Spectapure, BRS, or FilterGuys

fragit · Mar 5, 2016

I'm vacillating between which of these three very reputable companies to purchase a new RO/DI from. Other than price are there any pros/cons for these systems? I'm going to be getting a 75gal/day FilterGuys say 5stage "Ocean Reef" for $199,(I have an extra DI canister to make it 6 stage). BRS has 6 stage for $299. And Spectrapure doesn't seem to have a comparable package in that price/gal a day range. System will be a total of about 180gal. I have a well for my water source and analysis showed that it is really "clean" as in good ph etc. It may be of interest to know I will be ordering many of my supplies through BRS. Thoughts?

Mushroomhead · Mar 5, 2016

I'm very happy with my BRS 6 stage. The build quality and ease of installation over my last system is very noticeable. I have the water saver option and it makes 150 gpd.

Spike-Man · Mar 5, 2016

Spectra pure all the way. They are the pioneers of the industry. I have used their products for over 25 years.

redfishbluefish · Mar 5, 2016

I know what he's going to say, but I'll let him say it..... @AZDesertRat is very knowledgeable when it comes to water! I'd never question the advise he provides. (OK, maybe once I did.

)

fragit · Mar 5, 2016

redfishbluefish said:
I know what he's going to say, but I'll let him say it..... @AZDesertRat is very knowledgeable when it comes to water! I'd never question the advise he provides. (OK, maybe once I did. )

I thought about tagging him but didn't. I think I've read enough of his comments to know that his vote would be Spectrapure.[emoji6]

Dolmo5000 · Mar 5, 2016

I agree with the above, Spectrapure ALL the way!! They do everything the correct way! I have realized tons of saving after taking the time to read the information on their site, and then implement it where ever possible. One simple example was to pay literally $5 more bucks on my most recent ro membrane purchase and get a 99% rejection instead of 98 or 97. They say and it is correct that the difference between a 98% and 99% rejection rate is 1/2 the TDS makes it through the 99%, therefore, there is half the stuff that makes your di resin go bad, meaning that your di cartridge will last TWICE as long. All for simply paying $5 more bucks up front. Anyway, you can certainly purchase other brands and achieve the same thing but you still have to be educated and spectrapure is best at doing that. My 2 cents.

steelheader.262 · Mar 5, 2016

Spectrapure

AZDesertRat · Mar 5, 2016

The amount of time and money Spectrapure spends on research and development means you don't have to go through all that on your own and saves you a ton of money in the long run. I gladly spend a couple $$ more per DI cartridge when they last me about 5-6 times longer than any other resin I have used in the last 20+ years, including the other big name vendors.

fragit · Mar 5, 2016

AZDesertRat said:
The amount of time and money Spectrapure spends on research and development means you don't have to go through all that on your own and saves you a ton of money in the long run. I gladly spend a couple $$ more per DI cartridge when they last me about 5-6 times longer than any other resin I have used in the last 20+ years, including the other big name vendors.

@AZDesertRat is there a particular model you would recommend? Well water is my source, I am aware that I will probably need a booster pump at some point. Water is pretty clean out of the tap according to the analysis when we bought the place.

AZDesertRat · Mar 5, 2016

If you are on a budget you cannot beat their $140 refurbished (often its on sale for $125) reef RO/DI. Don't let the refurb fool you, every cartridge, membrane and resin are brand new, it may just have a scuff or scratch on some exterior part. http://spectrapure.com/Refurbished-90-GPD-RODI-System
For $160 right now you can get the same system new but with a set of replacement sediment and carbon filters, a replacement SilicaBuster DI cartridge, a low range chlorine test kit to monitor the carbon block condition and a handheld TDS meter. http://spectrapure.com/Aquarium-RO-DI-Starter Kit-Includes-RODI-System-Replacement-Filter Kit-TDS Meters-Chlorine-Test-Kit

If you want the best system in the reef hobby nothing comes close to their MaxCap systems. http://spectrapure.com/RO-RODI/RODI-SYSTEMS/MaxCap®-Standard-90-GPD-RO-DI-System

Catchemall · Mar 5, 2016

Mushroomhead said:
I'm very happy with my BRS 6 stage. The build quality and ease of installation over my last system is very noticeable. I have the water saver option and it makes 150 gpd.

