RO/DI on a well.

tehSAC · Jan 4, 2017

I live in west central Indiana. I live in a home with water that is supplied from a well, that has very hard water, not ideal pressure, and its also very rusty water. I have a softener but still have to scrub my tub so it does not stain. My problem is that I need suitable water for a 10 gallon nano tank.

Is it possible to have an RO/DI on a system as weak as mine without breaking the bank? Can I use distilled as an alternative?

FYI my closest LFS that would carry RODI water is an hour away.

dvbrien · Jan 4, 2017

You need a Ro/Di unit with a booster pump. You Will also need to oxidize the water before sending it to the RO/Di unit. Or you will deplete your Di very rapidly.

My setup used the pump and Ro membrane to fill a Brute garbage can... Which I oxidize with a standard airline and pump. Then my auto top off unit pumps the water from the can through the DI resin, into the tank. You will need a Ro/Di unit with 2 or 3 TDS meters inline. The setup will cost you 250-300 from BRS.

mcarroll · Jan 4, 2017

Distilled will break the bank.

RO DI should be fine. At most you could need a pump to add pressure. You might want to consider adjusting your well pump setup as well: http://homeguides.sfgate.com/pressure-out-well-water-36511.html

Aaron Atkinson · Jan 4, 2017

I've got a well here in Southwest Michigan, similar conditions as your's sound. High iron content, hard, etc. My BRS RO/DI does well, <1 TDS on the meter. The pressure is roughly 45 psi, not awesome, but works. I replace a DI cartridge every couple of months using roughly 15 gallons of RO/DI water a week.

One more thing, the RO/DI is after the water softener.

tehSAC · Jan 4, 2017

Awesome! I was a bit concerned after watching this vid ( ) and seeing they we're still getting TDS readings at lower pressures.

Now I did a bit of research tonight and found my pressure is much higher than I thought it was. I'm looking at almost 78 psi before it hits my water softener. Now I'm sure I'll loose some pressure after it hits that but it shouldn't be too much. Plus doesn't running it through the RO/DI create a bit more pressure? I'm thinking for example if you are pushing water through a garden hose then reducing that into a smaller hose that will create more pressure, right? Am I being too big of a dolt?

I'm sorry if my questions are dumb, but I'm not trying to rush things and I'm wanting to do things right to save headaches down the road. Oh and I'm only looking to produce 5-8 gallons weekly. Maybe run the filter for an hour or so to create that much and store it away under the counter.

Aaron Atkinson · Jan 6, 2017

Hi again. There will be in theory a pressure drop across you RO/DI unit as it is a restriction. The absolute max pressure you could measure would be right at your well pump outlet. The pressure difference between my water storage tank and RO/DI unit is negligible as read by the gauges.

I think the key thing for me is having 2 DI units. I added a 2nd individual canister after the 5 stage unit. I measure TDS after all filtering too after rearranging the piping. Let me see how to add photos to show you, please don't hold your breath but I'll try