Which Ro/Di System Should I get?

[td3025]

Tired of making trips to the store whenever I need some ro/di water. don't have an in home system yet. Wanting to go ahead and get one soon here though... So here's my questions.


I have the following tanks setup right now:

35 gal salt
29 gal salt
45 gal salt
3.7 gal salt
20 gal fresh
10 gal fresh

I do water changes normally once a week. I've never used ro/di water in my freshwater though. So about once a week I do 15% water changes on a 35, a 29, 3.7, and 45 using ro/di water.
All together this is roughly about 20-25 gallons per water change per week.
For this amount of water, what ro/di system would work best for me? I figure it doesn't need to be one that makes a crazy amount of water per hour because i don't need THAT much.

Also, where do you guys run yours?
I can't decide where a good place would be to put mine if I got one. I've seen some people run theirs using a hose outside but keeping the system indoors, just using the tubing to let the waste water go outside. But I live with other people and I'm not sure they would want wires/tubing all over for hours and hours when I make the water.

Any suggestions help! Thank you.

 

[Lynn52]

I have a 75 Gallo. Per day system. I do a 25-30 gallon water change on my 125 every week. I have it under my kitchen sink. It came with an adapter that goes between the cold water supply and the line to the faucet, no changes to the plumbing needed. The waste goes directly to the drain. I also have 1/4 inch lines running from it directly to my water change station in the basement and my ATO under the tank. I have float valves to keep me from flooding the house if I don't get the water turned off immediately.
I also have a pressure tank under my sink and the reverse osmosis only portion plumbed to a faucet and my ice maker for drinking water. It doesn't go through the DI for drinking water.

 

[Diesel]

You can find a good RODI for less than $150 and IMO most RODI filters are pretty good, it just depends in most cases what kind of filters you run in them and how to have it setup.
You need to find a place first that you room mates will agree on to place it some where and not having to many water lines running ll over the place.

 

[AZDesertRat]

You will not find a better system than this:
http://spectrapure.com/Refurbished-90-GPD-RODI-System

Many users install them next to the washing machine so they have good access to both a cold water supply and a drain. A $6-$10 brass garden hose wye such as this is all you need:
https://www.amazon.com/Orbit-58248-Y-Connector-Shut-Off-Valves/dp/B000YDVRH8
You can get the wye at Walmart, Lowes or Home Depot for less than Amazon, make sure you get the one with shut off valves built in like the photo shows though so you can isolate either the washer or the RO/DI system.

 

[Salty1962]

BRS has sales every so often, I use their 4 stage RODI @ 75GPH. Always spot one 0 TDA. I got the unit with the TDS meters built into it so I don't have to test with a handheld meter, makes things allot easier. I believe I got mine on sale for $169. I have a valve in my bathroom for when I make up water so any accidental over flows go in the bathtub and not the floor.

 

[shadow1013]

I have an AquaFX Barracuda (Black) and love it. I also love everyone that works there. I'm local so I can go pick stuff up from them.

 

[AZDesertRat]

I would pass on inline TDS meters, they are not truly ATC temperature compensated and cannot be calibrated so lack the accuracy of a similarly priced ATC handheld plus they are dedicated to 1,2 or 3 points depending on the meter and you need to be monitoring more points than that with RO/DI. The lack of ATC means they can be significantly off when your air temperature and water temperature are not the same, which is most of the time. A good handheld such as the HM Digital TDS-3, TDS-4TM or AP-1 is much more versatile, more accurate, he same price or less than an inline and can be used to test tap water, bottled water, the LFS water, RO only water, RO/DI water, your ATO water, your reefing buddies water etc. I let the batteries die in both of my dual inlines years ago and have never missed them. The never agreed with either of my calibrated handhelds. Convenience or accuracy? I will take accuracy every time.

 

[stunreefer Verified Sponsor]

You have great info already in this thread. I second AZDesertRat's recommendation of Spectrapure, along with Buckeye Hydro. Call or email one of these suppliers and they will pull your specific city's water parameters offline. Off-the-shelf systems frequently miss something small that can make or break a system long-term. Utilizing filters for your specific application will perform much better long-term and will generally not cost anymore than an off-the-shelf system.

Here's some more info on common misconceptions surrounding RO/DI. It also details the cost savings I've accrued from using a perfectly suited system; I've not changed any filters besides DI in over a year and a half while producing ~300 gallons/week (20,000+ gallons).