I'll second that

AZDesertRat · Mar 5, 2016

There is no such thing as a water saver. Membranes must be flushed or they foul and need replacing, there is no way of getting around this. I wish they would do more research before taking peoples hard earned money. Think about it for a minute, you are taking the concentrated brine out of one membrane and putting it into another then trying to further concentrate that brine by reducing its waste ratio. It doesn't work for long.
The ONLY way you can get away with reducing the waste for very long is to have softened tap water with an extremely low TDS of say 50. At that you could probably get away with 2:1, if the TDS is higher than that but it is still softened water you might get by with 3:1 up to say 250 TDS and anythung higher than that or if it is not soft or softened water you need to stick to 4:1 or the cost of membrane and DI replacements far exceeds any potential water savings. BRS has not been around long eough to figure out what all the other vendors have known for decades I guess. I love BRS chemicals and have lots of them in up to 5 gallon bucket sizes but they need to stick with that and leave RO to the experts. Haven't you ever wordered why all the other RO vendors don't offer something like that? If it were that easy they would all have been doing it 30 years ago, none of them are dummies.

fragit · Mar 5, 2016

Thank you so, so much for the input/advice I will go Spectrapure for sure! You guys are awesome I love this site. The only RO filter I've ever owned is a captive purity I got from marine depot going on 12 years ago. That thing never worked right/well. Thanks again!

fragit · Mar 5, 2016

AZDesertRat said:
There is no such thing as a water saver. Membranes must be flushed or they foul and need replacing, there is no way of getting around this. I wish they would do more research before taking peoples hard earned money. Think about it for a minute, you are taking the concentrated brine out of one membrane and putting it into another then trying to further concentrate that brine by reducing its waste ratio. It doesn't work for long.
The ONLY way you can get away with reducing the waste for very long is to have softened tap water with an extremely low TDS of say 50. At that you could probably get away with 2:1, if the TDS is higher than that but it is still softened water you might get by with 3:1 up to say 250 TDS and anythung higher than that or if it is not soft or softened water you need to stick to 4:1 or the cost of membrane and DI replacements far exceeds any potential water savings. BRS has not been around long eough to figure out what all the other vendors have known for decades I guess. I love BRS chemicals and have lots of them in up to 5 gallon bucket sizes but they need to stick with that and leave RO to the experts. Haven't you ever wordered why all the other RO vendors don't offer something like that? If it were that easy they would all have been doing it 30 years ago, none of them are dummies.

@AZDesertRat, how are you supposed to flush the membranes and how often? I looked at those links you gave me and none of those systems say anything in the product descriptions. The only ones I saw on their site were like $329 for a manual flush, I think I saw a refurbished unit for a little less. Are there other ways to flush the membranes? Thanks again for your time.

AZDesertRat · Mar 5, 2016

The waste line is what flushes the membrane, whenever you make water the TDS removed from the treated water is carried away in the waste, this is the 3:1 or 4:1 waste ratio. You can find flush kits but they are different and of very limited if any value at all.
Each of the systems I linked to have capillary tube flow restrictors in the waste line that you the end user can adjust to fit your conditions. Go to the lower left corner of their main web page and open up the Manuals page. Look on pages 7-10 of most any of the RO/DI owners manuals and it shows you how to check your waste ratio then how to trim and adjust the capillary tube. You don't need any other flushing unless you want to extend the life of your DI resin by installing a DI bypass valve. This is a simple 1/4" ball valve and tee you install between the RO membrane and the DI filter to flush the TDS creep out before making DI. Again different than aflush kit which installs in the waste line and does nothing.

acesfull44 · Mar 5, 2016

can you use the spectrapure membranes and resin in a "non Spectrapure" unit? @AZDesertRat

AZDesertRat · Mar 5, 2016

Absolutely. If you are going to do that make sure to use a high quality, low micron sediment and carbon block filter too or you would be wasting your money. 1 micron or smaller and absolute or near absolute rated is better than nominal rated.

rossco · Mar 5, 2016

I've used spectra pure for ten years, am totally happy with their product!

fragit · Mar 6, 2016

@AZDesertRat, I am going to order my new RO/DI today. My water pressure shut off at 60psi, so I'm gonna need a booster pump. Spectrapure has a description that is confusing me. It says "The Manual Operated Booster Pump Kits can be used on ANY STANDARD RO or RO/DI Systems with existing Liquid Level Controllers (LLC) , and the addition of a patch cord (BP-PATCH)." Are they referring to auto top off systems directly from the RO/DI? Or are these things I would need to purchase separately?