teetimefun
Member
Has anyone tried a Kold Steril system? There is an LFS here that swears by it.
Help with water purification decsion
- Thread starter jnarowe
- Start date
AZDesertRat
In Memoriam
Nothing compares to a MaxCap system and they guarantee it in writing. Mine is putting out 240 GPD at 99.23% rejection from the RO only by itself. Its no hype. My tap water TDS averages over 800 and my RO only TDS is 6.2 to 6.4 using a handheld HM Digital COM-100 TDS meter. I even hooked up a lab grade Thornton benchtop conductivity meter to confirm the results and wouldn't buy anything else.
Nobody else hand tests and guarantees each and every Select series membrane and ships them wetted in a special solution from day one. It makes a difference.
Nobody else hand tests and guarantees each and every Select series membrane and ships them wetted in a special solution from day one. It makes a difference.
KingfishJohn
New member
Jonathan,
Your incoming TDS of 70-80 is absurd. I need to start drinking water bottled in Washington!
Your incoming TDS of 70-80 is absurd. I need to start drinking water bottled in Washington!
jnarowe
New member
I have been measuring it since mid-2005 and it has never been over 80...but, I live in what was farmland and I was having a horrible time dealing with algal issues in my FWP system. Then I started testing and found varying degrees of phosphate and nitrate. I installed a 50gpd RO/DI system and my problems went away. Immediately.
And I think that TDS doesn't neccessarily reflect phophate and nitrate, but that is from the mind of someone thoroughly uneducated in such matters.
And I think that TDS doesn't neccessarily reflect phophate and nitrate, but that is from the mind of someone thoroughly uneducated in such matters.
jnarowe
New member
So now that I have the attention of some people who know something about this subject, and have even gotten PMs from "johnny on the spot" vendors, I do have a question or two that I think someone here can answer. And BTW, those vendors that have PM'd me are first in line as they see an opportunity and jump on it. Once they can convince me that their solution is right for me, all I have to do is to convince them to take my money! 
As stated, my incoming TDS is fairly low, and what I would like to know is at what stage is the phosphate and nitrate removed? IS that during the membrane stage or the DI resin stage?
I will be re-reading this thread and the related posts in my tank thread, and making a decision and purchase by the end of the week.
As stated, my incoming TDS is fairly low, and what I would like to know is at what stage is the phosphate and nitrate removed? IS that during the membrane stage or the DI resin stage?
I will be re-reading this thread and the related posts in my tank thread, and making a decision and purchase by the end of the week.
AZDesertRat
In Memoriam
Actually some is removed in both the reverse osmosis and deionization stages but neither by itself is extremely good at it. Both nitrates and phosphates are listed as being only about 90% removed by RO only. And they are both weakly ionized so you want to have as much as possible removed before it hits the DI resin for best removal. Phosphates and silicates are two of the first things released once DI resin is near exhaustion so its wise to change resin at the first signs of any TDS. They also do not register well on a TDS meter so jump on the change ASAP.
The Silica Buster cartridge is a proven technology for enhanced phosphate and nitrate removal.
http://www.spectrapure.com/St_replac_p4.htm
The Silica Buster cartridge is a proven technology for enhanced phosphate and nitrate removal.
http://www.spectrapure.com/St_replac_p4.htm
AZDesertRat
In Memoriam
double post?
Last edited:
jnarowe
New member
couple of pics of current system so ya'lll know hat I am dealing with:
This is the two "60gpd" systems I have running off the now broken 8800 booster pump.
This is my ne 200g fiberglass RO/DI tank I need to plumb into the system:
This tank comes with plenty of BHs as well as a nice electronic float switch.
This is the two "60gpd" systems I have running off the now broken 8800 booster pump.
This is my ne 200g fiberglass RO/DI tank I need to plumb into the system:
This tank comes with plenty of BHs as well as a nice electronic float switch.
Instead of replacing the 2 systems why not change out some of the cartridges on those two systems and plumb them together to make one nice large stage RO/DI unit.
Then something like a Typhoon III at 150gpd together with your now "upscaled" unit will give you what you want.
Should save a lot of $ also.
