I May have made a mistake...

[DungSl1nger]

Idk when thats going to be unless the world decides to go back to normal soon! because I am barley making mortage and had to get a second job just to do that.

I completely understand, I just recently started my first tank from scratch so I understand the costs and seen my budget get obliterated. Do you have any reef friends near by that you can toss some to cash for water?

 

[ZaneGreay]

no unfortunately I do not... I work alot and the few friends I have think fish are cool but would never keep them

 

[Shirak]

only problem is that I cant do that with the rodi unit I have. Or atleast not without modding it and possible risking it

Ignore the fact the DI is used up on your system. Run the output of your RODI system to a 30 gallon brute trash can and do the aeration overnight. Don't bother getting the twist in DI cartridge. Get the Aquatic life inline DI cartridge instead. Then send the water through the inline DI cartridge as suggested. The nice thing about the inline DI cartridge is it cost less than the twist in one and it's refillable too.

Aquatic Life inline DI cartridge

 

[vetteguy53081]

*** I dont have that kind of money to spare right now. I am 100% regretting getting this rodi system and trying to save space. I wish I would have saved and gone with the 7 stage brs 75g like I wanted to but thought this would be good since it have more gpd. I didnt realize 45 pressure was bad since most of them say it should be ok. ugh

You have a unit and thats a good start. It may take a while but at least you have RO water

 

[Alarmguy66]

only problem is that I cant do that with the rodi unit I have. Or atleast not without modding it and possible risking it

I think you can do it without risking anything. I felt the same way about taking mine apart until I got tired of every barrel of water costing me another 20 bucks for resin.

I researched your unit and watched a video on it. It looks like the DI stage looks is held onto the bracket by 3 screws behind the canister and lid. I THINK (all I have to go off is the video) that if you take those 3 screws out, then press in the locking tabs on the left inlet tube, you should be able to remove the DI unit and separate it. It wont hurt to take a look and see if thats possible. Remember, the people who assemble these things want it to be easy to put together, and they aren't smarter than you, they just know how.

If you have doubts about whether its worthwhile to try, do some research on the effect of dissolved carbon dioxide on DI resin, as well as carbon dioxide in well water.

I wish you good luck in whatever you choose to do.

 

[Fred2482]

@ZaneGreay

Check this out, https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/aquafx-giveaway.710236/

 

[BrandonS]

When you say Iron in your well. We talking large pieces of rust or a fine reddish brown powder? An extra sediment filter would be the usual route. Most RODI units are using 1 micron sediment filters. So if you have a 5 micron building up quick then your RODI definitely will.

RODI is very much pressure dependent. Depending on the unit 60 or more is what you want for the unit. The membranes rely on pressure to work. Low pressure leads to excess waste water and lower quality out of the membrane. This could cause excess resin consumption. In and RODI system the sediment filter and carbon filters are before the membrane to remove chlorine, chlorimines, etc. Usually only thing after the membrane is the resin which is why low pressure effects the resin.

Hope you can find a solution that works for you.

 

[BrandonS]

Also wanted to add plus +1 for pulling before the water conditioner. I make this recommendation based on the fact that it adds salt into the water to replace some of the hardness. Salt IMO is hard to remove with RO membranes. Higher pressure is needed. For example when desalinating sea water which is a much higher salt concentration then your home but it's what I know, It takes 700 psi to force the water through the membrane.

 

[Katrina71]

Whatever you decide, see if anyone here happens to have what you need before you purchase elsewhere.

 

[Shirak]

Also wanted to add plus +1 for pulling before the water conditioner. I make this recommendation based on the fact that it adds salt into the water to replace some of the hardness. Salt IMO is hard to remove with RO membranes. Higher pressure is needed. For example when desalinating sea water which is a much higher salt concentration then your home but it's what I know, It takes 700 psi to force the water through the membrane.

Sorry Brandon this is incorrect. The relation to ro on seawater is not relevant. The sodium added by a softener is by removing calcium and magnesium which are more likely to clog the membrane over time by calcifying. So you are not adding much overall salt to the water. The RO membrane has no problem removing the sodium.

I also wouldn't worry so much about the pressure. Yes it would help to be higher with output and a slight increase in quality of RO water but if he is burning through an entire DI cartridge with a few buckets of water there is a bigger problem with something getting through that increased pressure won't solve. Probably the CO2 issue..

