Reverse Osmosis filtration, and hard water

[Blithespirit]

Hi all, I have been reading and thinking to get an RO unit, quite liked the Vertex Puratek but it seems to have vanished off the shelves, I live in the UK so finding a reputable and available brand is tough as the recommended units all seem to be USA based, I am only looking for a 100GPD unit so nothing big, its for my 130G. amazon has lots of unbranded but fell foul of those in the past so would rather spend now and save later.

As I am reading I came across a single article that mentioned using two DI units if you have hard water, we live in an area with very hard water, what is the thoughts around this from you all please? On that note of stages, I see many three stage units that seem to do well, then I see untis with five or six stage units, what do most people use for their reef tank water making?

Should I be looking for a unit with two x DI units and if so can anyone recommend something I should look at or is this just bumkum to get more sales for them?

Thanks for your opinion

 

[lapin]

RODI units can be customized for your water conditions. Where sediment is heavy 2 or 3 pre-filters before the RO filter might be needed. If you have a lot of chemical contamination, 2 charcoal filters can be used. The final DI resin stage is generally just 1 mixed bed. You want refillable canisters, not the sideways/on top ones, some come with. If you have well water, hard water or some other issue that causes high DI resin consumption the then you go to 3 resin stages. Cation then Anion then a mixed bed. This way you can replace the one thats used most instead of tossing the mix bed every time either the Cation or Anion part is used up. You can add canisters at any time to most units where ever you need them. Also TDS meters between stages are nice to see exactly where what your TDS is at any point in the system. If you have low water pressure, then a booster pump might be needed. Most aquariumn unit in the US use the thinner 10 x 2.5 filters not the 10 x 5's this site does not say which the units have.


I would look at something like this for the basic unit. Then add 3 more canisters for the 3 DI resin stages. You will need a bracket that mounts all 3 to the wall .

4 Stage 100 Gallon Per Day Reverse Osmosis System

Produce up to 380 litres per day of Pure water for virtually any application with this 4-Stage RO System. Features high capacity 10” Sediment and Carbon Filters Rejects up to 99.8% of water born contaminants, bacteria and viruses (See Technical Specs tab) Pre-assembled, all you need to do is...

www.osmotics.co.uk

Clear 10 Inch Double O-Ring Filter Housing with 1/4 Inch NPT ports

Clear 10 Inch Double O-Ring Filter Housing with 1/4 Inch NPT ports

www.osmotics.co.uk

Triple Filter Bracket

Triple Filter Bracket

www.osmotics.co.uk

Hope this was of some help to get you started

 

[crusso1993]

Hi all, I have been reading and thinking to get an RO unit, quite liked the Vertex Puratek but it seems to have vanished off the shelves, I live in the UK so finding a reputable and available brand is tough as the recommended units all seem to be USA based, I am only looking for a 100GPD unit so nothing big, its for my 130G. amazon has lots of unbranded but fell foul of those in the past so would rather spend now and save later.

As I am reading I came across a single article that mentioned using two DI units if you have hard water, we live in an area with very hard water, what is the thoughts around this from you all please? On that note of stages, I see many three stage units that seem to do well, then I see untis with five or six stage units, what do most people use for their reef tank water making?

Should I be looking for a unit with two x DI units and if so can anyone recommend something I should look at or is this just bumkum to get more sales for them?

Thanks for your opinion

Some very good info provided above by @lapin .
Not a whole lot I can add other than asking a couple of other Brits to let you know what they're doing and, who knows, maybe one of them is not far from you. @najer and @SPR1968

Oh, and one more thing, seeing you holding that beverage in your profile pic gives a good idea that you, Simon and Shaun might very well hit it off! Cheers!

 

[najer]

Have a look at Vyair, I have the 4 stage pumped 50 / 75 gpd, great customer service and prices, I have had mine 5 or 6 years now, never missed a beat.

 

[Blithespirit]

Thanks all, lots to look at and digest. Happy for the insight, trusting the source of info is the best start and I can go from there. Thanks

 

[Blithespirit]

RODI units can be customized for your water conditions. Where sediment is heavy 2 or 3 pre-filters before the RO filter might be needed. If you have a lot of chemical contamination, 2 charcoal filters can be used. The final DI resin stage is generally just 1 mixed bed. You want refillable canisters, not the sideways/on top ones, some come with. If you have well water, hard water or some other issue that causes high DI resin consumption the then you go to 3 resin stages. Cation then Anion then a mixed bed. This way you can replace the one thats used most instead of tossing the mix bed every time either the Cation or Anion part is used up. You can add canisters at any time to most units where ever you need them. Also TDS meters between stages are nice to see exactly where what your TDS is at any point in the system. If you have low water pressure, then a booster pump might be needed. Most aquariumn unit in the US use the thinner 10 x 2.5 filters not the 10 x 5's this site does not say which the units have.


I would look at something like this for the basic unit. Then add 3 more canisters for the 3 DI resin stages. You will need a bracket that mounts all 3 to the wall .

4 Stage 100 Gallon Per Day Reverse Osmosis System

Produce up to 380 litres per day of Pure water for virtually any application with this 4-Stage RO System. Features high capacity 10” Sediment and Carbon Filters Rejects up to 99.8% of water born contaminants, bacteria and viruses (See Technical Specs tab) Pre-assembled, all you need to do is...

www.osmotics.co.uk

Clear 10 Inch Double O-Ring Filter Housing with 1/4 Inch NPT ports

Clear 10 Inch Double O-Ring Filter Housing with 1/4 Inch NPT ports

www.osmotics.co.uk

Triple Filter Bracket

Triple Filter Bracket

www.osmotics.co.uk

Hope this was of some help to get you started

Thanks, this is why I like this forum, so many people with places to start. Thank you. time for more research