Purified Water

GiannisK · Oct 30, 2023

I recently purchased some RO purified water in one of those 5 gallon containers you put on dispensers. It's from a large and well-known water distributor. This is the cleaning process they display on their website:

They also provided me with a water report that listed all possible contaminants, including chloramines, nitrates, and anything else, at 0. They report TDS at 5. Please note that I did not purchase the water that comes with added minerals for taste (step 7).

Any thoughts about me using this for my water? It would be much more convenient for me since the closest LFS that sells saltwater is an hour drive away, and would also be cheaper.

JTP424 · Oct 30, 2023

A few threads on here pertaining to this :

Walmart primo water

Hey guys! New to R2R, and saltwater aquariums. I've had several freshwater setups but decided to move towards saltwater!!! I have a 30 gallon that I started last week (it's doing its cycle now) and going to convert a 55 this next week. My question is, does anyone use Walmart primo water? Our...

www.reef2reef.com

Randy Holmes-Farley · Oct 31, 2023

it may be fine, but my concern is copper if there are any copper pipe parts after the ro.

GiannisK · Oct 31, 2023

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
it may be fine, but my concern is copper if there are any copper pipe parts after the ro.

if their water reports are trustworthy, it’s undetectable

Mr. Mojo Rising · Oct 31, 2023

I would just get distilled water from the grocery store. It cost pennies and just as good as rodi water.

One of the best investments in this hobby is your own rodi unit.

GiannisK · Oct 31, 2023

Mr. Mojo Rising said:
I would just get distilled water from the grocery store. It cost pennies and just as good as rodi water.

One of the best investments in this hobby is your own rodi unit.

Well I don’t know why the grocery store distilled water would be any better than the water distributor distilled water

Mr. Mojo Rising · Oct 31, 2023

You got the ro water, without the di. TDS of 5 is one thing, and as mentioned above the worry of copper. Distilled water is completely pure.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Oct 31, 2023

GiannisK said:
if their water reports are trustworthy, it’s undetectable

With what detection limit for copper? Also, if it comes from the individual machine, I'm not sure it will show.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Oct 31, 2023

GiannisK said:
Well I don’t know why the grocery store distilled water would be any better than the water distributor distilled water

The water method posted is not distillation. That said, it would be possible for distilled water to be contaminated post distillation.

GiannisK · Oct 31, 2023

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
With what detection limit for copper? Also, if it comes from the individual machine, I'm not sure it will show.

They come packaged. The don’t say the detection level.

I picked the purified over the distilled because the water reports were identical other than the TDS, with the former listing it as 5 and the latter as “<5”. The purified was accessible for pickup from stores, the distilled could only be delivered.

JTP424 · Oct 31, 2023

@Randy Holmes-Farley what are your thoughts on picking up one of these type things to confirm?

Not lab quality... but maybe piece of mind?

GiannisK · Oct 31, 2023

For what it’s worth they do list the FDA standard as 1 ppm. I would assume their test measures far lower.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Oct 31, 2023

JTP424 said:
@Randy Holmes-Farley what are your thoughts on picking up one of these type things to confirm?

Not lab quality... but maybe piece of mind?

The lowest nonzero reading is 0.5 ppm copper, which, IMO, is already too much.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Oct 31, 2023

GiannisK said:
For what it’s worth they do list the FDA standard as 1 ppm. I would assume their test measures far lower.

That's the big issue overall. Drinking water is allowed up to 1.3 ppm copper in 10% of home taps without any sort of "concern", which is way too much for us.

https://www.epa.gov/dwreginfo/lead-and-copper-rule#rule-summary

GiannisK · Oct 31, 2023

The MWRA water report seems pretty good though.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Oct 31, 2023

GiannisK said:
The MWRA water report seems pretty good though.

But in that post, 10% of homes have above 132 ppb copper, which IMO, is too much.

MWRA water is also loaded with silicate (by design to reduce lead and copper) and might lead to excessive diatom problems.

BZOFIQ · Oct 31, 2023

Mr. Mojo Rising said:
One of the best investments in this hobby is your own rodi unit.

I have to echo that.

GiannisK · Oct 31, 2023

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
But in that post, 10% of homes have above 132 ppb copper, which IMO, is too much.

MWRA water is also loaded with silicate (by design to reduce lead and copper) and might lead to excessive diatom problems.

Right but it’s the 132 ppb that then passes through the RO.

MeganV · Oct 31, 2023

Hi, I'm in a similar sort of situation - I have a nano and I've been using distilled. I'm probably just going to bite the bullet and get my own equipment, for simplicity's sake.

One thought I had was whether you could set up a simple system to pump distilled or RO through a mixed DI resin cartridge as a polishing step. I just don't know if you could find a cheap submersible pump that would be able to overcome the pressure drop across a DI cartridge.