Diy Cati Ani

[redox]

personally I use the mixed bed resins due to the fact that it is easy. I buy it by the cubic foot about 180$ . I just throw it away when exausted. I could take it to my local culligan dealer and have them regen it for about 125$ .... but the resins are never as good the second time around

 

[douggiestyle]

Re: DI

Re: DI

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9965290#post9965290 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bnmir

By the way - muriatic and lye aren't any more dangerous than many household or pool maintenance chemicals.

you are correct that muriatic acid (HCl) and lye (NaOH) are in common household products (though usually in a more diluted form). how many cleaners do you own that fume when the bottle is opened? not many.

when getting lye you need to make sure that it is pure. many containers will say 100% pure but they are not. you need to open it and check that the lye is 100% white material. many now add some sort of extra agent, not sure what it is, i believe it to be some type of metal from what ive read. it will appear as a grey particles mixed in with the white lye.

if it is a mixed bed resin, it is possible to seperate. add the lye first and stir. the resin will seperate into distinct layers. if it is color changing resin, the seperation is more easily seen. remove the top layer and retreat with lye. remove the bottom layer, rinse and treat with acid.

rinse both resins well with premade di water before using.

 

[douggiestyle]

Re: DI

Re: DI

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9965290#post9965290 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bnmir

By the way - muriatic and lye aren't any more dangerous than many household or pool maintenance chemicals.

dont get me wrong i am a pusher when it comes to using HCl. but i never tell anyone they are safe and common household products. i always suggest proper precautions. such as, HCl WILL BLIND YOU as CAN LYE. use proper eye protection (GOGGLES) when diluting. use in a well ventilated space. etc....

 

[dfcjr]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9967025#post9967025 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by scottras
Waste water from an RO unit is only wasteful if its wasted. I run my RO waste into my washing machine. Soon I will have it plumbed into a rain water tank that will be used for the washing machine and toilets.

Exactly what I did, I have ZERO waste water. I figured this out immediately after buying my RO/DI unit and I am still amazed that people just waste all that water. You think that the manufacturers would at least put some suggestions in the directions or something.

 

[hahnmeister]

Re: Diy Cati Ani

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9957234#post9957234 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by thriceanangel
Does anyone think that it's possible to use my current fairly standard RO/DI unit and make it use the Cation and Anion replacements from this?
http://www.petsolutions.com/Deion+200R-I-51900142-I-C-44-C-.aspx

I did. I added an extra chamber on to my Kent Maxxima Deluxe Hi-S so I could split up that 'all in one' DI chamber into two seperate. Then I bought 64oz of anion...
http://www.championlighting.com/product.php?productid=17846&cat=457&page=1

And 64oz of cation...
http://www.championlighting.com/product.php?productid=17845&cat=457&page=1

And two of these refillable deals to work with...
http://www.championlighting.com/product.php?productid=17862&cat=457&page=1

And let er rip. So far, im at 18 months and the DI is still good. Because the units are seperate and refillable, they can be recharged with acid and buffer rather than just be refilled with more resin. I have more than I know what to do with it turns out!

As for the colors, its a dye, and the resin lasts for a while even after the color change... so the only way to know for sure is with a TDS meter... get one.

Oh, and this was the 'add on' I used...
http://www.championlighting.com/product.php?productid=17863&cat=458&page=1

So now I have a 5 stage RO-DI with drinking water cannister, Hi-S, TDS, backflush, float valve/bucket for ATO, pressure gauge... the works. I love it.

Oh, and fair warning... cant remember if its the anion or cation, but one of them smells like a leaking anus 24/7. I put the container in a rubbermaid in the basement with a bunch of other pumps and equipment, and now everything in that container smells like fresh toilet soup. It gets right through the plastic and lid and all... there is no stopping it IME. If you have a garage, keep it out there (unless you have animals that might be attracted to the smell of rotting colon blow), up off the floor or something. Its putrid stuff... makes me gag every time I get near it.

Had mine in a cabinet near the tank in the main room, and my GF and I thought there was a dead animal in the walls or something for months. Couldnt figure out what it was that died and went to pooh heaven. Then one day, I finally came across it and remembered the vile smell. It stink-swamped up a good corner of the room for months before I found out.

 

[douggiestyle]

my waste goes in the pond. no waste.

how could you go for months with dead animal, poo smell.....

 

[phonnold]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9966299#post9966299 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Icefire
Like I said, make a system with 4 RO membrane, you'll get 200g good for 200g waste.

It will cost 3 housing and 3 membrane with some tubing. Maybe a booster pump.

Way cheaper that buying/recharging resin...

Calfo may be good with reefs but he know no enought about RO water. AZDesertRat work in the field.

Hey do you have some links that one could read that talk about these kinds of setups?

 

[Icefire]

If I remember correctly, you use the waste line as feed line of the next membrane, in serie

 

[Daemonfly]

As I have no place for waste water of an RO system, it will truly be wasted.

Also, since I got a Kati-Ani #10 system (3' tall) for only $100 extra when I bought a used 75g tank, I'm going with that. Put a sediment filter then 2 carbon filters in before the resin chambers. My tap water isn't that bad. I built a nano kati-ani setup for my nano tanks & never had a problem.

As for DIY Kati-ani, easiest would be some 4" or 6" PVC, but you couldn't see in if you used color-changing resins.


Now as for costs, here's a page(only one I could find) with listed prices for bulk DI resins - http://spectrapure.com/St_replac_p5.htm