RODI system

[mrtian97]

Reefers,

I am wondering whether the water from RODI system can also be used as drinking water?
Currently I don't have RODI system, considering on installing one but thinking I can also use it for my household drinking water? At my house, I currently use RO system for filtering drinking water.

Thanks

 

[gbdrywall]

if you split the ro water off before the di ,thats what you drink.di water doesnt taste good nor is it good for you.

 

[AZDesertRat]

Absolutely.
The best system for dual purpose use would be a reef quality RO/DI system with an add on drinking water kit if you keep saltwater or reef aquariums. The drinking water kit fits between the RO and the DI so you get great tasting drinking water while still having DI for the tanks.
You could drink the RO/DI, many people do and it is not harmful as many mistakenly believe but it has a very blah or bland taste since it has no minerals which is where the taste comes from. You can get a high end, reef quality RO/DI for $125-$175 and an add on drinking water kit for $60 and have the best of both worlds. We have drank only RO water in our home for close to 20 years now and love it.

 

[mrtian97]

I agree, Inhave been using RO water at my house as drinking water and works great

Thanks

 

[-Logzor]

This is an old thread but I've been trying to figure out what kind of under-sink filter to get for drinking water. The World Health Organization (WHO) says that RO water is not good for you, however, many experts selling RO systems or individuals very knowledgeable with RO systems say its not bad for you at all. This makes it very confusing for the consumer.

I think the two issues in questions are the lack of minerals in RO water and the low pH (many times more acidic than tap water). The WHO says the lack of minerals can leach them from your body and cause adverse health effects (low magnesium, calcium, etc).

We are considering a system that only has two carbon blocks and a sediment filter.

 

[AZDesertRat]

The WHO has been trying to back up their claims for decades but all tests have been inconclusive.
We do not get our minerals from liquids, it is in the solid foods we eat.
In order for the lack of minerals to affect you you would have to gorge yourself on gallons and gallons of water per day. You would flood or drown your cells long before anything else.
As far as pH, consider RO or RO/DI water to be neutral, not acidic. There are too few ions to measure the pH accurately so the water very quickly adapts to whatever is in your stomach. The human gut is amazing.
Eat a sensible diet and drink all the RO or RO/DI water you want. We have consumed only RO water for probably 20 years now and in Phoenix you drink a lot of water. If I eat one potato chip I have added way more minerals in a day than the RO has removed.

 

[bozo]

I don't understand why people need to drop tons of money on "reef quality" RODI systems. All RO systems are the same as far as equipment goes. You can get all the parts you need for super cheap. What matters is the filters that go inside of these containers. I use 0.5 micron sed,carbon, carbon, 150 Gpd RO, then Di and Di. I got all my containers from used RO kitchen sink systems. I get 1 TDS after the RO membrane and 0 out of the last DI. Probably don't even need the 2nd DI.

I'd recommend getting non transparent housings so that algae will not grow in the containers.

PSI is also important. I have 100 psi going into my house. So I'm blessed that I didn't need to get a booster.

So all u need to invest in.. Is Filters and booster pump if u need it.

Don't buy into the Reef brand name RODIs that cost 300/400 bucks. It's all the same. Just invest in good filters

 

[AZDesertRat]

The filters are only part of the unit. The housings, fittings, gauges, flow restrictors and the rest are all equally as important too. You need to be very careful, the market is flooded with components that visibly look the same but the quality is inferior. Buy only components that display ANSI/NSF, UPC or UL approvals, which means they have been subjected to rigourous testing by independent labs and are suitable for pressure use and potable water use.
There are tons of components from China and elsewhere that actually contain traces of carcinogenic contaminants in the plastics besides being brittel and cracking under pressure. Most of these are not approved by the labs are certification agencies listed above but look just like the good stuff. What appears to be a good deal on ebay usually is not.

A good reef quality RO/DI costs around $125 to $200 complete, not sure where you are looking or what you are looking at?

 

[mrtian97]

Old thread, but now I am still working on planning on installing RODI system. Plan to install it in my garage with the std 55 gallon blue drum as storage. My tank volume is only 90 gallon (downgrade from 130 gallon), so I won't use as much water. Plan to change 10 gallon saltwater weekly, and ATO probably about 9 gallon weekly. So need to make water of about 20 gallon weekly. Thinking of the BRS system.
Advice on the RODI, since I won't be making water every day once the drum is full (plan to stop at 40 gallon line), do I just manually shut off the input line to the RODI to avoid accidental overflow? And do I have to run the RODI in regular interval to preserve the filter life, is every 2 wks on be sufficient or do I need to run it more frequently? Without having to drill into my plastic 55 gallon drum, how do I install the swing arm shut off valve to shut off the RODI when the water reached the level that I need to be.
Thanks

 

[AZDesertRat]

BRS wouldn't be my first choice for RO/DI. You can get better for less from several vendors.
I would look for one of the poly barrels with a removable lid. Not as common but you find them around.

As long as you make your water in 20 gallon batches as you describe and use the system at least every 10-14 days you should be in good shape.