Carlo
Then something like a Typhoon III at 150gpd together with your now "upscaled" unit will give you what you want.
Should save a lot of $ also.
Carlo
jnarowe
New member
Carlo, I have been going over this in my head for days, and Sherman and I talked about it alot last night. I would really like it if you could post a more complete explanation of what you mean. I must make a decision soon too. I probably should just buy the booster pump to get me by, but I would like to have it all ironed out so I can move forward without taking too many steps back!
Honestly I'm not quite sure exactly how to setup the filters or pick the correct filters but I'm sure someone could chime in here with better advice. I know I'm about to combine a Coralife 4 stage unit with my Typhoon III unit so I'm about to figure this out too.
Looking at your pics it appears you have a total of 7 cartridges and 2 membranes that could become one larger system.
How about something like:
2 - ten (10) micron sediment filters in parallel
2 - five micron (5) carbon block filters in parallel
2 - one (1) micron carbon filters in parallel (or 0.6 Micron Matrikx NSF rated +1Chlorine Guzzler carbon block from filterguys)
2- 150 gallon per day (TFC) membrane (you have a good chance or powering a 3rd 150 membrane also)
Then pick up one more stand alone cartridge to go with the other stand alone you presently have to run DI in (2 total).
This is more or less 2/3 Typhoon III 150gpd filter sets. Only your not running 2 separate systems but one for better performance and expandability.
This should give you a 300/450 gpd system at little expense.
With a PSI meter you could always check different points in the system for flow. Let say for example you notice the 1 micron carbon filters take a hit and lowers pressure. You could always add a 3rd cartridge in parallel to this down the road to get more flow.
Basically take a look at the different micron filter cartridges available from spectrapure, airwaterice & thefilterguys and design your own filter setup.
Don't forget you also have a 3rd RO system you could make use of in a large "powerhouse" RO/DI system. You could always tap the RO/DI before the DI stage for household use and only use the DI for the reef.
Another option which might even be better for you would be to create a large RO unit which stores only RO water in the big tank which could be used house wide. Then pull water from this tank for your reef with a pump running it through DI as needed. I've always heard it's better to store RO water then RO/DI. Maybe someone better informed could comment on this.
Anyway, just thought I'd throw a few options out for you. If it were me and if possible I'd combine all three units and change out the filters with the RO tap.
Carlo
Looking at your pics it appears you have a total of 7 cartridges and 2 membranes that could become one larger system.
How about something like:
2 - ten (10) micron sediment filters in parallel
2 - five micron (5) carbon block filters in parallel
2 - one (1) micron carbon filters in parallel (or 0.6 Micron Matrikx NSF rated +1Chlorine Guzzler carbon block from filterguys)
2- 150 gallon per day (TFC) membrane (you have a good chance or powering a 3rd 150 membrane also)
Then pick up one more stand alone cartridge to go with the other stand alone you presently have to run DI in (2 total).
This is more or less 2/3 Typhoon III 150gpd filter sets. Only your not running 2 separate systems but one for better performance and expandability.
This should give you a 300/450 gpd system at little expense.
With a PSI meter you could always check different points in the system for flow. Let say for example you notice the 1 micron carbon filters take a hit and lowers pressure. You could always add a 3rd cartridge in parallel to this down the road to get more flow.
Basically take a look at the different micron filter cartridges available from spectrapure, airwaterice & thefilterguys and design your own filter setup.
Don't forget you also have a 3rd RO system you could make use of in a large "powerhouse" RO/DI system. You could always tap the RO/DI before the DI stage for household use and only use the DI for the reef.
Another option which might even be better for you would be to create a large RO unit which stores only RO water in the big tank which could be used house wide. Then pull water from this tank for your reef with a pump running it through DI as needed. I've always heard it's better to store RO water then RO/DI. Maybe someone better informed could comment on this.
Anyway, just thought I'd throw a few options out for you. If it were me and if possible I'd combine all three units and change out the filters with the RO tap.
Carlo
They are mentioned in this thread too.<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10477762#post10477762 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cayars
Why was one company's name removed from my post? I don't work for them and the name is mentioned on this site pretty often. How is this different the mentioning GE or the Merlin system in this thread? I don't get it.
