High TDS reading from LFS RO water

[WhiskeyCoffee]

Hey guys, so my tank has been set up for almost 5 months now and my fish, corals are healthy and I have had no algae issues other than a diatom outbreak early on. I have been getting the RO water from my LFS and use that for top off and water changes. I just ordered a TDS meter and was shocked by the findings.

So straight out of the tap my water has a level of 88 and the supposed RO water that I was getting has a reading of 91. I don't really know how to interpret these results because my tank has been so healthy but I know one thing - I'm not putting pure water in my tank!

Any advice?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Rodi is a precaution as water quality and chemical content varies from place to place. and by using it you rule out variables in diagnosis of problembs.
So yea you could use untreated well water with no problems at all.
Myth busted?
Eye opener isnt it.

 

[Mushroom Boy]

Wow, that's strange. I'm in Seattle and my water is about 30 out of the tap. Does you lfs sell RO or RO/DI? I ask because I was just using RO until I got my TDS meter and I quickly upgraded to add DI as well after that. My RO brought the reading down to about 4, the DI addition dropped it to 0. I'd be curious to know that the lfs tap readings are.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Wow, that's strange. I'm in Seattle and my water is about 30 out of the tap. Does you lfs sell RO or RO/DI? I ask because I was just using RO until I got my TDS meter and I quickly upgraded to add DI as well after that. My RO brought the reading down to about 4, the DI addition dropped it to 0. I'd be curious to know that the lfs tap readings are.

Im in San Diego. Ours depends on where you are. theres different "substations" some days my water smells like bleach.

 

[Coastie Reefer]

You may want to ask if your LFS puts any type of buffers in their RO water. I think mine puts a PH buffer in it. That might cause high TDS readings, but that's just a stab in the dark...

 

[Shameless_Dood]

I'm wondering if somehow they accidentally put the waste line in their storage tank. Or their filters are way way way past due to be changed....or they are being shady and selling you chemically treated water as RO.

 

[Opus]

Personally I would go to the LFS and show them the reading. Maybe they have no clue it is reading so high. I'm sure they have a big storage unit so it could have become contaminated without them knowing. Could it be your container? As stated above, your tap water TDS may not be anywhere near their reading. At my house I've seen it below 200 and above 500. Just depends on the quality of the water they are getting from the lake.

 

[jasonb87]

Do you use your container for salt water aswell at times? Salt residue or buffers with cause a high TDS reading

 

[SandJ]

You could take a clean glass jar and your TDS meter to the LFS next time. Get a sample of their water and test it right there (or wait until you are outside, may seem a little less confrontational lol).

 

[Mikemccafe]

Rodi is a precaution as water quality and chemical content varies from place to place. and by using it you rule out variables in diagnosis of problembs.
So yea you could use untreated well water with no problems at all.
Myth busted?
Eye opener isnt it.

When I first started out all I used was my well water, always had great results big money saver