I looked at several sources and they all say the softener should be before the RO unit.

from https://www.secondwindwater.com/reverse-osmosis-with-water-softeners/

Water Softener
A water softener will protect your reverse osmosis system by removing scale-forming elements like calcium and magnesium, before they ever reach it. In the process, water softening can add slightly higher levels of sodium to the water. (How high these levels are depends on how hard your water is).

This is where reverse osmosis comes in. Remember what we said about being better together? Your reverse osmosis system, which purifies your water, will also remove the sodium added to softened water.

 

[Nburg's Reef]

Now as I'm thinking more about it I think its case by case. Technically the softener could remove some particulates in the water and therefore save life on the cartridges the only down side is if there are any chemicals in the salt or potassium used for the softener that could be adding to it and depleting the deionization cartridge. If I'm far off here please let me know.

I’ve used an RODI system on a hard water well with a water softener and it’s all about the makeup of your water. We had high iron and particulates so I ran it after the softener. Nice thing is you don’t need to worry about a carbon block in most cases. Booster pump is a necessity. I ran 2 inline TDS meters that had 2 probes each, so I could monitor line in, post RO, post DI stage 1 and post DI stage 2.

have you ever had your well water tested to see what’s in it? That could help with recommendations

 

[ZaneGreay]

Unfortunately we did but I can't find the paperwork. I just remember it said everything was within range for drinkable water and we got the house

 

[Birddog61]

Im on a well. making water slowly is not the end of the world nor is it correct for sps. Try flashing the water as recomended. In the big picture it will be inexpensive to try. Take your time removing your di cartrage. A mechanicly inclined friend would be an asset in such an endeavor

 

[ZaneGreay]

Im on a well. making water slowly is not the end of the world nor is it correct for sps. Try flashing the water as recomended. In the big picture it will be inexpensive to try. Take your time removing your di cartrage. A mechanicly inclined friend would be an asset in such an endeavor

When you say flashing do you mean dumping bleach into the well? Cuz we did that about a month in

 

[sfin52]

Well water. I bet is co2 issue. I would look at that.

 

[ZaneGreay]

Well water. I bet is co2 issue. I would look at that.

Is there a way to measure it?

 

[Alarmguy66]

I don't know of anything other than a separate tester, which costs money and you would use once. If you can test Ph you can try a Ph test and use that as a reference. CO2 drives the Ph of water down, so when as its released from water the Ph should rise. Run some fresh water from the tap and check the ph (probably be best to run the tap a few minutes before gathering the sample so you are getting water from deep in the well). Oxygenate for a few hours, then let it rest for a few hours. Test the Ph again and see if you have a rise. Any significant change in the upwards direction IMPLIES (no guarantee here) that sometihng was released from the water, most likely CO2.

Before I knew about the CO2 in my water I used to try to adjust the Ph of freshly made and mixed water. The results I got from the adjustments never seemed to make any sense. From what I know now I understand that the adjustments were combining with the release of CO2, thus altering the expected results.

 

[PapaElf]

I'm on a well with softener before my Rodi. Also struggle with DI consumption. I did a couple of things to help the situation.

1) look up TDS creep. I only pressurize the rodi when making water in batches and shut off otherwise. You add a valve before the di stage so you can relive the pressure after you shut off water pressure to the system.

2) after i shut off and relive pressure i remove the di cartridge and dump the water so it is not sitting in water all week.

3) BRS refillable cartridge and bulk di resin.

These have improved my situation without a lot of extra hardware.

 

[Shirak]

Can also look into bumping up your pressure switch on your well system

I'm on a well with softener before my Rodi. Also struggle with DI consumption. I did a couple of things to help the situation.

1) look up TDS creep. I only pressurize the rodi when making water in batches and shut off otherwise. You add a valve before the di stage so you can relive the pressure after you shut off water pressure to the system.

2) after i shut off and relive pressure i remove the di cartridge and dump the water so it is not sitting in water all week.

3) BRS refillable cartridge and bulk di resin.

These have improved my situation without a lot of extra hardware.

+1 TDS Creep! Always run the RO unit without the DI for a few minutes at least. Our well water here is around 250ppm tds and very hard in calcium etc. When I first turn on the RO if it's been sitting overnight the water going to the DI cartridges is around 80-100 tds. The longer it sits the higher the initial tds. It takes a minute or two to drop down to the 4-5 tds range. I then open the valve to the DI cartridges and collect RODI water. The RO water I use for plants and coffee and drinking.

 

[Birddog61]

When you say flashing do you mean dumping bleach into the well? Cuz we did that about a month in

No. I am refering to allowing the water to release gasses in to the atmosphere