Carlo
PS the people who make the Typhoon III
...so strange...
I hadn't thought of that to be honest with you. Might not be a bad idea to run 3/8 from T to T.
Anyway if you're not in a hurry and can wait about a week I'll give you some feedback as I'm converting a 5 stage Typhoon and 4 stage Coralife unit over to one bigger system mentioned above.
Carlo
Anyway if you're not in a hurry and can wait about a week I'll give you some feedback as I'm converting a 5 stage Typhoon and 4 stage Coralife unit over to one bigger system mentioned above.
Carlo
There's a couple guys on eBay selling that booster pump at a good price. Either way you're going to need it so just order it from someone and get some water pumping!
I myself am in a different situation and have to deal with chloramines and high pH (9.5ish) probably from sodium hydroxide which turns out to be about the worst conditions you could have for an RO/DI system.
I've been getting some really good feedback from jdieck on my setup which I believe is going to look like this:
Pressure gauge installed here
1 micron gradient sediment filter SF-MT-1-10
0.5 micron sediment filter SF-MT-0.5-10
0.5 carbon block filter CF-0.5-10
Pressure booster pump Aquatech 8800
Pressure gauge installed here
Two high rejection membranes in series MEM-S-0090 (about 180 gpd)
Strong Acid Cation DI cartridge DI-SAC-CI-10 (This will remove metals and lower the PH of the water to improve removal in subsequent stages)
Strong Base Anion DI cartridge DI-SF-CI-10 will remove contaminants that will exhaust the high quality cartridges in the following stages and bring the PH back to normal level.
Ammonia Removal cartridge DI-AR-CI-10
Mixed bed cartridge DI-SB-10
Pressure gauge installed here
Depending on the "crud factor" of the 1 micron sediment filter I might put a 5 micron in front of it.
But it doesn't seem like you have any of the issues I do so maybe for you to just increase productivity:
5 micron sediment filter
1 micron gradient filter
0.5 micron sediment filter
0.5 carbon block filter
Pressure booster pump Aquatech 8800
2 Membranes in series
2 Mixed Bed DI Resins in series or parallel depending on how you want to run them.
That should make great use of your 6 canisters. It will reduce your waist water by about half (running in series) and increase your production to about 150/180 gpd or equiv.
If your 1st sediment filter cruds up you can always put a cheap 10 micron in front of it but I doubt you'll need it.
Carlo
I myself am in a different situation and have to deal with chloramines and high pH (9.5ish) probably from sodium hydroxide which turns out to be about the worst conditions you could have for an RO/DI system.
I've been getting some really good feedback from jdieck on my setup which I believe is going to look like this:
Pressure gauge installed here
1 micron gradient sediment filter SF-MT-1-10
0.5 micron sediment filter SF-MT-0.5-10
0.5 carbon block filter CF-0.5-10
Pressure booster pump Aquatech 8800
Pressure gauge installed here
Two high rejection membranes in series MEM-S-0090 (about 180 gpd)
Strong Acid Cation DI cartridge DI-SAC-CI-10 (This will remove metals and lower the PH of the water to improve removal in subsequent stages)
Strong Base Anion DI cartridge DI-SF-CI-10 will remove contaminants that will exhaust the high quality cartridges in the following stages and bring the PH back to normal level.
Ammonia Removal cartridge DI-AR-CI-10
Mixed bed cartridge DI-SB-10
Pressure gauge installed here
Depending on the "crud factor" of the 1 micron sediment filter I might put a 5 micron in front of it.
But it doesn't seem like you have any of the issues I do so maybe for you to just increase productivity:
5 micron sediment filter
1 micron gradient filter
0.5 micron sediment filter
0.5 carbon block filter
Pressure booster pump Aquatech 8800
2 Membranes in series
2 Mixed Bed DI Resins in series or parallel depending on how you want to run them.
That should make great use of your 6 canisters. It will reduce your waist water by about half (running in series) and increase your production to about 150/180 gpd or equiv.
If your 1st sediment filter cruds up you can always put a cheap 10 micron in front of it but I doubt you'll need it.
Carlo
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