Why not just use bottled water

[KenRexford]

I have used bottled water for home water dispensers on my 125 tank in the auto reservoir for 18 years. I feel like I must be cheating because I am supposed to buy a seven-step RODI Setup and find somewhere to put it, but my water source seems perfectly fine and the results seem perfectly fine too. Am I fooling myself? What am I missing?

 

[tvan]

A lot of bottled water is just tap water.

 

[KenRexford]

Culligandoesn’t seem to be just tap water. I ran an ICP test on it. Only negative seemed to be some elevated silica.

 

[ReefStable Verified Sponsor]

Bottled water has a higher TDS than RODI water.
What's worse is you don't know what's in the water! It could have chlorine or even copper. Often there are minerals that can lead to coral deaths and algae growth as well.

I would say it's more of a "time bomb" than "cheating" to be honest. It may be working now, but it's likely a matter of time.
Check out this post on RODI filters for a bit more explanation: https://reefstable.com/blog/2020-ro-water-for-aquariums/

 

[Memisis]

I have used bottled water for home water dispensers on my 125 tank in the auto reservoir for 18 years. I feel like I must be cheating because I am supposed to buy a seven-step RODI Setup and find somewhere to put it, but my water source seems perfectly fine and the results seem perfectly fine too. Am I fooling myself? What am I missing?

If TDI is 0 keep doing what your doing. Im mot sure about the costs but I would imagine an RO/DI system would pay for itself over time. I have mine under the sink. It fills a countertop dispenser for drinking and cooking and a line is split off to a 65 gallon pickle barrel on the porch that has a float valve. The only thing that really takes space are the fresh and saltwater barrels.

Where do you keep your 5 gallon barrels? Could you use that space for a barrel to make ro/di?

Again if your system works dont change it!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Most bottled water contain minerals

 

[rwreef]

I don't because Rodi is cheaper in the long run.

 

[G Santana]

If after 18 yrs you are satisfied with your tank, then you WIN. An 18 year track record can't be just brushed aside as wrecklessness. Cheers to your continued success!!!

 

[Softhammer]

RO is way way way cheaper for most of us. I use several thousand gallons per year. No way 5 gallon glug jugs are going to be cheaper. Plus “drinking water” still has minerals in it. It’s not pure water.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

Tap water costs an average of about a penny per five gallons in the US. If your RO unit has a 4:1 brine to permeate ratio (often inaccurately called "waste water ratio"), this means an RO system makes water for about a penny a gallon. 100 gallons would cost you a dollar to produce. You didn't mention what you pay for bottled water, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's 50x - 100x more than that.

In truth, most reefers actually run a ratio closer to 2:1 because of our hobby's insane obsession with reducing "waste water." So RO water costs about 3/5 penny per gallon to produce, or about $0.60 per 100 gallons.

Even if your water is 10x more expensive than the national average, you're still just paying between $0.06 and $0.10 per gallon of RO filtered water. This is why most reefers use RO. Even after accounting for the brine ("waste water"), system costs and filter costs, it's almost always orders of magnitude cheaper than buying bottled water.

 

[michaelmessinaglass]

I use target brand distilled water in my 5 gallon setup.... its only 85 cents a gallon and tests at 0 tds and im having good results. The tank is about 8 months old now. Im holding off on getting a rodi system until i start my 20g cube

 

[Conchman]

I used bottled from a store. The kind you fill yourself. My biggest problem was lugging around. They say these are serviced on a consistent basis, not sure I believed them. It was only RO. Not sure I saw any dramatic difference when I installed my system, except my back felt better...

 

[vetteguy53081]

I used bottled from a store. The kind you fill yourself. My biggest problem was lugging around. They say these are serviced on a consistent basis, not sure I believed them. It was only RO. Not sure I saw any dramatic difference when I installed my system, except my back felt better...

Oh that water. I used that for over a year without issues

 

[mfinn]

I have used bottled water for home water dispensers on my 125 tank in the auto reservoir for 18 years. I feel like I must be cheating because I am supposed to buy a seven-step RODI Setup and find somewhere to put it, but my water source seems perfectly fine and the results seem perfectly fine too. Am I fooling myself? What am I missing?

After buying bottled water for 18 years, I'd bet the bill for that would have been equal to many ( as you put it ) 7 stage ro/di units.

I'm not saying you need to change. Hecks it's been working fine for 18 years. I get it. You may not have room for a ro/di unit. It does add more work short term. Mounting, storing, etc.
But the idea it can only be replaced with a deluxe/premium ro/di unit is a bit silly.

 

[shred5]

Nothing wrong but if you are in the hobby any length of time or have a larger system it is far cheaper to use ro/di water and you have better control. Plus it is far easier than lugging jugs of water.

I mean I just would have needed over 120 jugs of water this week alone.. Yea no I do not want to break my back.

 

[JohnnyBlowfish]

I was tired of lugging jugs and jugs of water every week so bought a RO/DI and never looked back. It's just so much easier.

 

[airmotive]

I posted a longer version of this answer in the "distilled water" thread....

Drinking water cannot be excessively pure. It would make you sick. The semipermeable membrane that is your gut acts like a water quality balance beam. Minerals or water will pass through this membrane based on the concentration of dissolved minerals on either side of membrane. If you drink a substantial amount of 0ppm water, that water will pull massive amounts of minerals from your bloodstream. Potassium and calcium concentrations in your bloodstream affect your cardiac rhythm. Screw with those too much and heart function becomes problematic. That's why drinking water is not the same as distilled water. The bottler adds minerals to distilled water to make it drinkable.