So, I'm 17, I live with my parents and have a 75 gallon tank in my basement that I will be making a FOWLR tank and need some help persuading my mom for an RODI system. Now, I am not very educated in the systems in general but my grandfather said that you get about 1 gallon of good water for every 4 gallons of waste water and he had told my mom that it is a waste of water. My mom already has to pay for other utilities for our family and doesn't want to pay an increased water bill. What are some alternatives, or how can I use the waste water for better things around the house. Thank you for your input!
RODI and Alternatives
- Thread starter Mychal Blaney
- Start date
- Tagged users None
You can also sell it to your mom by setting up an RO holding tank for drinking water!
Good clean water you can use instead of buying bottled water, drinking tap water, or wherever you get your drinking water from
Good clean water you can use instead of buying bottled water, drinking tap water, or wherever you get your drinking water from
flooddc
Active Member
I am sure at 17, you don't want to hear this advice.
However, it will help you down the road.
You can help by paying for it as well as helping your parent paying the utilities.
Get a part-time job or do odd jobs such as mowing lawn, washing cars (I did this many years ago and it paid for my own college education).
This will show your parent that you are responsible young adult and willing to carry some of the weight off them.
However, it will help you down the road.
You can help by paying for it as well as helping your parent paying the utilities.
Get a part-time job or do odd jobs such as mowing lawn, washing cars (I did this many years ago and it paid for my own college education).
This will show your parent that you are responsible young adult and willing to carry some of the weight off them.
Dr. Dendrostein
Marine fish monthly
One thing about all these Ro filter systems, like 5 stage BRS RODI system example, are design with water softeners in mind.
The hard water in most homes will make the RO filters wear out sooner. Like two or three years life cycle , the membrane has to be replaced and it's an ongoing cycle. Just a thought but if you can pick up water from local fish store one way to resolve this issue.
The hard water in most homes will make the RO filters wear out sooner. Like two or three years life cycle , the membrane has to be replaced and it's an ongoing cycle. Just a thought but if you can pick up water from local fish store one way to resolve this issue.
Justin Cook
Active Member
I run the "waste" water into 1 of 2 55g barrels that I use to water my plants in the summers here in Georgia. I also have 55g container in the basement that I use to flush the toilets in my house with. My Wife thinks I'm nuts but I hate wasting water. Carrying a 2 gallon jug with me whenever I go to the restroom looks a little nuts but it works for me! Even with that, I still waste some water when my RODI system is running, especially in the winter months.
Dr. Dendrostein
Marine fish monthly
I've done the same thing you have, I even dreamed about designing a house with two drains one for saving water the other one for Wastewater.
Assuming you are not changing all 75 gallons every week the increase in the water bill should be marginal. You could offer to pay for any increase. You can of course buy water as what has been suggested above but what you will pay for that will be more then the increase in the water bill and you also have to transport the water too which is no fun.
Arricefe
Well-Known Member
Mychal,
Welcome to R2R. RO/DIs can and do produce a lot of “waste water” you can get more efficient ones BUT they can be expensive. You can use the waste water for other purposes such as washing clothes, watering plants anything that uses water really but the problem is you have to use it as it’s produced or figure out a way to store it. For a FOWLR I’m not so sure that a RO/DI is essential in fact before I “knew” I wasn’t “supposed” to I used tap water, all I did was “dechlorinate” tap water and added salt, I did it that way for YEARS and I was able to keep fish alive. There are other options, you can buy water from a LFS or maybe you can join a local group and someone there can sell you some RO/DI water, you can buy water from Walmart (or other water vendors, not the bottled kind but the kind where you bring your container and pay about $.25 a gallon). Remember everybody’s opinion is from their perspective. You will run into a lot of challenges in life don’t get too caught up on the perfect solution when a real good one will work, GOOD LUCK!
Welcome to R2R. RO/DIs can and do produce a lot of “waste water” you can get more efficient ones BUT they can be expensive. You can use the waste water for other purposes such as washing clothes, watering plants anything that uses water really but the problem is you have to use it as it’s produced or figure out a way to store it. For a FOWLR I’m not so sure that a RO/DI is essential in fact before I “knew” I wasn’t “supposed” to I used tap water, all I did was “dechlorinate” tap water and added salt, I did it that way for YEARS and I was able to keep fish alive. There are other options, you can buy water from a LFS or maybe you can join a local group and someone there can sell you some RO/DI water, you can buy water from Walmart (or other water vendors, not the bottled kind but the kind where you bring your container and pay about $.25 a gallon). Remember everybody’s opinion is from their perspective. You will run into a lot of challenges in life don’t get too caught up on the perfect solution when a real good one will work, GOOD LUCK!
PatW
2500 Club Member
So say you use 15 gallons of RODI per week. That is 60 per month or 700 per year times 5 for waste water included or about 3500 gallons. I bet you will not use this much.
A water bill is generally predicated on using 6000 gallons per month. So a year’s useage of RODI for your tank would be about half of a monthly water bill. I am guessing about $75. Now this is just making a bunch of assumptions and your mileage may vary.
I have found that my $300 gallon system does not really impact the water bill. The big water usage in my area is the lawn which, in my area, is 4 times greater than everything else.
You should be able to raise that kind of cash by doing more chores or from your part time job. It is not trivial on your budget but not terrible either.
A water bill is generally predicated on using 6000 gallons per month. So a year’s useage of RODI for your tank would be about half of a monthly water bill. I am guessing about $75. Now this is just making a bunch of assumptions and your mileage may vary.
I have found that my $300 gallon system does not really impact the water bill. The big water usage in my area is the lawn which, in my area, is 4 times greater than everything else.
You should be able to raise that kind of cash by doing more chores or from your part time job. It is not trivial on your budget but not terrible either.
