RO Systems

[mcarroll]

I don't know that I've seen a chlorine test kit before...and I've never heard of anyone monitoring their prefilters with anything other than a pressure gauge. Interesting!

"Low range" doesn't sound like the amount of chlorine I'd find in a pool ....where would I get a test kit like that? Can you point to a specific one that's pretty reasonably priced? (I promise not to be surprised if you say "Spectrapure". )

And I guess you would just monitor the waste line for chlorine?

FWIW, I think when my RO system was designed, it may have been with granular carbon in mind vs carbon blocks. They do create less back-pressure, and I would imagine you need the canister space due to the extra volume a granular media takes vs compressed. I see these spec'd for water with chloramines, but I wonder at the necessity (and expense) when plain carbon blocks seem to work fine.

Any thoughts on this?

-Matt

 

[AZDesertRat]

Chemical Test Kits


You are correct, it is lower range than a pool test kit and more sensitive at those low ranges. Membranes cannot take much chlorine at all or it begins to melt the thin film fabric and they are a goner.

Two big issues with granular carbon products are very short useful life, often as little as 300 total gallons (60 treated gallons and 240 waste gallons at the normal 4:1 waste ratio) and they pulverize and turn to dust with use, necessitating an additional sediment or particulate filter after the carbon to catch the fines they produce s you don't foul the RO membrane. Good carbon blocks on the other hand are steam extruded under great pressure so they are very dense and can be made up of blends of different carbons so they are good for a wider range of contaminants as well as chlorine or chloramines(the chlorine portion not the ammonia which is taken care of by the DI not the carbon). 12,000 to 20,000 gallons is the advertised useful life so many many times more cost effective and useful. Goodcarbons have almost no bacpressure at the suggested flow rates, I have less than a 2-3 psi drop after 18 months on the same 0.5 micron sediment and carbon usually so its minimal.

 

[robbrouse]

Questing for anyone that knows. Is RO/DI water safe to drink?

Safe might not be the right word, but is it ok for humans to drink..

 

[AZDesertRat]

Yes it is but DI has a very bland, blah taste and is not refreshing.
There have been many inconclusive studies trying to prove drinking DI or distilled water is bad for you but the simple truth is man cannot live on water alone so must eat solid food, which is really where your minerals come from anyway, not the water.

It is very easy and costs about $10 to install a 1/4" tee and check valve to separate your RO only drinking water from your RO/DI reef water and it gives you the best of both worlds. We have consumed RO only water in our home for almost 20 years now and the RO/DI is reserved for the tanks. I even have RO only plumbed to the refrigerator drinking water and ice maker and to the laundry sink in the garage for pet watering and such.

This diagram shows a tee and check valve between the RO and the DI so you can have a pressurized drinking water kit (about $59 at www.purelyh2o.com) and still make RO/DI for the tanks.
http://spectrapure.com/huds/4-STAGE-DWK-RODI-NAG.pdf

Or you can buy a RO/DI or RO/dual DI system already set up like this here:
FACTORY REFURBISHED

 

[mcarroll]

I know we're talking about specialty reef-oriented products, but there are lots of DI resins that could be used that put some serious ions in the water to raise or lower pH...so however big or small the risk, there is a risk to drinking it that I don't think would be worth taking. I know someone who had this happen to their reef system accidentally. They ordered the wrong part by mistake, and it looked virtually the same so it was installed and used. Took forever for them to figure out what was killing their alkalinity. Hard to say what the effect would be if anyone was drinking that water, but it did not make the corals happy!

There's no way to make such an accidental mistake on your drinking water if you stick with prefilter+carbon, or prefilter+carbon+membrane as suggested earlier.

-Matt

 

[AZDesertRat]

Another option is remineralization DI cartridges like the major coffee houses use. They use RO/DI to get a completely pure water then add back in only the right amount of minerals for taste, Spectrapure is a major player in the remineralization market and sells tons of them to the major coffee place we all know about and love.

 

[mcarroll]

[...] we all know about and love.

I hate coffee, so maybe just "...we all know about." Lol.

 

[mcarroll]

Another option is remineralization DI cartridges like the major coffee houses use. They use RO/DI to get a completely pure water then add back in only the right amount of minerals for taste, Spectrapure is a major player in the remineralization market and sells tons of them to the major coffee place we all know about and love.

I have seen these for sale...always wondered about them since the pitcher filters have used mineral chips for eons. Thought it was a hokey feature, more of a selling gimmick, but maybe there is something to it.


Just in case the thread isn't already thoroughly hijacked (sorry!)...

I've never paid too much attention to more than basic cleanliness of my RODI system since it's reef-dedicated.

How do you maintain and assure cleanliness in an RODI system that you intend to make drinking water? I would feel compelled to boil any water I made with my current system.

-Matt