RO/DI system a must have???

What's the best way to remove the CO2 before it gets to my DI filter? I think this is why my DI resin only lasts a few months.
 
Put your RO water into a container and aerate it. This will drive off the CO2. If you want to make sure the air you pump through the water doesn't have high co2 itself, we have a co2 absorbent .

After aerating, pump the water through your DI resin. You can use a maxijet 1200 - remember you don't want high flow rates through the DI resin.

Russ
 
Hmm. We'll respectfully disagree with the prior post.

RO (not DI) is fine for drinking.

Respectfully, although a scientist I am, I admit this is not my field and I don't sell the units as you do. However the scientific evidence and information from some excellent studies easily found on the web tend to disagree with your opinion. I am a proponent of RO water and belive there are many good reasons to have one in your home as I do, and did before having a reef tank, but the science on drinking it is pretty overwhelming, and we do everything with RO water except drink it.

According to the World Health Organization:

http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/nutdemineralized.pdf
 
Interesting article. So what's the best way to remineralize my ro water? I don't like drinking tap down here in New Orleans.

I was thinking maybe a calcium reactor might work and it just so happens that I happen to have one laying around gathering dust.

I'm thinking this could kill two birds with one stone so to speak. I'll run my ro through the calcium reactor to remove CO2 and remineralize before sending it to my DI filter for my reef and the water storage tank for drinking.

What do you think the best media would be?

On second thought remineralized water will probably exhaust my di filters just as fast as high CO2 water. hmmm
 
I have a 100 gallon per day portable RO unit. It hooks up to a hose bib. I only run it when I need it. With a portable unit you can easily divert the waste water to the garden or in my case, the pool. A very inexpensive investment for your reef.
 
Interesting article. So what's the best way to remineralize my ro water? I don't like drinking tap down here in New Orleans.

I was thinking maybe a calcium reactor might work and it just so happens that I happen to have one laying around gathering dust.

I'm thinking this could kill two birds with one stone so to speak. I'll run my ro through the calcium reactor to remove CO2 and remineralize before sending it to my DI filter for my reef and the water storage tank for drinking.

What do you think the best media would be?

On second thought remineralized water will probably exhaust my di filters just as fast as high CO2 water. hmmm

Unfortunately this really isn't my field. I am also blessed with really excellent well water. Personally if I could not drink the tap water I would research the best bottled water for drinking and use RO for everything else. You could also look into water purifiers that don't go to the extreme that RO systems do just for drinking. I wonder how effective the faucet mount things are.
 
The tap water here at my work contains 10ppm of nitrates. My tap water at home contains Chloramines and runs through 50 miles of concrete and pvc pipe before it ever gets to my home and sometimes smells like sewer water when heated. My well water TDS is over 600. So yes I use RO water for my Reef Tanks
 
I lived in an area that had >300ppm TDS tap water, and used it in a reef with no problem. Practically all the TDS was calcium, magnesium, and bicarbonate, so I didn't mind so much :) Inverts in the tank didn't seem to care either. I read over my city's water quality report many times before deciding to use tap.

Then I moved, and the next place I had a planted tank where I needed pH to be 6.5-7.0. Tap TDS was >500ppm and it was almost entirely sodium and bicarbonate with a pH well over 8. I had to use the RO/DI for that one because there was no way my planted tank would work with a system whose kH was that high.

RODI is an excellent preventative measure in case 1) something is actually wrong with your tap water or 2) some freak thing changes in your otherwise OK water supply source. With the investment you have in a reef tank it's worth the trouble I think. But if you have a good quality water source tap water can definitely work. I think the blanket recommendation to get an RODI unit is more out of safety than necessity given the adequate water quality in many locations (at least here in the US).
 
It is so much easier to have an rodi system at home. i live on the 2nd floor of an apartment, and i used to have to get ro water and carry it up the stairs(no elevator) now i got a 5 stage rodi with drinking water reservoir from brs, and it is honestly the best purchase i have ever made. i can make my own salt water and ro water and i have drinking water when i need it.
 
If you are a coffee snob, like me, RO/DI water can be used to make awesome cups of java and as an added bonus it will help out your tank. My Keurig and drip coffee maker get filled with RO/DI water...................
 
If you are a coffee snob, like me, RO/DI water can be used to make awesome cups of java and as an added bonus it will help out your tank. My Keurig and drip coffee maker get filled with RO/DI water...................

Big time, AGREED. When I quoted the WHO that it's bad to drink RO water that like anything else was for excessive use. Aside from the occasional cocktail I only drink water and find I drink quite a lot of it and do not drink RO water. But for the coffee, you said it man, it makes a great cup of java and like you my Keurig only gets RO water, and so does my ice maker. Also keeps your coffee maker really clean. No deposits or junk in my coffee!!

RO Water + Home = Ice, Coffee, Cooking, REEF TANK!
 
An additional issue re drinking RO water - you'll find that the TDS in RO water from a pressurized storage container (drinking water RO systems are configured with a pressurized storage tank) can be substantially higher than the TDS in RO water directly from the membrane.

The back pressure provided by the tank (even more so as the tank fills) lowers the net driving pressure, decreases the recovery, and decreases the membrane rejection.

Russ
 
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