbon filter are clogged (change the sediment filter first).

Stage 3: RO membrane. Choose rating (gal/day) based on your usage.

After stage 3, split the outlet to A (drinking) and B (aquarium) and add manual shut-off valves to both A and B. This can be automated. See https://github.com/PracticalHomeApp/EcolibriumReef-Arduino

I chose to remove the auto-shut-off valve because it wastes a lot of water. I also capture waste water in a container and use it to water the lawn. The amount of waste water indicates how efficient to RO membrane is, the older the less efficient and more waste.

Stage 4A: inline post carbon filter

Measure water after stage 4A, if TDS read > 10ppm, change the RO membrane (normal is ~5ppm)

Stage 4B: 2-stage DI filter with color changing resin. 1st stage has clear housing so you can see when the resin is depleted. 2nd stage is there so you can use up 1st stage completely.

After stage 4B, TDS should read zero.