RODI vs Distilled Water Maker

[wil-yuhm]

Thank you for the words - the service was my pleasure.

Did you work on a carrier? MS? Airforce? Sorry to derail.

Be chatting.

U.S.A.F.
Hope to reengage after a few hours.
Enjoy

 

[Trinh Fish & Corals]

use rodi

 

[snorklr]

just another thought...an RO/DI unit has nothing electrical or electronic ( except my booster pump)...will the heating element and whatever turns it on and off as well as the fan be reliable? are these parts available as service items or is this a" throw it away if it breaks " type of unit?

 

[Aqua Man]

Hope to reengage after a few hours.

A TDS meter is a good investment for any serious reefer.

A few bucks one way or the other shouldn't be the focus, but rather the peace of mind. The RODI is a proven method, and there is immeasurable value in knowing that if I run into challenges with my aquarium - source water will not be on the list of things I'm trying to troubleshoot

This above 100% Great source water is THE most important ingredient in a reef. RO membranes can last for years. Other filters(carbon) almost last 6 months for me.

 

[wil-yuhm]

Update: Four months now using "Mophorn Pure Water Distiller 750W" from Amazon to replenish 1 gallon a day of evaporated water. Coral and fish seem happy at this point. My tank has reached 7 months of maturity and the protein skimmer no longer produces much as well algae observably scarce - I am now adding phyto plankton. For a recap distilled water from the grocery store costs on average here $1.20 a gallon. The distilled water maker was less than 80 dollars and produces 1.1 gallons every 2.5 to 3 hours depending on whether filling the distiller with cold tap or hot tap water. The energy consumption factored in the distilled produces a gallon of water for less than .20 cents a day saving a dollar a gallon. At this point the distiller works and RODI costs/installation hardware/ filter maintenance etc makes little sense.
Hope this update provides an alternative to RODI.

 

[Brennin]

Cost efficiency the distilled water maker only costs 75 dollars plus carbon bags producing more than enough water to maintain my 66 gallon tank.
Why not go with RODI, my question then is why not Distilled water? Which is better? City water through RODI filtration or city water through carbon filtration/evaporation?

Rodi is better. Can you get away without it yes. I’ve seen reef tanks run on dechlorinated tap water before. But you asked which is better. If you’re gonna spend money on a system go with rodi the cost difference is minimal.

 

[Roatan Reef]

Rodi is better. Can you get away without it yes. I’ve seen reef tanks run on dechlorinated tap water before. But you asked which is better. If you’re gonna spend money on a system go with rodi the cost difference is minimal.

Yep...you can get an Aquatic Life RODI for like $140 on Amazon that makes 1,0000 gallons of water.

 

[Roatan Reef]

 

[wil-yuhm]

Stopped by Winco today and noticed the distilled water prices. For one gallon of distilled water 1.70 - 4.00 dollars a gallon.
Note: an additional price to running distilled water or maker are sediment/mineral cleaners/soaps to clean the distiller. After 5-10 days or so the distiller needs cleaning. Lots of deposits exists in the distiller from distilling tap water.

 

[WhySoSeriousDory]

Have been using distilled since the start… to each his/her own…

 

[TinyReefObsession]

For the last couple of months I've been purchasing distilled water at Winco for 1.20 a gallon. The rate of evaporation for my 66 gallon tank comes to about a gallon a day. Found a distilled water maker (750 watts) for 75 dollars capable of producing around 8 gallons a day or 1 gallon in about a hour.
Question, anything wrong with using tap city water through a distilled water maker? The only filtration/maint., are carbon bags.

Thanks in advance!
W.T.

My distiller is coming tomorrow! Can’t wait

Update: Four months now using "Mophorn Pure Water Distiller 750W" from Amazon to replenish 1 gallon a day of evaporated water. Coral and fish seem happy at this point. My tank has reached 7 months of maturity and the protein skimmer no longer produces much as well algae observably scarce - I am now adding phyto plankton. For a recap distilled water from the grocery store costs on average here $1.20 a gallon. The distilled water maker was less than 80 dollars and produces 1.1 gallons every 2.5 to 3 hours depending on whether filling the distiller with cold tap or hot tap water. The energy consumption factored in the distilled produces a gallon of water for less than .20 cents a day saving a dollar a gallon. At this point the distiller works and RODI costs/installation hardware/ filter maintenance etc makes little sense.
Hope this update provides an alternative to RODI.

Glad this is working well for you! My distiller is coming tomorrow

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

My distiller is coming tomorrow! Can’t wait

Glad this is working well for you! My distiller is coming tomorrow

Curious, why did you elect a distiller over RO/DI?

 

[TinyReefObsession]

Curious, why did you elect a distiller over RO/DI?

I’m doing a trial run with my friends tank, (8yr established), raised on distilled, so I started searching for distilling options off the bat… I did google RODI a little (my parents had one..) but honestly thought they all had to be installed more permanently initially, and even now TBH, I just get kinda overwhelmed looking at them haha and sorting out how to attach it to a faucet etc- I think it’s just one more thing to learn right now & I don’t have the capacity at the moment putting water in the distiller, hitting “on”, and replacing the carbon filter every 30 gallons (it’s only a 10G tank) is more my speed at the moment although i might get a home system when we move in the future, since i feel like the health of everyone in the house could benefit from the filtering (i don’t need any extra minerals ).

 

[Coach v]

I’m doing a trial run with my friends tank, (8yr established), raised on distilled, so I started searching for distilling options off the bat… I did google RODI a little (my parents had one..) but honestly thought they all had to be installed more permanently initially, and even now TBH, I just get kinda overwhelmed looking at them haha and sorting out how to attach it to a faucet etc- I think it’s just one more thing to learn right now & I don’t have the capacity at the moment putting water in the distiller, hitting “on”, and replacing the carbon filter every 30 gallons (it’s only a 10G tank) is more my speed at the moment although i might get a home system when we move in the future, since i feel like the health of everyone in the house could benefit from the filtering (i don’t need any extra minerals ).

I hope you are not drinking rodi or distilled water. It is not healthy.

 

[gbroadbridge]

I hope you are not drinking rodi or distilled water. It is not healthy.

It's not unhealthy either.

In many places in the world the only drinkable water that you buy at the grocery store is either distilled or RODI.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

FWIW, folks using a distiller should be aware that distillation does not remove all impurities:

My distilled water has MORE ammonia/chloramines than my tap water (...sorta)

I am lazy and I do few water changes, so I just use a couple of gallons here and there of the steam-distilled tap water that is already available. This mostly works fine. It's fun to see all the brown caked crud of minerals that even good tap water leaves behind inside the steam distiller...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

It's not unhealthy either.

In many places in the world the only drinkable water that you buy at the grocery store is either distilled or RODI.

I worry about drinking from an aquarium RODI unit though - bacteria can build up in the unit if it is used intermittently.

Jay

 

[DaprDon]

If you use distilled water make sure you know how it is distilled! I have been using Glacier Mist distilled water. A little investigation at there website shows that it is really Rodi/ uv water.
They ran out so I bought the brand they offered in its place. I noticed slime build up on about everything and corals receding. Turns out this water is steam distilled and possibly through copper, don't know? But I will be doing a water change now that I know they have what I was using.